There is something interesting about the human nature- it gets modified by circumstances. However, there are certain people who would only be modified in the area of the means and not the end. Whether they are more human or less human, it is a topic of discourse that does not interest me to the least. Whether it is a good news or a bad one, I do not know. What I know is that I belong to the category of those who don't lose the means and the end to the turbulence of circumstance at a time.

The issue of ethnicity and religion are very sensitive in a nation like ours. My ardent readers must have noticed that I am always extra careful in subjecting any of them to public discourse or intellectual discourse. Just like same sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia. I am human- one of the 'rebels' who seek to tilt more to the side of reason (logic) than convention. I think that we were given brains, so that we can let God 'hear word' sometimes. You don't cry to Him because you want a cup of water or need fix your buckle. In the same vein, I do strike a balance between logic and public policy- early in life, I realized you have to tell people what they want to hear in order to have the audience to tell them what they need to here. If it sounds proverbial, I think that it is.

I have not for once fixed the tiles of any negative puzzle to a tribe or religion in Nigeria. At least, not that I can remember. Though, I have observed certain inimical acts that are peculiar to people from given areas, but I always seek to attach it to either the human nature as a whole or circumstance- that is the public policy part of me at play. But for the sake of record, I think that 'most' of those practicing the two key religions in Nigeria need reexamine themselves. In a bid to extend the tentacles of one, the believers in it can be highly insensitive sometimes. On the other hand, those on the other side can be highly intolerant. Perhaps, those guilty of these do not know that the motive of religion is not to push humanity into extinction. I will pause on that.

On ethnicity, on many occasions, I have witnessed the people from my tribe making comments that were unbecoming of other tribes. Wait! They do it to us too- they lambaste us and associate us with different negative attitudes. However, the paragraph you just read was not meant to justify the penultimate. It is only a comparison and justification of my worry- a worry that has a touch of anger. Last night, one of those meant to clean my hall here in camp entered the toilet and came out with a stridency of insulting clatters- they have done it again, the graduates whose years of education could not afford the least of etiquette, even in the toilet. In their case, the presumption of sanity is highly rebuttable. Perhaps, their finding themselves among human is synonymous with an accidental discharge from a rifle- it was not well-thought out nor planned. They age, but never grow, and with them, the compass of decency indicates North when they face South. They did defecate in the sink this time around!

The disgusting development was reported to the soldiers in camp. Soon enough, there were news here and there that the soldiers promised to come like a thief in the night and instill some senses in us through punishment. For those of us who have it, common sense is never enough, we would be fed more. Immediately, some youth corp members in the room started speaking in their language- obviously, insulting and maligning whoever it was that did such. Then at a point, the word 'Yoruba' started evolving in the midst of their utterances. For me, l felt something not too pleasant was being said about my tribe, but still, it is a waste of energy to unleash the god of emotion when fact is lacking. I could read the faces of other friends from the Yoruba tribe- they felt the same, but they bottled up their dissent. When it was getting too much and prolonged, most dashed out. Perhaps, to avoid a clash, but I lied still on my bed, pretending to be carried away by whatever it was that I was doing with my NYSC camp. Then feeling free with the believe that I belong to their tribe or maybe the darkness did not allow them see me on my bed, this collective children of anger chorused different inflammatory statements at a time. The statements included but not limited to 'Yoruba, dirty people!' 'The tribe of cowards ran away because soldiers dey come.' They then climaxed at their short pathetic tribal masturbation with a bout of menacing laughter. Never before have I felt that Nigeria's mistake is in making 'us' one. I felt pained, and that moment changed something. It changed the means, but again, not the end. Immediately, I linked the picture to why I ended all forms of communication with a lady from the same tribe as these irritating people- she wanted me to go for someone from the tribe and when I asked to know why, her reply was that 'I should not go for those dirty girls with stretch marks in my tribe.' She said that on phone, I wanted to suggest that she see a psychiatrist, but I did not.

On different online fora, it is no exception. Issues that call for intelligent discourse and collective examination irrespective of tribe, social status, sex and religion are murdered by irritating tribal comments in a blink of an eye. For real, I do not feel the satisfaction that comes anymore when I say that 'we are one.' I have discussed my experience here as a member of a tribe, but I am aware that other people from other tribes encounter same too all the time. It is getting to a stage where to say that we are one would be pretentious, hypocritical and deceitful- our being one is actually the reason for some people's anger, frustration and according to them, the reason why they are still lagging behind. For God sake, can't offensive tribal or ethnic remarks be criminalised to avert the looming danger it indicates?

People like me are starting to feel abnormal- that is to use a fair language. Abnormal that we place humanity above our ethnic groups, religion or sex. Abnormal that being a Nigerian holds sway with us than being a Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa or any other tribe. We feel abnormal because our efforts to live up to the expectations that most anomalies in our fatherland is ours to address are being frustrated by some of us- the armies of the ethnic barracks and religious warlords. We ran the race against ethnic bias with hope in our eyes and the love of others in our minds, hoping we would be glad we did. But now, just now, we are feeling the race has been a lost one so far.

Again, that night, I did maintain my silence because I lack the strength to address uncultured talkers bluffing in heavy accents in the imaginative attires of their superiority.

The hole has become unpatcheable and the boundary has solidified itself beyond removal. However, some 'moabites' can still find trustworthy companions or even true love in 'Bethlehem Judea'.