When I Was About To Get Married

The New Diplomat
Writer
Just In: VP Osinbajo Undergoes Surgery 

Ad

Ranked: U.S. Crude Oil Imports by Country

Key Takeaways In 2024, 61.7% of America’s crude oil imports were from Canada. Meanwhile, Mexico accounted for 7.1% of crude oil imports. Crude imports make up about 40% of the oil that is refined in America, much of which is heavier crude compared to America’s light oil. For decades, America was a net importer of…

Alleged N85 Billion Nigeria Air fraud: Ex-Minister Sirika Debunks Allegations

By Abiola Olawale The immediate-past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has spoken on the controversies surrounding the Nigeria Air project, a national carrier initiative that sparked widespread criticism. Speaking during an interview with Channels TV on Wednesday, Sirika dismissed claims of fraud and mismanagement. Sirika, during the interview rejected allegations of fraud, claiming that Nigeria…

Alphabet surges after court rejects DOJ’s call to break up Google in antitrust case

By Obinna Uballa Alphabet shares jumped 6% in premarket trading on Wednesday after a United States court rejected the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) push to break up Google in a high-stakes antitrust case. The DOJ had proposed divesting Google’s Chrome browser and imposing strict restrictions after the company was found last year to hold an…

Ad

By Yemi Osinbajo

In 1989, I was about to get married and I was searching for a good house to rent. I met my landlord, an elderly lawyer who obviously did more real estate than legal practice.

He let me know that there were 3 categories of people he would not rent the property in his care to Ijebus, Igbos and Lawyers. I was disqualified on two accounts. He then said to me, pointing behind him in a few shrivelled-up books on a small bookshelf, that he had the arsenal to destroy any tenant in court if I gave him any trouble.

He later, to his embarrassment, discovered that I was a Law teacher and adviser to the then Attorney General of the Federation and that of course, I am also Ijebu.

I share this to illustrate the point that prejudice and bias are natural aspects of human nature. Everyone has prejudices and preferences that are reinforced by stories and narratives.

Prejudice.

Prejudice is a function of the environment in which one is socialised and the level of exposure that one has. These stereotypes are of course, by the very nature of stereotypes, wild generalisations that are unlikely to hold up if empirical tests are conducted.

Sometimes, we repeat stories so many times that they are soon accepted as facts. When we accept these stories as facts, we shape our judgment of others and entrench bias and prejudice.

However, when ethnic or religious prejudices are weaponised for political purposes, we are confronted with a lethal potentially destructive situation.

NB: Professor Yemi Osinbajo is the vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Ad

X whatsapp