Washington National Cathedral

The modern state of Nigeria originates with the arrival of British traders on the Bight of Benin. In 1861 they established a British presence in the sea port of Lagos which, under the treaty of Cession, was administered as a British colony. From there the British extended their influence into the hinterland and created two protectorates: the Western protectorate (1892) comprising the Yoruba peoples to the west and north of Lagos; the Oil Rivers protectorate (1893) which included the eastern regions as far as the Cameroons. These two protectorates were then united into the single Niger Coast protectorate which united the peoples south of the Niger and Benue rivers. The Hausa and Fulani peoples fell increasingly under the British control, and were finally defeated militarily. In 1903 the Northern protectorate was formed. Under British administration two regions which formerly had little contact were being drawn together. A major step was taken forward when, at the beginning of 1914, the British established a central government in Lagos for the two protectorates. The colony and protectorates of Nigeria-known as Nigeria for short evolved.

For the purpose of this presentation it is helpful to note that at the beginning of this nation state called Nigeria, three systems of government existed: in the far north there was Shari’ah, a separate system of government was operational in the south while in the middle part of the country (southern part of the north) was a mixture of both Shari’ah and customary forms of governance.

By 1958 in the Northern Region as a whole the population was divided between the three religious groups, Muslim, Animist, and Christian as follows:

• Muslims: 11,322,000
• Animists: 4,279,000
• Christians: 547,000

In spite of this huge margin between the Muslim and the other two religious communities, the Christian representatives that appeared before Lord Willink’s Commission noted that, “those who appeared as representatives of Christian bodies stated clearly that they did not wish for any political separation; they did express the hope that the new constitution would embody a statement on human rights which would give religious minorities the freedom to practice their religion and which would specifically lay down that there should be no obstacle to a person changing his religion” (London, 1958:64).

Rational behind our Methodology in Nigeria-North

1. Nigeria was founded as a plural society by which we mean: “a society where people of different religions and faiths live together and interact at all levels without fear or prejudice” (El-Assad, 1989:19).

2. Islamic Law (Shariah) has always been a part of the legal system in Nigeria; the thought of importation does not and should not arise in discussing Nigeria as a country. Commenting on the application of Shari’ah in Northern Nigeria, Lord Lugard had this to say: “…the fundamental law in the Native Moslem courts of Nigeria is the Maliki Code of Mohammedan law…applicable subject to the provision that all judgements and sentences must not be repugnant to natural justice and humanity or to any ordinance…” (Political Memoranda)

3. It is therefore clear that Nigeria has always been and will always remain a country of Christians and Muslims no matter how both faith communities intensify their missionary convictions.

In the light of the above given realities, Nigerian religious, traditional, and some well-meaning political leaders have embarked on some practical steps to encourage peace and peaceful coexistence between Muslim and Christian communities in the various parts of the country. Personally, I have always been intrigued by the relationship between these same two communities in the Western parts of the country more so that in some of the states like Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo, the Muslim community is very significant and yet they have never had any religious crisis that has ever brought about the loss of human lives and destruction of property as we experience in the northern states.

In our research, it has been discovered that the following are some of the reasons for the incessant religious crises in the Northern parts of Nigeria:

1. Muslims and Christians take their religious duties seriously, but they have misconceptions of the tenets and practices of other faiths. In addition, some of the teachers, Imams, and pastors have limited knowledge of their own religions and are quite ignorant of the other religions. Sadly, some of these religious leaders discourage members of their congregations from learning about other faiths.

2. On co-existence it is established that Christians and Muslims have been exposed to a great deal of teachings in this area. However, a significant number of Muslims and Christians in the North is not willing to participate in religious functions inside the places of worship of the other faith community. This is as a result of inaccurate stereotyped and misinformed ideas about each others’ religion. The distrust between these two faith communities in the north has taken a firm root and it is reinforcing animosity between them (Idowu-Fearon, 2008:141f).

Praxis

Based on the above findings we have a good number of both NGOs and FBOs engaged in both conflict prevention and conflict management activities all over the country. Here is a few of such organizations:

1. The Nigeria Interreligious Council is a national organization begun by the two government-recognized religious communities in the country: The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Supreme Council for Islam in Africa (SCIA). The present co-chairpersons are the Roman Catholic archbishop of Abuja who is the current president of CAN and the sultan of Sokoto who is the president general of SCIA. This body receives funding from the federal government to meet on a quarterly basis at the political zonal levels of the country, and joint statements are made by both presidents to condemn crises in the country that claim to be religious. More recently are the statements made during the crisis in Jos, plateau state and Maiduguri against the Boko Haram massacre, which turned out to have positively impacted the two communities in the country. The meetings between these two communities have continued to give some hope to Nigerians who desire peace and peaceful co-existence in every part of the country.

2. The Bridge Builders Association of Nigeria (BBA) is an NGO founded by two Nigerians, a Muslim who is the national general secretary and a Christian who is the national chairperson. The main aim is to build bridges of understanding between Muslims and Christians principally within the northern states of the federation. Some of their achievements so far include:

• Building bridges of understanding between the mainly Muslim indigenes of Kano state as host community and the non-Muslim communities as settlers. The result after a series of workshops is that the state government now has liaison officers between the state government and non-Muslim communities from the Southwest, Eastern states, and the middle belt zones of the country. This has given a sense of belonging to the non-Muslims who live and work in Kano state.
• More than 300 indigenes of plateau state were brought to Kaduna for various workshops after the November 2008 ethno-religious crises on zero tolerance for religious crises and living in peace with your neighbor of a different religion. One of the results from this effort is the renovation of a small mosque in Langtang by both the Muslim and Christian youths from that local government area reported in some Nigerian papers this last week. This is the first time such a project would be carried out in the Northern parts of the country.
• For the first time in Kaduna state, BBA facilitated a teaching workshop for selected Imams and pastors from 12 local government Areas of the State from both the JNI and Christian council of Nigeria (CCN). The theme was “Understanding your neighbor’s faith traditions;” it lasted for three days and both Muslims and Christians stayed together within the same conference center.
• Ongoing workshops in Kaduna state where Muslims and Christians are taught the religion of the ‘other’ and what one’s religion has to say about the other has received the full support of the state government. The result is that spill over effect, provocative statements by religious and traditional leaders and politicians are becoming experiences of the past as Kaduna state has continued to experience peace and some even development.

REFERENCES:

Idowu-Fearon, J. 2008. Religion, Social Responsibility and Development in Kaduna State, Nigeria. An Unpublished Thesis, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

Lugard, F; Political Memoranda

NIGERIA: Report of the Commission appointed to enquire into the fears of Minorities and the means of allaying them (Lord Willink’s Report) 1958. London, her majesty’s stationery Office.