Social media commentator and relationship coach Solomon Buchi has condemned the growing influence of tribalism in Nigeria’s electoral process.

His reaction followed a statement from a social media user who declared that he would vote for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election simply because both are Yoruba, even while acknowledging that Peter Obi might be a better choice.

The netizens said, “I’m a Yoruba, I have to vote for Yoruba. I can’t betray my path. That’s just the reason. Peter Obi might try, but I will still vote for Tinubu, as per say he’s Yoruba, and I’m also Yoruba. Let’s all vote for a better country. I won’t advise you to go for Tinubu. Go for your choice. Whoever enters, enters.”

Reacting to the statement, Buchi expressed frustration with such reasoning, describing it as one of Nigeria’s fundamental problems.

“This is one of the problems of Nigeria. You can see him acknowledging that Peter Obi might try, but I’ll vote for Tinubu because I’m a Yoruba person. Tribalism runs so deep that’s why I don’t even care about racism in this country that I live in, the United Kingdom, because I know that the tribalism I face in Nigeria is way worse than the racism I have ever faced since I came to the UK,” he said.

He further argued that voting based on ethnicity does not shield anyone from the consequences of poor governance.

“Your tribe will not exempt you. If you vote for Tinubu because you are a Yoruba, when things are tough for everyone, it will not be easy for you because you are Yoruba. What a lot of Nigerians don’t understand is that these politicians play divide and conquer. They use tribal sentiments, they try to divide us into different factions, so that we will fight ourselves, but they themselves on the top, they don’t fight themselves based on tribe,” Buchi added.

He also noted that tribalism in Nigeria is more damaging than any racism he has encountered abroad, and criticized the willingness of some voters to sacrifice national progress for ethnic representation.

“He’s willing to suffer just because he wants to vote somebody from his tribe. He’s willing to sell the future of his children, the future of Nigeria, just because he wants to vote for somebody from his tribe. You can tell that he does not care about competence. All he cares about is a representation of just a fraction of his identity. By the way, tribe is just a fraction of your identity. How about values? It’s possible that someone is from your tribe but they don’t share values like national integration, like unity, like infrastructural development,” he concluded.