ria. It is a region with a very low record of kidnappings, terrorist attacks( a relatively new phenomenon), intertribal clashes and religious conflicts. Lagos is located in the South West. It’ s the largest city and former capital of Nigeria, actually the first official British colony and the commercial center in Nigeria. People of all tribes and religions live there in harmony. Yorubas have some kind of balance in numbers of people adherent to Islam and to Christianity. The extent of intertribal intolerance was mostly manifested in a series of conflicts that led to civil war( 1967-70). A group of army officers, mostly Igbo, tried to secede and establish a different country, Biafra, due to certain grievances and evidence of being marginalized by the federal government. The clashes resulted from a deep-rooted animosity, which persists today, and led to the deaths of many Igbos. The Igbos are almost entirely Christians. They are well known for being industrious, smart in business, and well-travelled. They can be found in most parts of the world, from the US to Germany to Hong Kong to Japan. The oilproducing region of the nation is close to the homeland of the Igbos. This region is the Niger Delta, where at least 20 different tribes live with their own languages and cultures. They do vehemently and rightly state that they are not Igbos whenever outsiders mistakenly( or purposely) address them as such. I worked a year as a medical doctor in a newly built hospital in Port-Harcourt, a major city in the South.
After being introduced to any local people, the next question was:“ Doctor, where are you from?” During that year, I also overheard the grievances throwing by the tribes in the Niger Delta against each other. It appears that 50 years of Nigeria have been enough neither to bring the tribes together nor to shape the national identity nor to foster unity. One out of every six Africans is a Nigerian. Nigerians tend to turn into brilliant and accomplished professionals worldwide. On the negative side, they are also known for being cunning with many cases of fraudulent activity. Nigerian identity tends to be strong and still comes alive on many occasions.“ Proudly Naija” is a frequent statement when Nigerians excel in any field or activity worldwide.“ Nollywood” is the Nigerian movie industry, popular all over the African continent. The sound of Nigerian music anywhere brings warm memories of the homeland. It has often been said that among any group of Africans in the world, the Nigerians are easy to identify either from certain characteristics, mannerisms, costumes, zeal or speech. The nation has a lot to gain if its citizens can identify with each other more in spite of the sociocultural differences.
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