Nigeria and the Dialectics of Multiculturalism

Abstract

In the last chapter of his Science and the Modern World, Alfred Whitehead finely submitted that “a diversification among human communities is essential for the provision of the incentives and material for the Odyssey of the human spirit”. He believed that other tribes or nations of different habits should not be seen as enemies but as godsends since we require of them “something sufficiently akin to be understood, something sufficiently different to provoke attention, and something great enough to command admiration”. One should not expect from them all the virtues. On the contrary “we should even be satisfied if there is something odd enough to be interesting”. He said all these to condemn any ‘Gospel of Uniformity’, and to uphold the values of multiculturalism which is one of those avenues of expression of cultural tolerance and human diversity; a positive way of broadening narrow horizons and exposing people to the wide range of cultural heritages. As a multicultural nation with more than 250 languages and several ethnic groups, Nigeria is such an excellent ground where the various powers and riches of these groups can be orchestrated. However, where the Gospel of ‘one Nigeria’ is interpreted as uniformity by trying to make Nigeria one of the tribes of the multiple tribes, harmonizing the diverse economic, political and religious cultures of its parts, one is persuaded to ask: if the country understands what our origins are and what the principles of multiculturalism mean?