The need for affiliation and association with beings of one kind has been a characteristic of all living things including plants. Plant cluster together for the interest of the favourable nutrients so also do animals and then the primitive man who had found the need to protect himself from attacks from animals or other communities. In so doing, they developed a culture, a language, norms and a sense of belonging to the group. These characteristics made humans to live in communities that are distinctively different from another. These communities are called nations. Nations existed before the states of today.
The coming of the new age, Nation States which are more for political administrative conveniences came up. From this time, countries and states were formed however, because of the large expanses of land covered by states, each country may hold a multitude of nations having characteristics as seen earlier: language, culture, beliefs, religion, preferences etc. The interactions between these multiple nations in many third world countries tows the lines wars and unhealthy competition which today is vividly seen in the politics in Nigeria: Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba etc. These lead to communal clashes also within the states.
The most contemporary “national” division is religion which is mostly between Christianity and Islam. There is normally this stiff competition on who gets what based on the religion of the person; this division has gone so serious that it has caused riots because either a Christian or a Muslim is given a political appoint or refused to be given. The responses between these 2 major “nations” tears apart states and countries. We lose strategists, technocrats, great statesmen because we tag them Muslim or Christian.
In a mostly Christian state like the Plateau, we are also bedevilled with such issues to the benefit of a few. Some promote it so they can benefit from zoning; some promote it because it can be used to edge out people from being nominated/elected for positions.
A group that is mostly unfavoured is the indigenous Muslim who is sometimes not considered in one community as eligible to be voted for and also not considered by the Hausa community to share in the “zoning” or “federal Character” arrangements.
Nationalism is that strong affiliation to the Nation State with a view to protect its resources, core values and principles. Nations States like America that have built nationalism looking at skill, abilities, capabilities and knowledge normally prosper. Others mostly in Africa and the less technologically advanced countries build their nationalism based on tribal, religious, cultural, colour differences.
Are you a Christian, what do you think when a Muslim is ascending to power?
Are you a Muslim, what do you think when a Christian ascends to power?
You are of one ethnic nationality, what do you think when one of another nationality ascends to power?
The People of Plateau need to build a new Plateau Nationalism that is devoid of religious and ethnic divides for development.
__________
Datong, Dominic Gwaman
Conflict, Security and Development Expert
dgdatong@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment