My name is Henry Jacob, guess you can’t tell where I am from in Nigeria from my name. That’s a blessing in disguise in view of our proficiency for tribal and religious profiling.

I was born in Kaduna state and for the first 13 years of life, I didn’t know the difference between tribes in the sense of being different or superior to others, we were all friends. We ate and played together. During Christmas and Sallah, we adorn new clothes and celebrate everything. I always look forward to the food during those celebrations except that of Mama Taiye which was too peppery and did spoil one of my Christmas (I ate her food first one Christmas and the hotness and pepper spoilt my taste buds).

I read Agriculture in University; never in my wildest imagination did I think there was a course of this nature. My first jamb score was 232 with medicine as my first choice in University of Benin. A cousin had 236 and was on the first batch for medicine in same school so I relaxed, that I can’t miss the second or third or supplementary list. I didn’t get admission that year. I went to my cousin to ask how he did his own. To my chagrin, he explained that he filled a middle belt state as his state of origin. That state is a less educationally Developed state so their cut off is lower than those from Delta state. My world was torn apart at this revelation. The next Jamb, I tittered with the thought of changing my state of origin, I could not being a Christian, I once again filled Delta state. I scored 214 this time around, cut off for medicine was about 245 in UNIBEN, ABU was my second choice so I rushed there. To my chagrin, I was informed that though the cut off for medicine in ABU was 180, my cut off being from Delta state was 220. Oh how I hated this country called Nigeria, if the borders were opened, I would have trekked through it and gone to any other country where I will be judged by merit and not my state of origin or tribe. What a shame!
Another cousin of mine scoured 260 and 272 yet couldn’t get admission into Medicine in UNILAG because he is from Delta state. He wrote SAT and got five admissions and scholarships abroad. He has never returned to Nigeria, in fact, MIT Massachusetts had to ask that he be transferred from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. This is the same student that wasn’t good enough to enter into University in Nigeria.

The greatest challenge we have as a nation in my opinion is the Federal Character principle, while it sought to unite the country and create a sense of fairness after the civil war, we must understand that what works 30 to 40 years ago is no longer relevant today rather it has become the foundation of mediocrity and backwardness today. Let’s take the recent statistics for admission into the Unity schools as a case study.

Ejike is Igbo and from Imo state, he is 10 years old, he scores 170 in the admission exam into the Unity Schools while Nnamdi from the same state with 120 marks does not get admission. He has to attend any secondary school within his environment and woe betides him if his parents do not have time for him neither do they have the funds for a private school. Sambo scores 3 for the same exam and is from Yobe state so he gets admission into the same unity school with Ejike.

In their first term at school, the teacher assumes they all have equal intelligence for being able to pass and gain admission into school so he teaches them accordingly. Unbeknown to him, Sambo isn’t finding the class funny and in his mind, what the h**k is this man talking about? (This is not to denigrate any one from Yobe state, I have met a lot of intelligent people and current have some as friends and we compete on the same level). The mid tem exams reveals the lacuna of some of the teachers students especially Sambo who finds it difficult to write a sentence. As usual, the teacher blames it on his primary school and doesn’t have the patience to teach and give Sambo more attention. Sambo and Ejike continue through school while Ejike comes out tops, Sambo is somewhere wedge at the bottom three of his class. Waec and Jamb comes calling after 6 years with Sambo on full scholarship and his exams paid for (nothing wrong with this) and Ejike’s parents barely working to keep him in school.

Ejike scores 262 in Jamb with seven A’s and 2 C’s while Sambo scores 130 in jamb with 3 C’s, 2 D’s and 4 E’s. Both of them get admission into the same school surprisingly with Sambo being admitted to read Engineering in Federal University of Maiduguri while Ejike also gets admission into the same school to read same course. Sambo is on scholarship while Ejike works after lectures to pay his way through school. On graduation, Ejike graduates with an upper class (2.1) while Sambo graduates with a third class honours.
Immediately after NYSC, Sambo is sponsored without exams by PTDF to Oxford University for Masters in Civil Engineering while Ejike teaches in a primary school for one year and starts searching for job. Despite his brilliance, he has a challenge because there are many more brilliant and well-connected guys from his state of origin and tribe hence he has to take on odd jobs. He eventually gets a job in the Civil service. On the return of Sambo as a PHD holder in Well Engineering, he gets employed in NNPC based on the recommendation of his people (he is one of the best from his tribe and state, who wouldn’t want this for himself or children).

After ten years, Sambo is a Deputy Director of NPDC although they cannot produce any oil, just giving out contracts. He is wealthy, travels for summer in Hawaii, Tahiti, Bahamas and the Cayman islands, he has a house in London and Dubai while Ejike lives from hand to mouth. He is brilliant, full of ideas and solutions to the numerous Engineering challenges in the country but cannot concentrate on those issues as his bills are mounting at home, he has to work long hours to be able to afford the education of his children while Sambo’s children are schooling in the best schools with scholarships.
Sambo becomes Governor of his state while Ejike approaches him for contracts being his former classmate. Sambo gives him audience and makes promises but does nothing referring to Ejike as a ‘’know know’’. Essentially, Ejike and his generation are condemned to work hard, be brilliant but broke and poor. He is angry, he thinks if cheating to become like his former classmates so that his children do not ask him “daddy, where were you when uncle Sambo was making money’’. He reasons that life is not fair, no Nigeria is not fair, why would a man succeed based on where he comes from and not on merit? Should he teach his children to stick to merit and be the best or should he guide them towards being opportunistic. Should he change their state of origin so that they too can get from the national cake since those clamoring for it in his state of origin and tribe are many? “What should a free man do” Ejike’s wife Nneka asked him, how do we break from this rat race? Too many questions, no answers readily available. Just bewilderment day in day out at a nation laid to waste because of religion, tribe and state of origin.

No wonder we have mediocrity in all levels of leadership in the country today. I dare posit that those leading us today got there because of their tribe, state of origin and religion and not merit hence the backwardness of our nation. This is the reason why we have nepotism and corruption everywhere. The best of us are being led by the worst of us.

The Federal Character Commission has outlived its usefulness, it should be scrapped immediately! I still wonder what work or production is being done in that commission. Merit should be entrenched everywhere. If the federal Character policy had been implemented in sports, the current crop of super eagles we have would not be in existence because they are mostly Igbos. I do not care where they come from, all I want is the best of us playing at the highest level for the rest of us. Let the best be president, let the best be Governor, let the best be ministers, let the best be senators and legislators (I fear the legislating chambers with this same federal character working here). Let the best be in the best schools and not just those who can afford it.

The human brain in the head of Sambo is not different from the brain in the head of Ejike. Both of them can be engaged and developed to the highest level of functioning. All it takes is applying yourself to study and reason. When you have policies making excuses for one brain or the other, you will surely doom yourself and your generation to excuses and failure. How do you excuse the brain of Sambo and Ejike if they both live in Lagos and went to the same school? How come Sambo cannot understand how to write a sentence at the age of 10 and Ejike can? How come we ever thought that Sambo is affected because he is from Yobe state? What kind of thinking are we putting forth in this country? All men are born equal and can aspire to become anything in Nigeria. That should be our new constitution, that should be our new motto, that should be said to everyone in Nigeria on a daily basis. You can aspire and become anything you want to be. No more tribe, religion and state of origin assistance, no more we say.

I end with a quote from Seneca “it is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult” .This is a classic case of ‘’dumb Nigerians making the next generation dumber!’’ Professor Awosika.

http://omojuwa.com/2013/07/the-rot-of-inequlity-and-tribalism-by-henry-jacob/

Good conjecture.

But Ejike is the way he is and Sambo is who he is because Nigeria continues to exist in the same flawed way it is. We should all fundamentally agree that Nigeria is a fraud and then swear to fight hard and fix it for everyone or determine to make sure it breaks up for good.

Black people fought the white colonialists and apartheid regimes,why not fight fellow black colonialists and proponents of apartheid style system?

The issue is that we have continued to live on false hope that it will somehow,someway get better... AND IT SHALL NEVER !
We are makers of our own destiny.What we allow,shall prevail.

@OP.. No We No Gree!! We Want Our Own Country.. We Are Tired Of Being Called Nigerians!! We Want To Eat Our Cassava Bread Alone!

Yorubas Are Too Insultive, Hausas Are Extremists.. Yes We Know We Like Money And Kill For It! Bt Pls Lets Stand Alone! We Are Already Printing Our Own Currency.

Pls Listen To Our Radio www.radiobiafra.com


=========================
Last Bullet: Nice Write Up there! If only these ppl draging us backward can locate their brain and reason with it for once before it's too late. And they shld stop "It's our son syndrome".