By Kon Eme
All humans have a preconceived bias, that is something we are all aware of. When you first see a person, you first see their appearance. Before you hear them talk, before they even act, you already have some idea of whom you think that person is, just going off how they look. These preconceived biases however become harmful when they veer into stereotypes i.e. judging a person based on generalizations and assumptions about a group of people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, or other factors.
Some very common stereotypes in Nigeria are "Yoruba people are wicked", "Igbo People are greedy", "Hausa People are Boko Haram", "Edo people are witches" and so many others. While these stereotypes can seem funny as an inside joke, it becomes very negative when people outside that demographic use those stereotypes in a harmful and disrespectful way.
These racial stereotypes very easily fuel tribalism in the country. While we may think they are just harmless jokes, we have to consider the people at the receiving end of these 'jokes'. After all, everything is funny until it is about you.
Constant use of these stereotypes reinforces the idea of their truth in your mind. The more you repeat it, the more you believe it. These then unconsciously slip into your everyday speech. Breathing truth into these harmful words and turning something that might have started as a joke into something very toxic and harmful.
Doing your part to destroy these stereotypes means avoiding strengthening them by avoiding using them. Generalizing an entire demographic of people based on the behavior of a few caused more harm than actually providing a categorizing system. Dismantling these stereotypes brings us closer to the intended nation run on peace and unity.
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