Those walls made out of stereotypes need to be broken down.

Ever had that encounter where someone you just met had a first impression/opinion about you before they had a chance at a proper first impression? Thats called stereotyping.

I consider it quite the heavy word..Stereotyping. With an equally heavy meaning. The Merriam Webster Dictionary describes it as: to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same. You know, like that belief/opinion that all Chinese people are short or that Igbo folk love money etcetera. Recently, i had a think on that word and realized, everyone, absolutely everyone is a victim (not necessarily guilty) of one stereotype or another...Conversely, every single one of us practices stereotyping. Seriously, think about it. We all have a pre-conceived notion about so many things, groups of people or tribes and cultures and more often than not, these notions are based on an unfair or ill-informed generalization of a group of people, religion etcetera, thanks to one or two bad eggs.

One very common form of stereotyping here in Nigeria is by tribe. Believe it or not, for every time you get asked what your state of origin is, the person asking already has a pre-conceived idea of who you might be based on your answer. Igbo: You like money. Hausa: Lazy politician who loves Manchester United. Yoruba: lackadaisical Owambe addict. So imagine coming from my state (Benue), you know the stereotype...i might as well be wearing an Olympic gold medal for bedroom decathlons seeing as we have a reputation for being very procreative and or promiscuous. I personally take offense at this stereotype. How does one even back such a branding of a people up with facts? Is it that back then in Tiv land (circa pre-stereotype), the village had just one well and said well happened to be laced with a very strong aphrodisiac that is able to lay undiminished in the Tiv peoples blood stream even centuries later? The irrefutable truth is that promiscuity is a problem that has befallen most as a result of the nature of our flesh. It is weak. We are weak hence, WE fall prey to lustful desires. Obviously by ‘WE’ I do not mean Tiv girls or Calabar girls, I mean every man and woman that let's he or herself be controlled by the lustful desires of his or her flesh.

There are other stereotypes common to this part of the world. Some I consider outright stupid, some just funny. Though I must mention that not all stereotypes are negative. Some are actually flattering like the one that says all Yoruba women are endowed with voluminous hind sides. Considering most women would do anything for that curvaceous look I guess that is one stereotype Yoruba women would be proud of right?

One I hear every day and that I find all types of annoying is that ‘women are bad drivers’. Guess that explains all the Lagos-Ibadan expressway road mishaps or Lokoja-Abuja ones. Obviously women now drive cross country. Quite frankly, women are the more careful drivers. Naturally there is no science to prove this fact but considering 8 out of every 10 accidents I see all over Abuja for example involves men and boys i’d say women are the safer bet. So imagine how annoying it is when every time someone behind the wheel of a car makes a careless turn, some punk guy goes  ' na woman'.

The one I think every Abuja girl can relate to is that ‘All Abuja girls are runs girls’. For the benefit of those who don't know what "runs" means, in a nut shell, a ‘Runs’ girl is that girl who contrary to the name requires little or no running. She has no job or has one but the salary is basically the price of the cheapest DSTV bouquet subscription fee but surprisingly, she can afford everything from the most expensive premium DSTV bouquet to trips abroad because she performs “favours” for countless Man friends or Men friends in all the high places. You won’t find that definition in Merriam Webster or any dictionary but you get my point right? The Jury is still out on which state boasts the runs boys stereotype though.

All said and done, call me sexist or feminist but i think women are stereotyped the most (as if we did not already have a world of problems to deal with), but before this post becomes too long, one stereotype most women consider spot on is the one that brands all men dog..No be me talk am o but i think who ever came up with that deserves an award; and if they are dead, we’ll make it post-humous..kidding. But truth be told,  sad or funny as it is, not all men cheat and I refuse to be of that mind set, because the thing about stereotyping is - if we give in to it, we eventually accept that generalised misconception and it starts to mould the way we relate with people of the opposite sex, tribe or religion of which said stereotype is targeting.

Like i said earlier, some stereotypes can be rather humorous (like the one that tells us.. if them be chinese or Japanese them sabi Kung-fu), but there are those ones that can be rather scathing of defamatory. Example, thanks to some heavily misguided individuals, now every Abdul, Suleiman and Bashir is stereotyped a potential threat..especially when they are heavily bearded or garbed in their traditional regalia.

Fact, People are flawed, people make mistakes but until you have had direct dealings with one individual, and understood their predicament then hold your assumptions and if you cannot manage that, do not let the stereotype taint your impression of any and every individual. Learn from the experiences of others if need be, but do not come to hasty conclusions, especially when dealing with many.
See the good in people. Stay positive

Feel free to leave your comments on popular stereotypes you may have heard or labeled.