There is a growing trend of tribalism and reductionism in our national institutions, which must set the alarm bells ringing. The evidence is perverse and notorious, permeating all aspects of our national life. This represents an apparent deviation from the glorious past of the colonial era, which culminated in the 1970s when deliberate and concerted efforts were made to promote national unity and equity in our national life and institutions.
Gone now are those days when Ahmadu Bello, as premier of the defunct Northern Region, could have an S.B. Awoniyi as his private secretary, Ditto Obafemi Awolowo with Odia Ofeimun. Nnamdi Azikiwe was even more generous with his Afro-centric and national ethos, going so far as to give his children Yoruba names.
It did not matter much in those days what part of the country one came from or what religion one professed. If you merited it, you got it. There were administrators and councillors of different ethnic nationalities and tribes in the regional governments of the First Republic.
In the ivory towers, and especially with the first-generation universities, national integration, merit and equity were never sacrificed on the altar of ethnic chauvinism and other primordial sentiments. Those were the days when Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike from the Southeast could be appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Horatio Oristejolomi Thomas from the South-south, Vice Chancellor at the University of Ibadan, Cyril Onwumeachili from the Southeast at the University of Ife, Adamu Baike from the Northwest to the University of Benin and O.O. Akinkugbe from the Southwest to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Professor E.U. Emovon from the South-south easily found accommodation at the University of Jos in today’s north-central Nigeria. Babs Fafunwa famously taught and established the Education Faculties across the regions at the University of Ife, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, respectively.
This progressive and egalitarian trend slowed somewhat in the 1980s as politics and mediocrity began to creep into the university system. It was not uncommon to hear from then henceforth agitations for sons of the soil to occupy commanding positions in their respective domiciled institutions. Since then, it has been nearly impossible to find persons from outside of the immediate owner-states and regions of tertiary institutions occupying sensitive or leadership positions.
This national malaise has crept into other aspects of our national life and institutions. Even our professional bodies, such as the National Bar Association (NBA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), which were once a source of pride for the nation, are not spared.
Recently, for example, a concerned group of professionals from the Southwest has sounded the alarm about the eroding influence of the region, despite its historical significance and numerous contributions to the professional body since its inception in 1965. Concerns of this nature are becoming increasingly common rather than the exception.
The government at all levels, which should have been setting good examples, is itself tainted by the rotten practices of nepotism and corruption. Today, hardly any government, especially at the central level, has not had to deal with allegations of favouritism and the skewed selection of individuals into public offices, which have dampened enthusiasm for national pride and slowed down national growth and development considerably.
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