The Managing Editor of Blueprint Newspapers, Mr Clem Oluwole, Tuesday lamented that tribalism and ethnicity have caused serious damage in Nigeria.
Consequently, he called on all Nigerians to see themselves as one.
Oluwole, who was flanked by the editor of the paper, Mallam Abdulrauf Abdulrahman, spoke when some members of a nongovernmental organisation, Female Advocacy for Inter-Ethnic Relations (FAIRER), paid a courtesy visit to the corporate headquarters of the Blueprint newspapers in Abuja.
He decried a situation in which some Nigerians feel alienated when they did not see their tribal person in any setting they found themselves. He stated that he has benefited immensely as a non-indigene of Plateau state as a third –time member of the state’s Sport Council.
Oluwole also noted that Nigerians are united outside the country and queried why they could not extend the same to one another in the country. He added that tribalism had caused the country damages.
“Tribalism and ethnicity are parts of the problems we have in this country. In Nigeria today, some Nigerians will feel alienated when they do not see anybody that speaks their language or come from their tribe. But outside Nigeria, all Nigerians see themselves as one,’’ he said.
He assured the visiting team of the paper’s maximum support in projecting its programmes and policies.
Also, the editor, Mallam Abdulrauf Abdulrahman, advocated that non-indigenes who had lived in a place for a very long time should be recognised as integral part of their host communities. He assured the visitors of media support.
Earlier, the Lead Advocate, FAIRER Campaign, Zubaiba Baba Ibrahim, called on the Nigerian media to increase its advocacy on the promotion of ‘one Nigeria’, and cautioned that ethnic profiling by some media practitioners should be jettisoned.
Zubaiba, who was accompanied by the Anchor of the campaign, Asouzu Chiamaka Glory, the campaign manager, Nafisat Bello and Business Development Manager (Image Merchants Promotion), Saad Yushau, also sought the media support in the promotion of the positive side of all the ethnicities in the country.
