Weekly Column: North and South
By Omordia Efe Alexandra – I grew up not making any distinction between Northerners and Southerners but as I came of age, I was encouraged to support ‘my people’ no matter what they do and to start hating those ‘other people’ but being the stubborn and adventurous person that I am, I decided to know more about those ‘other people’ I was supposed to despise and the rest as they say is history.
Why is it almost impossible for peace to reign in the sub-region? The recent Ivorian political stalemate is a clear example of this, what about the ethnic/religious divide in Nigeria? The masses in countries such as these allow themselves to be brainwashed by the looters in Public Offices who stir up ethnic and religious sentiments so that they can hide under the smoke of senseless violence created by their utterances to loot public funds. What is so grievous about a settler or the offspring of a settler vying for political office side by side with an indigene? In Brazil, a female is now in charge of governance, the citizens are celebrating history. It doesn’t matter to them that her parents are settlers. Progressive countries are welcoming foreigners who have the skills required but mediocre nations are embroiled in all sorts of divisions that extend to ridiculously small communities where people that live kilometers away regard one another as enemies.
Enough of such backwardness! If we have to fight let us fight in progressive and meaningful ways.
