IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 8 ENGLISH | Page 68

Identity issues in Nigeria
regarding tribe and religion
Fisayo Lanre O
Medical Doctor.
Nigerian residing in the UK

T

his is an overview of ethnic
and religious issues in the
Nigerian society from my
perspective, an indigene from the
South Western part of Nigeria who
lived in the country for over 30 years.
Nigeria is a highly diverse society in
multicultural terms, with a population
of about 180 million and at least a
hundred tribes with ways of life essentially different from each other. The
amalgamation of the Northern and
Southern regions of the British colony
with 356,669 square miles that became
present day Nigeria resulted in the
coming together of various people who
had hardly interacted prior to the arrival of the Europeans. Among them, the
main tribes are the Hausa, the Yoruba,
and the Igbo. The issue of identity is
often markedly defined by two factors:
the tribe first, then religion. The identity as defined by the tribe becomes
much less prominent outside the
shores. For example, if Nigerians meet
in Europe, they tend to identify with
each other more in terms of nationality
than with the tribe, which is easy to
understand. Religion has largely contributed to divide the Nigerian people.
The northerners are mainly Muslims,
as determined by the flow of the Arabs
from North Africa. The European

missionaries came in by sea; hence the
southern regions of the country are
predominantly Christian. Traditional
religions based on paying homage to
various spirits and gods still persist in
small groups (compared to the two
main religions) across almost the entire
country, especially the areas south of
the Niger and Benue rivers. The indigenous religions thrive in these areas
mostly because Islam penetrated society in the north more than Christianity
did in the south. It is worth noting that
religion doesn’t particularly form an
equal division of “north and south” as
it is often speculated by outsiders.
Relations between Christia