Born out of good intentions and aimed at rekindling the fire of unity among Nigerians, the “One Nigeria” themed video powered by Ford Foundation has been received with mixed feelings.
On its own, the video passes a wonderful message that centers on deemphasizing tribal differences and focusing on unifying of characteristics but it was actually a caption used by Star singer, Falz the Bahd Guy, which incensed some Nigerian netizens.
Obviously no stranger to courting unpopular opinion, Star singer, Falz the Bahd Guy shared the video on his Twitter page and captioned it: I am not Yoruba, I am Nigerian. We are one.
This didn’t sit right with some Twitter users who were of the opinion that your tribal identity is what validates your national identity as a Nigerian and that it is a lack of equity based on class, ethnicity, gender and religion that is actually the source of disunity in the country and not tribal identity.
Ford organization was not left out in the online crossfire as some posited that the endpoint of this seemingly noble crusade is the loss of language and identity.
On the bright side, like P.T. Barnum said, “There is no such thing as bad publicity’ and Ford Foundation can console itself with this fact.
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