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No One Is African. No One Is Nigerian.
Last week I was having lunch with a friend who is from Nigeria. We were talking about how people from Africa never identify themselves as "African." This is like how North Americans never identify themselves as North Americans, but from the constituent nations.
Then we got to talking about Nigerian identity. It turns out that Nigerians only identify themselves as such when they are outside that country. Inside Nigeria, they primarily identify themselves with their ethinic group, after that by religion.
We also talked about Nigerians discussing this among themselves. The topic is so loaded that Nigerians simply don't discuss Nigerian identity and what it means to be Nigerian. Such an attempt at public discourse could lead to violence, so leaders shy away from this.
I thought that this was fascinating. Anyone familiar with any similar situations abroad?
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