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LIFESTYLE: Ethnocentrism Amongst Africans: Is Any Tribe Or Nationality Superior?

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I am sure this article will be another opportunity to spark conversation amongst readers.  The Webster Dictionary’s definition of Ethnocentrism is characterized by or based on the attitude that one’s own group is superior.
I believe this article is important because this issue is prevalent amongst Africans in regards to our ethnicities.  In college, most of my friends were Ghanaians, Nigerians, Ivorian’s, Burundians, and Zambians.
I also had many friends outside the African continent.  However, I must say that I never encountered this issue amongst my outside friends than Africans.
On one occasion, after a study break, my Nigerian friends would initiate a debate on whose culture is superior.  Though I was never interested in participating, I listened.
In detail, my Nigerian friends would say that Nigerians are superior to other African’s, especially Ghanaians, due to their ability to be successful in business, their level of intelligence, their rise to independence, extreme wealth, and beautiful light skinned women.
I was offended but realized their way of thinking was probably considered normal and embedded as a child to adulthood.
Nevertheless I rebutted the fact that Ghana was the first nation to gain its independence in West Africa in 1957, Ghana is not infamous for breaking international laws regarding 419 scams and white collar crimes, and that Ghana is wealthy in natural resources and beauty.
My continuous refutes seemed to embarrass them so that ended the debate.  But I also explained that ethnically, African’s are all rich in culture and beauty and not one group is superior to another- at least in my opinion.
What is your response to this issue?  Do you think your ethnicity is superior to other African groups?
Even within our own country-Ghana, I have come across people who think their ethnicity is superior. Some Northerners think they are far better than Voltarians, some Voltarians think they are better than the Ga people.  And some Akans think, they are superior and rise above all…
Have you ever come across anyone from Ghana or outside Ghana with such ethnocentric mentality? What has your experience been?
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0 thoughts on “LIFESTYLE: Ethnocentrism Amongst Africans: Is Any Tribe Or Nationality Superior?”

  1. I hate to think of myself as ethnocentric but I think we all have it in us. For me, I do not plainly think my tribe or ethnicity is superior however, I have my own reservation about them. I cannot marry anyone who is not from my country or tribe.
    Also, some of the customs or dressing of people form other tribes or African countries seem bush or not pleasant to me.
    When I was a child growing up in Ghana, we used to laugh at Ewes in school and all that. I will not do that now as an adult but I still think I cannot be with some tribes.
    I guess I am still ethnocentric but maybe not as strong or I am a cultured ethnocentric 

    Reply
    • @Sweety, how old r u”..but ur president is northern”and the country is rule by thems so what bi ur problem”. i love Islam cox there”is anythin like am asante.ewe,ga or fante”they r all muslim brothers no different lauguage only the islamic in the whole world”.

      Reply
  2. lol, u guys must really hav a problem with us, nigerians. Once i saw the headline i knew its something to vilify the nigerians , just a tongue-in-cheek attack and an invitation to ur ghanian brothers to ”war”. Wateva, weda we are ethnocentric or not, who cares. Advance fee fraud, terrorism, poverty, or not, i’ll always ”thank God am a nigerians”. Naija for life.

    Reply
    • @marcel, are u done???If yes clap for urself if u read the article properly which I don’t think u did u wld realise he asked a question and gave his personal experience on the issue but u just come here spew all this nonsense from ur mouth.Grow up and leave an insightful comment otherwise just move along

      Reply
  3. I don’t think am superior than any person. Is only shallow minded bigots who will believe they are are superior than the other. Black Africans are noted for ethnocentrism This has caused wars and many has lost their lives on large scales.

    Reply
  4. Ask yourself this; which continent in the world has so many civil wars founded on ethnicity? AFRICA!
    Africans are not only Ethnocentric, we think less of women (Sexual discrimination), We (one group) think our religion is far better than the other…PURE ABSURIDITY ..
    If an African is a Christian, then he thinks his/her religion is the best…Same way if an African is a Muslim, he thinks his/her religion is the best or superior…
    Any division that exists among us, be it religion, ethnicity or colour becomes a division when we begin to give it more root than it deserves…
    It is everywhere in Africa, every African is guilty of this…In Ghana, most tribes think less of the others… In Nigeria,  the same,  in Sierra Leone, it is worse…
    You know why we are like this? We have never been able to understand humanity, we don’t understand our existence, we don’t even understand the world we live in and the things that surround us…We think we exist purely because of some religious God or some ancestral protection or our divine superiority over others…
    If we do not begin to see that, our long survival as Africans can only be secured when we begin to protect each other, see each other as equally great and relegate all these sort of differences-be it religion, ethnicity, cultural or whatever, in the next 100’s of years, we will be no more…we will kill ourselves, starve ourselves to death and all that…
    As the whites are fighting to bring themselves together by getting closer to each other like never before (Eg..European Union), Africans continue to thicken our differences, fighting each other within our own countries, bombing one another…
    SAD!

    Reply
  5. I like this topic but i think your nigerian friends got it wrong because  Ethnocentrism leads us to make false assumptions about cultural differences we are ethnocentric when we use our cultural norms to make generalizations about other peoples’ cultures and customs such generalisations often made without a conscious awareness that we’ve used our culture as a universal yardstick can be way off base and cause us to misjudge other peoples your Nigerian friends debate was not base on Ethnocentrism but more of egocentrism seems like he loves his country more and was defending it as well but I think Ghana more superior everywhere you go no matter what country people seems to know Ghana more followed by south Africa, Namibia nigeria etc 

    Reply
  6. we also have African Union here in africa which brings us together. i believe this whole ethno centric stuff is not only prevalent in africabut everywhere around the globe. the United states believe it is the most powerfulcountry in the world China same and other things. people just want others to know they are proud of where they are from and end up being ethnocentric. if u proud of where you from just dont compare!!

    Reply
  7. Ethnocentrism is a natural way of life among ALL diverse peoples.
    The White American believes that he’s more superior than European whites,especially the British. In Europe,the British, Russians and Germans compete over who’s more superior. I believe this has more to do with ‘bragging rights’,not necessarily to be taken too serious.
    Yes we Nigerians brag a lot, but we don’t expect other countries to take it to heart,it’s FUN to us. Cos even among siblings for the same family,we compete.
    The motto here should be, ‘Brag your own,I brag my own’. Simple!  
    Nigerians are awesome though. LOL
    Read: 10 Ways to create a Nigerian Hit Song
    http://mrstanleynwabia.blogspot.com/2012/08/10-ways-to-create-nigerian-hit-song.html

    Reply
  8. I am a proud EWE but i dont see myself with akans and northeners no offence but that is my prefference. I think we are all equal, and this nigerians are just jealous of ghanaians. they feel so intimidated of a small country called ghana

    Reply
    • @sarah, Do u really believe in what u just posted or u said it just to start one of dem Naija vs Ghana online sessions? I was in your country a couple of years back and when i saw the number of Nigerian banks doing big business in ur country,believe me JEALOUSY was the last thing on my mind. You do know that most of their profits after tax returns to Naija,dont u? Ok,now I’ve bragged,ur turn.
      Hey,here’s a hint Ghana’s Alomo Bitters is quite big in Nigeria, use that in ur ‘braggin’ reply to me. :))

      Reply
      • @Black Nigerian, any Ghana man would be scared to bank with a nigerian bank. We are very keen to patronise our own tiny rural banks.
         Please let’s have a rational debate  here.  And stop this  ghana verses nigeria nonsense

        Reply
    • @sarah, don’t forget that you are a Trokosi girl any Akan will never marry you is even a taboo for any Akan to marry a Trokosi girl get this fact into your empty box don’t you know that all the histories in ghana  are Akan histories especially the Asantes where were you Trokosi people  aka Ewes by then?  listen Ewes are slaves and they will be slaves till thy kingdom come why are you so jealous about Akans? i have heard so many Ewes saying if they are Asantes they will thank God but barely an Asante people will say that to be frank we are proud of ourselves is even a taboo for an Asante to say that if he or she is an Ewe he or she will thank God. Ewes should stop comparing themselves to Akans we are a head of them Heaven even knows Akans are not slaves but they are.

      Reply
  9. I believe as Black nigerian said everybody has some level of ethnocentrisim in him/her but it is the degree of it that can be judged to be harmless fun or serious issue.To feel inferior to someone else is a state of mind we all have strength and weakness within our culture but that is what makes us unique.

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  10. I really wish we didn’t have this canker called tribalism but, unfortunately, ethnocentrism is here to stay, and we as Africans will suffer tremendously from it. If we can eschew tribalism and promote tolerance and unity I believe we can become a potential threat to western domination in world economy. Africa’s prosperity & progress rely’s on unity. Without unity we will remain in perpetual poverty, and in world economy, we will always be at the bottom of the list. By the way, how can we unite and become one people when some of our politicians are using divide and rule tactics to further deepen our already sour inter-tribal relationship? I want to be honest with you guys, Nigerians really think they’re better than ghanaians, I witnessed this argument first hand from most of my Nigerian friends but, we all know it’s not true. However, in our own country Ghana, Ashanti’s think they are superior or better than all the other tribes. Some Ashanti’s actually believe that Ghana belongs to them. I remember asking one Ashanti guy why they think they’re better than other tribes? his answer was” because of their rich culture/history. He also said that, Ashanti region has Gold and moreover their region is more develop than most regions in Ghana. At that point I just didn’t want to argue with him anymore because I realize how ignorant he was. There are so many people walking around with this false sense of superiority. they want you to think that they’re better than you but in reality they are nobody. I once told a guy that, the tribe he comes from doesn’t automatically  make him better than anyone. As far as I’m concern, no one is superior or better than me I don’t care what race, religion or tribe you come from. It is about that time we stand up and exterminate tribalism completely out of the system but how can we do it when some of our educated elite are the ones perpetuating it? 

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  11. None is superior,none is inferior.Those who claim to be superior are suffering from an inferiority complex,and they try to talk themselves out of the inferiority complex by claiming superiority.Consider God/the Gods and man;God/the Gods cannot go about announcing to mankind that they r superior to man,b/c they r superior n they know it.Man,on the other hand has tried over generations to either prove the none existence of God/the Gods or prove that they can do without God/the Gods.Why/because deep inside we know God/the Gods r superior to us.The same with those who claim their ethnicity/nation/race is superior.

    Reply

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