Is Tribalism overall still a good thing for Africa?
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I am hoping we have some people on here who are African or African descended directly or knowledgable from the diaspora. Why do I say that? First of all, I see no issue in being from a tribe and having tribal pride. People are tribalistic in various forms. In America, sports and where you are from within the states is a mild form of tribalism. You may be from Alabama and are a hard core 'Bama football team fan as well as you are proud to be from the 'dirty' south for example.
Anyway, it appears that being too loyal to their tribe has hurt the progression of many African countries. I'll use Nigeria as one example. From what I understand (and I open to any corrections) the tribal rivalries and such can run so deep at times that people will only vote for candidates from that tribe even if he is not the best overall candidate. The Yoruba and Ibo don't like it each other usually. And its often not just a thing. We had the east coast vs west coast beef in the '90s but it was never as bad as the violence and social segregation we see in Nigeria. The Hausa-Fulana won't inter marry with anyone else, religion (Islam) being their primary reason but the violence we hear about comes from their area in the north.
Nigeria has about 200 million people is part of OPEC. It has so much oil its part of the biggest oil cartel in the world. A lot of natural resources but are way behind from what their resources suggest they should have. There are tribal issues in other countries to varying degrees of infighting and such. Kenya, with the Kikuyus, Luo, Embu, etc. , South African blacks have always been divided among tribal the Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, and others.
What are the solutions? Is there even a problem? Meaning its overstated.
Anyway, it appears that being too loyal to their tribe has hurt the progression of many African countries. I'll use Nigeria as one example. From what I understand (and I open to any corrections) the tribal rivalries and such can run so deep at times that people will only vote for candidates from that tribe even if he is not the best overall candidate. The Yoruba and Ibo don't like it each other usually. And its often not just a thing. We had the east coast vs west coast beef in the '90s but it was never as bad as the violence and social segregation we see in Nigeria. The Hausa-Fulana won't inter marry with anyone else, religion (Islam) being their primary reason but the violence we hear about comes from their area in the north.
Nigeria has about 200 million people is part of OPEC. It has so much oil its part of the biggest oil cartel in the world. A lot of natural resources but are way behind from what their resources suggest they should have. There are tribal issues in other countries to varying degrees of infighting and such. Kenya, with the Kikuyus, Luo, Embu, etc. , South African blacks have always been divided among tribal the Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, and others.
What are the solutions? Is there even a problem? Meaning its overstated.
