By Henry Akubuiro
Culture entails a system of shared beliefs we learn growing up in a particular society. Hence, every individual born in a heterogeneous society like Nigeria has something unique passed on from generations and something to share with others.
With over 250 ethnic groups, Nigeria is one of Africa’s most unique multicultural societies. Its multiculturalism also extends to religion, which means, at every gathering, there is a tendency to have different people with different religious orientations.
Living in a multicultural society has its peculiar challenges, but it has many advantages, too. For one, it creates room for cultural exchange of ideas, values, and habits that can help people increase their quality of life. It can’t be gainsaid, there’s an impressive range of diversity of options to explore.
Multiculturalism demands tolerance and open-mindedness, because one is surrounded everyday life by people from different backgrounds and cultural identities. If people feel accepted and valued, they have an overriding motivation to contribute to the society that embraces them and affords them the quality of life they seek.
Also, living in this kind of society means a proximity with people with different habits, ideas, and lifestyles, which is ideal for creativity and innovation, because you are always exposed to new ways of doing things and fresh ways of looking at things. Hence, an interplay of perspectives, talents, skills, and ideas enhances innovation, thereby making space for outside-the-box mindsets.
Living in a heterogeneous society, like Nigeria can be an enriching experience. Among others, differences in values, opinions, and lifestyles should serve as inspiration for self-growth instead of being a source of conflict.
At the moment, Nigeria is at socio-political crossroads. A culture of hate, intolerance and divisive tendencies have sprang up, almost reaching an all-time high. The recent general election has pitched many Nigerians, otherwise friends, on different camps. Ordinarily, this is a good development for politics, but when it degenerates to denigrating the other Nigeria for holding a contrary political or religious view or on ethnic basis, this is where it becomes dangerous.
In the last few weeks, the federal government, elder statesmen, religious leaders, leaders of thought and advocacy groups have been cautioning against the bile of hatred on the national horizon. Added to this is the slew of prophecies (some call it predictions) on the state of the nation and what the future holds for major political players.
In the light of the above, the Director General for National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Runsewe, recently appealed for ethno-religious tolerance among Nigerians, arising from what he described as “seeming strange predictions and hyped religious ventilations over political issues in the country”.
Runsewe’s admonition is timely. It’s a cultural intervention that invites all to reflect soberly. The fear is that, if the prevailing situation is left unchecked, it might further create bad blood among Nigerians, which is unnecessary at this point in the nation’s jeopardised trajectory.
As it seems, everybody is talking at the same, weaving webs of intrigues, including the imagined, disguised as truths. Unfortunately, the democratisation of social media space means that a slew of uninformed opinions are being marketed freely to the public.
Runsewe worries that this rash of predictive political slants across Nigeria’ s diverse religious and cultural ecosystem can threaten the fabric of Nigeria’s peace and security, a time bomb that might blow up the country into pieces.
These “prophecies” are not limited to Nigerian politics, though. It started from sports, like football, wrestling, dancing competition, reality TV shows, etcetera, where individuals masquerading as prophets predicted who was going to win before any contest.
In most cases, these prophecies have failed woefully. Sadly, they have wrecked so much havoc on the youths, because many of the the misled have sometimes committed suicide, unable to bear the disappointments and losses.
The recent general election in Nigeria created a prophetic buzz nationwide, as many “prophets” predicted who would win or lose. Some even went ahead to predict what would happen post-election. This has fueled the minds of many Nigerians, who have been parotting their prophecies. As it seems, some Nigerians, who claim to hear from God, now oxygenate, escalate and poison the socioeconomic and political space with laughable and troubling positions, not minding the negative impact of such predictive actions on the emotional intelligence of the people.
Where does culture and cultural advocacy come in reversing the dangerous slide? We should hearken to Runsewe’s appeal to Nigerians to ignore the purveyors of mercantile predictions but hold to the best cultural and religious teachings that bind Nigerians together, and not issues that may further polarise and set Nigerians against one another.
The National Council for Arts and Culture has, in the past, worked together with religious leaders across the divide to restore peace to some troubled parts of the country, from Jos, kaduna and Abuja.
The NCAC has also networked with our Nigerian traditional rulers during each celebration of the annual National Festival of Arts and Culture (Nafest), to promote the quest to live together in peace and harmony, which engenders national development.
When Nigerian children were toeing the lines of strange foreign influences, NCAC reached out to Nigeria’s women societies and groups to nip the process in the bud. It has also been working tirelessly to disabuse the minds of Nigerians from this avalanche of predictions with a religious face in a bid to arrest its dangerous influence on Nigeria’s once peaceful and tolerant society.
The imperative of NCAC intervention cannot be swept under the carpet, because the tension created by drivers of these predictive vehicles across the board is becoming increasingly worrisome. Similar to this is the ratcheting tribal slurring in Nigeria. It is, therefore, incumbent on Nigerians to toe the path of reason.
NCAC has, thus, echoed the need for Nigerians to unite and line up behind the best religious, cultural and historical narratives that have binded Nigeria together over the years. This is predicated on the fact that Nigeria’s cultural diversity is superior to the divisive factors, which also entails that Nigerians must urgently learn to respect each other’s cultural sensitivities.