Dialects are one of the things that makes us unique as Nigerians, Africans. These dialects are unique that people from same state don't understand one another except they use their common language.
I am a Yoruba man from southwestern part of Nigeria, but i don't understand many dialects from same tribe.
My dialect is 'Ijebu' but this is spoken differently among the people. This makes it hard to understand.
In Ogun State where i come from, we also have the Egbas, those from Abeokuta which is the capital of the state.
They also have confusing dialects among themselves which kind of sound awkward really.
This, i call a barrier. Barrier because language is important but communication is key.
How much of sense can they make if they don't understand themselves? Without a clear communication and understanding, they will likely have dispute over and over again.
If this is among those from same tribe, how much more those from other tribes. We have the Igbo and the Hausa.
Not sure of multiple dialects among the Hausa but i am very sure of it among the Igbo.
They have almost different words/pronunciation for same thing according to their dialect, yet they are from the same Igboland.
It goes on to explain our problem as a country. You wonder how much of understanding we can have in dialogue if our dialects are different.
This differences in dialects is responsible for conflict of interests. It makes people argue base on the interest of their 'people'.
It is funny how people from the same country still have their own people.
Loyalty most times is to their tribes and communities and not to the country.
It brings the question of patriotism. You wonder if we can ascribe the word patriotism to any Nigerian because they mostly support their tribe.
This is evident in how we argue over political appointments that seem to favour one tribe over the other.
If it favours more Igbo, we complain, if it favours the Yoruba or Hausa, we complain.
In essence, nothing like political appointment for Nigerians by Nigerians. Rather, every appointment is viewed from the angle of the tribe the appointees and the appointed come from.
This is a big barrier in Nigeria and i wonder if we can get over it. It explains why some people suggest we should split as a country for more effective communication and growth.
While this is not a wrong argument, the question of readiness is always asked. We still doubt if we are ready for this as a country considering all that are involved for such process to come through.
What can we do to eliminate this barrier? Can we have a one Nigeria without tribalism?
Thanks for your time.