Below is a narration from a Nigerian man with an Igbo father and a Yoruba mother about how some Igbo traders shocked him with tribalism.
According to him, he had gone to buy shoes from the traders who advised him against getting married to a Yoruba lady.
According to them, a Yoruba lady won’t do him any good. This they said without knowing that his mother is a Yoruba woman.
He wrote:
“I don’t know how to feel this evening,
I went to buy shoes I needed urgently need for an event & the seller was talking to another man in Igbo, I told them I was Igbo even though I can’t speak the language. They said I should make sure I don’t marry from Yoruba tribe because.
they are not good and would bring me no good. I was just there speechless, they probably assumed both of my parents were Igbo. I struggled with the thought that maybe I should add that my mom was in fact Yoruba
I was wondering if I should be angry or disgusted by the prejudice but then I know people from the Yoruba tribe and can be as racist as the average Igbo person. It’s all smiles on the surface with one another, especially for the older Nigerian generation. I can’t wait for
their era to be over so our generation or the future generation can stop these hate for different tribes. And if you are educated and a millennial and above but still hate one tribe or say stereotypical things about people’s tribe. Then shame on you!!”