Do not inherit your parents version of the world, their generation is past - Teniola Esan

My late mother had a phobia for Benin people. Unfortunately, she had a terrible experience decades ago in Benin city. She told me the story a lot about how she was almost kidnapped. But that was her reality...it was not mine.

My reality was different: I attended the great UNIBEN (university of Benin). I was taught by a highly educated law faculty of majorly Edo/Benin lecturers; I had alot of Edo/benin classmates and friends who I treasure dearly till today. Whenever i meet someone in lagos who is from Edo/Benin, I greet them warmly like my own blood.

As Nigerian youths I am sure each and everyone of us has sometimes heard our parents say
something negative about another tribe before. They sometimes speak from their own experience and sometimes also they channel the experiences of others who they hear from. However, if you do not consciously investigate such prejudices, you run the risk of becoming narrow minded. "Igbo's are criminals" (as if there are no criminals in your town) "Hausa's are wicked" (as if all your tribe are mother Theresa), Edo people are witches (as if there is no shrine in your own village)
A few bad eggs doesn't spoil a whole poultry. For everything you accuse another tribe of, yours is as guilty.
Some people are not quite exposed. So very often their only knowledge of other tribes, cultures or people is what they are constantly told by people around them. Some people are born in kebbi, primary school kebbi, secondary school kebbi, university Kebbi, holiday travel to Birnin-Kebbi. They never see the world outside their own little corner. This lack of exposure sometimes prevents them from assessing other peoples behaviours fairly. It is only when they get to NYSC that they are forced to see the rest of Nigeria and even then they will still apply for redeployment back to their little corner of the world. (See why I support programs like NYSC)

For example, I used to think all Hausa's were Muslim. Most people think so too. Until I got to law school and ended up with 3 Hausa roommates Garba Ibn Ali, Jonathan (pronounced Yonathan) and Abbas. They were from University of Maiduguri.
Their accents were so thick I struggled to hear what they were saying when I first met them. I slept with one eye open that night, cos I had never had to spend the night with northerners before. Can you imagine how shocked I was when I woke up in the morning and one of them was playing DON MOEN!!!!??? That day changed my entire orientation of northerners forever.

A friend of mine was eager to get married. She brought home an Igbo guy and her father refused him simply because he was Igbo. No amount of pleading would change his mind. My friend just went to registry and quietly married the love of her life. Today they are happily married. He is a good guy.

Do not inherit your parents version of the world. Their generation is past. Tribalistic sentiment is narrow minded, destructive and prejudicial.

Negative ethnic sentiment is a communicable disease that is passed down from a narrow mind to a narrow mind, and sometimes it goes from parent to children.

You must consciously fight it just the way your immune system fights against bacteria. Every time some one says "Yoruba's are....", Igbos are.... Edo people are...." You just consciously reject such negative assessment. All Moslems are not terrorists. Stop the hate. Hausa's are humble unselfish people with good hearts. Igbo's are hardworking and enterprising people with good music too, Edo people make lovely food (I miss black soup, egusi peppersoup and starch+banga), Deltas are funny people and very lively and jovial, and last of all Yoruba's are educated,, intelligent and peaceful.

...oh yeah, we also love parties.