I personally find this debate about the term "tribe" unfruitful and
regressive. Few contermporary Africanists use the word "tribe" in formal
discourse because of connotations of primordialism. The term "tribe" might
indeed be appealing to some of us with certain ideological leanings.
Unfortunately, not only is the term outdated in its usage, but it's also
considered offensive. So why not resort to more universally accepted terms
like peoples and ethnic groups? It doesn't take much effort, does it?
Fikru Gebrekidan