Writers 
The Nigerian nation is facing a lot of challenges. These challenges have continued to create different kinds of problems for the people. The greatest among these challenges is the appearance of tribalism and cultism as determinants of identity in the country. The existence of social injustice in the country has further increased the way people are attracted to these two evils. More than 75% of the people live in abject poverty and in order to survive, several people are engaged in unlawful activities.
In a country of about 170 million people and more than 500 different ethnic groups, it is strange that people could embrace tribalism as an ideal. Tribalism simply means preferring the people of your tribe over others or supporting them whether they are right or wrong. It can also mean supporting people you are related to due to family ties, ethnicity, colour, birth place, citizenship, school of thought, or a group of people with common interests.
Tribalism creates a feeling of being superior to others. It maintains that whoever does not belong to the same group with you is inferior. Such an attitude will then lead to arrogance and deliberate oppression of people of other groups or denying them their rights. It is not totally wrong to identify with one’s ethnic group but where such an attachment opposes unity of the whole nation then it should be condemned.
Cultism on the other hand, is entering into an alliance with people of similar interest to pursue common goals of members of the group. The word “cult” is from the Latin “cultus” which means “to associate”. A cult therefore is an association of people for their common interest. Over the years, the word has lost this positive angle. This is because occultism has been added to the various cults and members now enter into satanic bonds to protect themselves and members even if they are involved in crime. Over time, all cults have become safe havens for criminals.
While tribalism and cultism are evil, it appears that cultism is a greater evil than tribalism. Though tribalism undermines development by suppressing merit in favour of mediocrity, cultism goes to the roots of the society and destroys our common humanity. This is because a cultist is bound by allegiance to a demonic structure. A cultist may not hesitate to kill a fellow human being or destroy a whole society if that is the wish of the cult to which he belongs. In Nigeria, cultism has become a force that is more deadly than nuclear bombs.
It is possible to re orientate a tribalist and make him see how our lives depend on the lives of others. It is possible for him to realize that nobody chose his tribe. We were all born into families that claim to belong to one tribe or another; but it is not possible to change a cultist because he has entered into a bond he cannot willingly break. He is therefore dangerous because what he wants is different from what the society wants. A tribalist is thus better than a cultist.
That isn't to agree with either as being entirely good but to state obvious difference in a world of one choice.