Nigeria Beyond Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba

(By Lucia Edafioka – Sabinews) - Dear teacher, Nigeria does not have 3 tribes

One of my ‘smallies’ was studying for her exams, so in the usual Nigerian school way, she was cramming and reading in a sing song way. ‘We have two religions in Nigeria, we have 3 tribes in Nigeria.’

Three tribes caught my ear, I turned to her, ‘We have 3 tribes in Nigeria? Let me see your book.’ Lo and behold, it was ‘we have three tribes in Nigeria’ in the book. So I asked her, ‘what tribe are you?’ She said, ‘Urhobo.’ ‘Are you in Nigeria?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘So why are you not among the tribes in your notebook?’ ‘I dunno, my Aunty said…’ she continued sing-songing. She is 5.

I was born in Delta state and there alone we have the Urhobos, Itsekiris, Ijaw, Isoko, and Anioma. In DSC, (Delta Steel Company), housing where I grew up, I knew people that were Idoma, Tiv, Fulani, Ishan, Bini, Yorubas, Igbos, Ogoni, Kalabiri, Efik, Ibibio, Igala, etc.

I thought everyone knew we had more than 3 tribes in Nigeria. Imagine my surprise when I went to the East for my University education and people asked what tribe I was. ‘Urhobo, from Delta state,’ and I got ‘what is Urhobo?’

‘Why don’t you understand Igbo? Delta state people are Igbos na.’

What????

Then I came to the West, and it got worse. Educated adults argued with me that I am Igbo. Delta state people are Delta Igbos, then there are Delta Yorubas, (what the hell is Delta Yorubas)? Apparently the Itsekiri people are Delta Yorubas. Then someone else told me I was Igbo because I am Catholic and from Delta state. When I say, no I am Urhobo, and we are over 1m the response is always something like ‘all join, all of una na Igbo.’

Our cultural diversity is beautiful. The curriculum should stop teaching children that there are three tribes in Nigeria, or that they are three major tribes. The majority/minority thing doesn’t make sense in 2015. It gives, to the majority, a sense of entitlement which they shouldn’t have.

What if they teach children that we have 371 tribes in Nigeria (according to this article) and go on to list the tribes? Why box some people in minority and others in majority? Why should people in the West not know about the tribes in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross Rivers? Why does the rest of the country assume everyone from Kogi upwards is Hausa?

The time spent teaching primary school kids that ‘daddy goes to work while mummy cooks for us,’ what if they teach them about the Efik, Igala, Jukun, Birom? Teach children about the tribes in all states across the country.

In secondary school, we were expected to learn one ‘major’ language, so even while I schooled in Delta state, I was expected to learn Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo. The school picked Yoruba for us, and for 4 years it was compulsory. It did not matter whether I could speak a word of Urhobo. It is a minority, unimportant language,  because Nigeria is all about the Yorubas, Hausas, and Igbos. What if as it was compulsory for me to learn Yoruba, it was also compulsory for the Yorubas to learn my language?

And for the Igbos to learn Tiv?

Now while I identify as an Urhobo girl, it’s not the first thing I say about myself. When I am asked what tribe I am by random people, I say I am Nigerian. That’s enough information abeg, there’s no point going through the where are you from talk, to know if I am their sister, or if their brother married from ‘my side’.

See, I was born and bred in Nigeria. I have a BA in History and International Relations. I still had to use Google to check how many tribes we have in Nigeria. If that does not say how nonsense our educational system is, I don’t know what does.