Still on Jos crisis
Written by Leo Igwe Monday, 08 March 2010
Plateau, a state once known for peace, tolerance and harmony - by both ‘indigenes’ and ‘settlers’ has been plagued by an orgy of hatred, hostility and bloodshed in recent times. The latest outbreak of violence left hundreds of people dead and thousands injured or displaced.
Many people have presented the crisis as an ‘isolated’, state-backed cleansing of Muslim minority by Christian majority. They have tried to play down on the criminality, violence and carnage of Maitatsine, Boko Haram and other jihadist groups in other states of Northern Nigeria.
Some have attributed the problem to the hostile and volatile relationship between indigenes and the mainly Hausa-Fulani Muslim settlers in the state. No doubt, this is a major factor in the crisis in Plateau. But, there is more to it than anyone would make us understand. It is not only in Plateau State that we often experience some tension been indigenes and settlers. Such tensions occur in many states across the nation. So, why has the situation in Plateau turned to be a recurrent nightmare in the last few years?
Many analysts have made it look as if Plateau State is enthnically homogenous. That the indigenes are of an ethnic group, while the settlers belong to one ethnic group. This is not the case. Plateau State is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. In fact, Plateau is one of the most ethnically diverse states in the country. The same is applicable to the settlers in Plateau. They come from different ethnic backgrounds-Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Tiv, etc. The Hausa-Fulanis are not the only settlers in Plateau. What many analysts have not tried to find out is the reason the recent conflicts in Plateau have mainly been between the ‘indigenes’ and Hausa-Fulani settlers, not with the Yoruba, Igbo or Tiv settlers in the state.
Some people have made it seem as if all the ‘indegenes’ of Plateau State profess one religion-Christianity, while the settlers belong to another religion-Islam. This is not the case. Plateau State is religiously diverse. There are Christians, Muslims, Animists and adherents of other faiths and beliefs. Though, Christians are at the majority, that does not rule out the fact that there are indigenes of Plateau who profess other faiths, including Islam. And Muslim indigenes have been living in peace with the Christian and Animist counterparts for decades. The settlers also come from different religious backgrounds- Islam, Christianity, traditional religion, etc. So, the question is this: Why is it that the conflicts have been between the Plateau indigenes-of different ethno-religious backgrounds and the Hausa-Fulani Muslim settlers?
The conflict in January was the latest in the series of clashes between the indigenes and Hausa-Fulani Muslim settlers. To draw one’s conclusion from this incident alone, without making reference to other past cases of ethno-religious bloodbath in Plateau and other states of Northern Nigeria would not be balanced. I agree with those who said that the Muslim settlers’ community sustained heavy casualities in the latest outbreak of violence. But, anyone who has been following the conflicts in Jos and Plateau State as a whole would know that the local community, including settlers from other ethnic and religious backgrounds has recorded heavy casualities in the past. In fact, it was reported that Muslim militants, wearing army uniforms started the killings in January.
Many analysts have failed to point out the role of fanatics and militants from the Muslim settlers’ community in the recurrent ethno-religious carnage in Plateau State, since 2001. Personally, I see a kind of connection between the crisis in Plateau and the wave of Islamic fanaticism, political and jihadist Islam sweeping across Northern Nigeria.
Since 1999, the imposition and implementation of sharia law by Muslim majority states have escalated tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Northern Nigeria. Muslim politicians elected by the people used their positions to foist Islamic theocracy on the entire population, including indigenes and settlers from different ethno-religious backgrounds. Non-muslims were forced to live under sharia law by state governments, that donned the ‘islamic partisan cassock’.
In some states in Northern Nigeria, like Kaduna and Bauchi, the imposition of sharia law sparked religious riots, clashes and cleansing. Non-muslims, particularly those in other Northern but non-sharia implementing states have been living in fear, suspicion and mistrust, particularly of Muslim politicians. They are afraid of voting them into power or of supporting them politically, because they could use their positions to impose sharia law and promote Islam.
So, what appears to some people as the Christian partisanship of the Plateau State government is a reaction to the Islamic partisanship that holds sway in most states in Northern Nigeria. What we have in Plateau is a situation where militant Islam has led to the emergence of militant christianity. Political Islam had bred political Christianity. The Islamic partisanship in Muslim majority states has caused the emergence of Christian partisanship in Plateau and in other Christian majority states in the country.
The crisis in Plateau is intricately linked to, and caused by the political and jihadist Islam that prevails in Northern Nigeria. The Plateau butchery cannot be resolved without rooting out militant and political Islam. Muslim politicians must stop using elective positions to further Islamic agenda and implement Islamic law. Muslim politicians must learn to uphold democracy and universal human rights, and stop foisting Islamic theocracy on the people.
Section 10 of the Nigerian Constitution says that, “No part of the Federation or state should adopt any religion as state religion.”Politicians in Plateau and other states in Northern Nigeria should learn to steer religion away from politics. They should learn to keep mosque, church and state separate. Some people have called for the perpetrators of the latest Plateau butchery to be brought to book. But, I think this should apply , not only to those who orchestrated the killings in January, but also all those responsible for the religious attacks and carnage in Plateau since 2001, including those groups and individuals from the neighbouring states who have been supplying militants on both sides with army uniforms arms and mercenaries.
Igwe lives in Ibadan
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