If Nigeria were a nation of one tribe and one religion, what would Nigeria be like?
It would be a multi-coloured nation with a multi-textured culture, intoxicated on varieties but unwavering in unity. Wisdom would run as deep and vast as the ocean! Its strength would be rooted like a thousand Iroko trees merged as one. It would be mightier than ten thousand purposeful elephants in a concert. Its vision would be clear, clearer than the eagle’s eye on a bright day: seeing, planning, preparing for futures brilliant and shared.
If Nigeria were one tribe, we would squabble, reconcile and refocus like families do, forgiving one another, and moving on. We would be a giant whose worth is found in action, not in slogans or labels. Diversity would be our greatest power, each thread woven to cover every weakness. No child would sleep hungry or wander the streets with vacant faces. The child would find learning and safety as their birthright. From Sokoto to Calabar, every boy and girl would claim their right to dream and to belong, taught to be their brother’s and sister’s keeper.
If Nigeria were one tribe, our schools would echo with knowledge and purpose, not silence. Hospitals would heal, not bury the poor. Roads would bind dreams, not swallow them in dust and neglect. Our land would yield abundance, markets would flourish, and courts would serve justice to all. Our security would shield all, not just the chosen. Our leaders would serve the nation, not themselves only. Nigeria would rise, grow and thrive as one.
If Nigeria were one tribe, the engineer, doctor, teacher, and entrepreneur would not flee; they would build here. Merit would unlock doors; hard work would set destinies, not the legacy of a surname nor the length of a connection. Our children would inherit systems that serve: electricity that lights our paths, schools that teach, hospitals that heal, highways that connect, and courts that protect.
If Nigeria were one tribe, we would create what the world has not yet seen: people who dare and do, not dreamers only. No longer a giant on life support but a builder, a solver, a source of strength to other Africans. Nigeria would no longer be object of pity, but a sort after nation where others come to learn and to emulate.
If Nigeria were one tribe, corruption would have nowhere to hide. Our public treasury would not become some distant pool for plunder; it would be as personal as your village treasury. The shame of theft would be too great, accountability inescapable.
If Nigeria were one tribe, we would face threats as one nation, mobilised and resolved. Terror, kidnapping, poverty, and neglect would be Nigerian problems for Nigerian hands to solve. No longer would we watch tragedies as distant thunder on another’s soil. Then, opportunity would flow wherever talent is found. The gifted child, the dreamer, the builder, each would find help, hope, horizon.
If Nigeria were one tribe, we would not wait endlessly, debate pointlessly, or blame history while the future passes by. We would move with urgency, pooling resources, leveraging all our genius. Infrastructure would be built to connect, not divide. Industries would be forged to employ millions, and institutions set to endure beyond the fleeting shadow of power.
But why are we not one tribe?
Why, when we know what is possible, do we settle for what is broken?
Why, when we know what we could be, do we accept what we are?
Why, when the vision is so clear, is the path so obscured?
The answer: because we have not yet made the choice with the full force of our will. Not because it is impossible. We have not yet summoned the resolve to stand up and say, with one voice: Enough. We choose unity. We build as one. The day we do, the nation will rise; and the world will know.
Some will say it is too late, that the divisions run too deep, that we are too different to ever truly unite, that toxic tribalism is in our DNA.
Do not believe them.
These are the words of ones who profit from our separation, from our division. These are the voices of those who have built their thrones on our fragmentation. These are the lies of those who know that the day we unite is the day their power collapses. The truth is simpler: we can be one. But unity is not gifted; it is claimed.
We can build one nation. But it requires that we the people, decide that we will. It requires that we stop waiting for permission from those in power who do not want us united! It requires that we stop accepting division as inevitable and start treating unity as non-negotiable. It requires that we look our children in the eye and make a binding commitment to build the nation they will be proud to inherit, starting today.
The choice is ours. The movement begins with us. One tribe. One nation. One future. Let us build it.
(“Tribe” here is used deliberately, reclaimed from the wounds of distrust and division. Originally, tribe bound Africans together in kinship, trust, and loyalty. Tribe is strong; tribal unity is stronger.)
