The marauding butchers of militant group Boko Haram are still devouring Nigeria. But Africa's most populous nation is under intense strain of the most virulent type: ethnic hate speech. Things have deteriorated so badly that fears of another ethnic war in Nigeria are rapidly rising. Recently, 27 Nigerian writers, concerned about the escalating tensions from different ethnic groups in the country, released a public statement condemning this rising trend of ethnocentric hate speech. Some of the writers include myself, Tade Ipadeola (poet and winner of the 2013 Nigeria Prize for Literature), Kola Tubosun (writer and linguist), Ikhide Ikheloa (writer and critic), Chika Unigwe, (multiple award winning novelist), Abubakar Ibrahim (novelist and winner of the 2016 Nigeria Prize for Literature), among others. The statement reads that: We, the undersigned Nigerian writers, view with grave concern the dominance of ethnic incendiary speech in our country. We are deeply troubled that the public space – both online and offline – has been hijacked by a vocal minority of individuals who promote ethnocentric ideas inimitable to the peace and well being of a majority of citizens. Nigerian citizens have a right to freely express their opinions on governance as enshrined in the Constitution. However, this fundamental right of freedom of speech is being used to disseminate hate speech, which goes contrary to the right itself and the spirit of the Constitution that enshrines it… The “us” against “them” rhetoric that ignited bloodshed of a bestial magnitude since independence has re-surfaced again. A new breed of ethnic entrepreneurs seem hell-bent on causing anarchy for political motives. The lessons of our history are being ignored. Strength in diversity is considered weakness… We strongly believe that no amount of social grievance against the government can justify this level of irresponsible ethnocentric hatred currently being peddled by a growing number of disgruntled groups in this country. Similarly, we are mortified by the initial nonchalance and apparent misguided handling by the authorities of the root cause of hate speech in the country. Hate speech in recent months has come from multiple factions. One troubling example emanates from the south-eastern part of the country, where Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has converted Radio Biafra into a tool that not only facilitates political mobilization around his calls for secession from the Nigerian state, but also as a platform for spewing hate speech directed at his opponents. Broadcasts on Radio Biafra have been characterized by toxic rhetoric aimed at other ethnic groups in Nigeria. The station has described the country as a “zoo” that the IPOB intends to “destroy.” However, Kanu claimed that his reference to Nigeria as a zoo was “to facilitate societal change“. Nigerian blogger Kemi Filani quoted a listener, from a radio show in which people began to call in, actively offering to carry out violent tactics against other ethnic groups: One [caller] actually said, “Hello Director, If Kumuyi steps into Aba, I WILL KILL HIM”. Another caller said he was a technician of sorts and was willing to offer his services to help build a bomb to destroy Nigeria and the Nnamdi character took his number and promised to get in touch with him. The calls kept coming in and it was just caller after caller pledging support for the cause of this deranged man. It didn’t matter that the Nnamdi character sounded rude, arrogant and full of himself and obviously had a thirst for power, it didn’t matter that he was insulting and disrespecting most of the callers who dialed [sic] in, more people kept calling…I couldn’t help but remember that this was exactly how the Boko Haram menace started. First it was just an Islamic preacher who was also doing charity works and feeding his followers, then it grew into a militia that has caused the death of over 15,000 Nigerians and counting… Kumuyi is a Pentecostal preacher and Aba is a city in south-eastern Nigeria. The listener continued, pleading with state authorities to assert control over the situation before “innocent lives” are lost. Nigeria is a federated state with 500 ethnic groups and about 200 languages. But ethnocentric violence has bedeviled the West African nation since independence. The 28 years of military dictatorship in the country suppressed free speech and exacerbated the ethnic divide. Thus everything was viewed from the prism of us versus them. The Nigerian state has been complicit in creating the environment for messages like Kanu's to fester.