By Dike Chukwumerije
One of the most persistent questions I have faced in my career as a Spoken Word Poet Advocate for One Nigeria is this, “What impact have you had? What impact can Art have on a matter like this in Nigeria?” And up till 5 years ago, I had no empirical basis for responding. But in 2011, the African Polling Institute released their first National Social Cohesion (NSC) Index, scoring Nigeria a low 38%. In their latest poll, that score has risen to 48% – a 10 basis point rise in 5 years. Not because governance or living conditions have changed, but because of civic interventions, like the one I do. So, yes, art and advocacy is making a difference.
Once, during a civic session, I presented participants with four identity categories. I asked, personalizing the question with my own ethnic group and asking responders to do the same, ‘Which are you – an Igbo, an Igbo-Nigerian, a Nigerian-Igbo, or a Nigerian?’ Many looked confused. One even said, ‘Dike, you have come again…’ But the 2025 NSC poll shows that, today, a question like this, about identity, and the tensions between ethnic and national identity, is answerable. For the first time in 5 years, over half of us are putting being Nigerian above, or beside, our ethnicity. At 52% this is a small, but significant, step in the direction of One Nigeria.
Because the poll also shows that our sense of polarization is growing. That is, we are growing more aware of our differences. And that tolerance – the practical art of getting along – is still problematic for us. But the willingness to co-exist is growing. And that is positive. Because it renders the question former Governor Babatunde Fashola asked on the Platform – ‘Are we a nation?’ – slightly redundant. For, whether you are part of a mono-ethnic nation (like Somalia) or a multi-ethnic country (like Switzerland), what truly matters, in terms of stability, is whether you are, first, WILLING to coexist with the other. The willingness to coexist – as I teach in my civic education classes – is the irreducible minimum in social stability, not kinship or blood ties.
But a foundation is not yet a habitable building. To it, we must add the social skills and resources that make peaceful coexistence attainable. In a TedxTalk I gave in 2017, I spoke about this. That one important resource modern Nigerians need is new narratives around historical sources of inter-ethnic tensions, from the actions of our founding fathers, to the coups of 1966, and the years of Civil War. These incidents created toxic stereotypes about other groups that endure to this day. And mainstream narratives around them must be systematically replaced with fresh and wholesome, but still credible and historically-accurate, ones.
A second important resource is curated opportunities for Nigerians, particularly young Nigerians, to meet and meaningfully interact across ethnic, religious and regional lines. Over a century after the amalgamation, it is still common to find a Nigerian from the North that has never been to the South, or a Nigerian from the South that has never been to the North; an Igbo (with strong views about Fulani) who has never actually had a deep conversation with a Fulani person, or a Fulani (with strong views about Igbo) who has never actually sat down and really talked with one. I know this from firsthand experience, as a performing poet who has consciously travelled the country with his art. Unity cannot stop at intention, it must become a willingness to reach across the divide and build actual bridges.
And this is where, if the political will is present, Political Power has a significant role to play. Because poverty is fodder for xenophobia, and people without dignifying economic opportunities will make strangers their first targets. So, as aptly recommended by this year’s NSC report, Government must make social cohesion a priority. Not just in statements, but in policy making, institutional design, and outcome tracking. Because one conflagration ignited by identity-related tensions can reverse decades of development. And, ultimately, there is no political capital greater than this – to have a population willing, AND able, whenever it counts, to rise above differences and focus on the national interest. This is what every truly patriotic leader must aspire to, and proactively enable, if a country is to ever to reach its full potential.
