Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - HISTORICAL ROOTS OF CRISES AND CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA

"We, the elected representatives of the people of Nigeria,
concentrated on proving that we were fully capable of managing our own
affairs both internally and as a nation. However, we were not to be
allowed the selfish luxury of focusing our interest on our own
homes." (Nigeria's first prime minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,
addressing the nation on 1st October 1960)

So much has happened since then and at this critical juncture of
national life in Nigeria, have read Professor Yusufu Turaki's essays

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=Yusufu+Turaki+:HISTORICAL+ROOTS+OF+CRISES+AND+CONFLICTS+IN+NIGERIA+WITH+REFERENCE+TO+NORTHERN+NIGERIA+AND+KADUNA+STATE+&oq=Yusufu+Turaki+:HISTORICAL+ROOTS+OF+CRISES+AND+CONFLICTS+IN+NIGERIA+WITH+REFERENCE+TO+NORTHERN+NIGERIA+AND+KADUNA+STATE+&gs_l=serp.12..0i30l2j0i5i30l2.85446.117488.0.118586.3.3.0.0.0.0.94.165.2.2.0...0.1...1c.OD3eGnS9R8w&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=19e37c0ddddf3693&biw=1024&bih=639

in tandem with Professor Toyin Falola's "Violence in Nigeria: The
Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies" - as some
necessary background understanding.

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Violence+ndingin+Nigeria:+The+Crisis+of+Religious+Politics+and+Secular+Ideologies&btnG=&hl=en

Are these two Nigerians (Messrs Falola and Turaki) not to be included
in the investigative Commission that should be looking into the
problem and making their recommendations to the Federal government?

Re- "what we were before the arrival of Islam, the colonial masters
and Christian missions, and what we became during and after the
Islamic, colonial and Christian, and post-colonial eras. (We need to
do self-appraisal: what we have thought about ourselves and others as
people, religious and cultural groups)."

History professors in particular will research "the historical roots"
to every crisis in modern civilisation. It could be said that "before
the arrival of Islam, the colonial masters and Christian missions" the
vast entity now known as Nigeria, Africa's most populous country did
not exist as Africa's Sleeping Giant. Some still see Nigeria as the
Lugardist experiment still in process ( as Nigeria evolves into real
nationhood) and pray that the country's amalgamation of states will
hold together, that things will not fall apart – and one says this,
mindful of Biafra's erstwhile leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu still
expressing some doubts from time to time after the Biafra adventure,
with the preamble "we must visit the very foundations of Nigeria" -.
and that preamble always hinted at the possibility of the dissolution
of those foundations, since as Abraham Lincoln also famously said,
""A house divided against itself cannot stand." If that foreboding
should ever pass into reality, it's doubtful that a mere "two-state
solution" would do the healing miracle whether based on religion or
ethnicity. Nigeria is more complicated than that.

2."It is not possible for us to solve contemporary religious and
communal clashes, riots, conflicts and violence in Nigeria without
correcting the inherited primordial, religious and cultural, and
colonial structures and negative values and redressing these
legacies..."

Since independence, Nigeria has been " at the crossroads" so many
times. It's not as if the contemporary problems can be reversed or
solved by merely grasping the evolution of the problem from its very
genesis, but the more light that can be thrown on where we are and how
we got there, the better and just now it would be good to hear more
critical voices from the North, about these crucial matters....

On Jul 14, 4:20 pm, ezeikechu...@yahoo.com wrote:
> RrrRRRrrRRrrrRRrrRrRrrrRrRRrrRRrRTttttTtttTtTtTtTttttTtTtTTttTTTrrRrrrrrrrrRrrrRrRR
> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Toyin Falola <toyinfal...@austin.utexas.edu>
>
> Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2012 09:49:24
> To: dialogue<USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>; ya<yorubaaffairs@googlegroups.com>
> Reply-To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - HISTORICAL ROOTS OF CRISES AND CONFLICTS
>  IN NIGERIA
>
> HISTORICAL ROOTS OF CRISES AND CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA
> WITH REFERENCE TO NORTHERN NIGERIA AND KADUNA STATE
>
> By
>
> Yusufu Turaki
> (Ph.D. in Social Ethics, Boston University, 1982)
> Professor of Theology and Social Ethics,
> Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS)
>
> I.               INTRODUCTION
>
> The frequency of religious and communal clashes, riots, conflicts and violence since 1980 to the present has reached endemic proportions. This is a reflection of a national crisis, a nation at the brink of collapse, and a nation in search of its own soul. Nigerians are deeply concerned and worried about this and have begun to device ways and means of addressing the problem.
> At the start, we need to make three fundamental assertions:
>
> 1.     It is not possible for us as Nigerians to have a proper grasp of the nature of religious and communal clashes, riots, conflicts and violence in Nigeria today, without understanding our primordial, religious, cultural and colonial past, what we were before the arrival of Islam, the colonial masters and Christian missions, and what we became during and after the Islamic, colonial and Christian, and post-colonial eras. (We need to do self-appraisal: what we have thought about ourselves and others as people, religious and cultural groups).
>
> 2.     It is not possible for us to solve contemporary religious and communal clashes, riots, conflicts and violence in Nigeria without correcting the inherited primordial, religious and cultural, and colonial structures and negative values and redressing these legacies, if contemporary Nigeria is to be reoriented along the paths and principles of justice, equality, freedom and equity in socio-political relationships of all Nigerians in the distribution of national resources, rewards and statuses for the benefit of all by the Governments. (We need to do self-appraisal: what primordial values and structures of inequality and injustice are we still holding on to the detriment of others and building a united Nigeria where no one is oppressed?).
>
> 3.     It is not possible to achieve peace, unity and respect for human dignity and worth of all Nigerians, if we have not personally and collectively made a deliberate effort and commitment to these noble virtues as the primary goal or end of our dialogue and relations among and between people, and ethnic and religious groups. First, we must be committed personally and collectively to peace, unity and human rights and secondly see them as ultimate goals that must be attained before we can even start to deliberate with each other. (We need to pledge commitment to doing the above as both individuals and groups).
>
> Secondly, we need to state how Nigerians have chosen to address the current Nigerian crises, conflicts and violence.
>
> 1.     We have heard some Nigerians who state that the current spade of crises and conflicts are not religious but political, ethnic or economic. This places them on the bench of those who are politically correct. They do not want to offend some Nigerians with a religious talk. For this reason, they ensure that religion is out of the question. It is a taboo to insinuate that Nigeria's current problems are religious, or even to mention that Boko Haram is a terrorist group or jihadist. But religion dominates Nigeria's life.
>
> 2.     Some Nigerians believe that Nigeria's current crises, conflicts and violence are politically, ethnically and economically induced and its solution must be rooted in these same social factors. But the truth is, the political culture of Nigeria is still primitive and undeveloped. Nigeria seems not at the present to have any national political solution. No political agenda for creating a New Nigeria. So they waste their time with irrelevant political theories. Again, the economy of Nigeria is so underdeveloped that Nigeria seems not to have any economic solution. No economic agenda for creating a New Nigeria. The cry for jobs, ruined education, unemployment, infrastructural decay and national unity cannot be realized by any means so long as Nigerians are still being chained, psyched and hypnotized by the evil and destructive forces of ethnocentrism and primordialism. Similarly, hypocrisy, corruption and religious bigotry have all conspired to rob Nigeria of any hope of being cured of its ethnic and regional leprosy. Hence, no amount of political, economic, or educational solution will re-create and re-make Nigeria, unless the dark and evil forces of ethnocentrism and primordialism are severely dealt with and routed.
>
> 3.     In short, the truth is, no one is effectively solving Nigeria's problem and no solution in sight. After all, Nigerians themselves are beginning to believe the prophets of doom, pundits of nihilism and witches of fate. What a dark and gloomy moment for Nigeria!
> Thirdly, the terror of Boko Haram. Those who are not familiar with the history of religions, especially Islam are mistakenly confused and misled. Boko Haram has many apologists and sympathizers. Some say that this group is not religious, but purely a product of political or economical circumstances of a woefully failed Northern Nigeria. Some say that it is not a terrorist or a jihadist group, but a product northern underdevelopment or the rise of ethnic militias. Some equate it with the Niger Delta Militants so that they too could reap the bounties of Nigeria's oil loot. While some say other things about the group. In short, there are too many apologists and spoke-persons for Boko Haram in that Nigerians have failed to both see and hear Boko Haram for themselves. Nigeria's statesmen peace ambassadors urge for dialogue as the only viable option. Unfortunately the core values and the motivating social and religious factors of Boko Haram cannot be dialogued. Should Boko Haram finally settle for a dialogue, then the truth is this group is not what they claim to be. It could be a sinister or disgruntle political or ethnic group wearing the garb of religion. Obstacles to any dialogue with Boko Haram are their own definition and meaning of Jihad and Sharia. Not all Nigerian Muslims who share the same core values of Jihad and Sharia are in agreement with the activities of Boko Haram. The beliefs and practices of Boko Haram are well rooted in the history of religions but as for Boko Haram the history of Islam. Boko Haram has graduated from being a back-yard group into international limelight. Its links with Somalia, the Maghreb, Mali, Yemen and neighbouring splinter Islamists groups confirms the pan-Islamist world-wide revolution. It hard for any Nigeria to convince Boko Haram that she in its essence, outlook and actions is not a jihadist organization. It is amazing how Nigerians have shut their ears and eyes from hearing or seeing Boko Haram as she is. Unfortunately, what they both see and hear of Boko Haram is measured in terms of politics, economics and regionalism. The message of Boko Haram is religiously coded and only those who can decode it can know the essence of their existence and interpret their actions. They are very consistent in saying who they are, and the truth about themselves. They have always corrected Nigerians who mis-read, mis-understand, mis-interpret, or misrepresent them. But there are some Nigerians who have made up their minds never to listen to Boko Haram but to only themselves, their apologists, or their interpreters. Boko Haram defines itself within an historic tradition of Islam. They say of themselves that they are bona fide jihadists with a jihadic and Sharia agenda. In word and deed they have faithfully kept their own brand of Islamic promise and identity. The emergence of Islamic groups like the Boko Haram is not new in the history of religions or in Islamic history. Repeatedly in history, they often re-surface on the religious scene and only to disappear in a short while. The problem with Nigeria and its external friends is that Boko Haram is disbelieved. They seek to white-wash for Nigerians. The point here is that the evil forces at work that have blinded Nigerians to the problem of Boko Haram and similar other issues are fear, hypocrisy, corruption, primordialism, ethnocentrism, regionalism and religious bigotry. The State and security forces are drenched in corruption. Northern leaders are entangled in hypocrisy, ethnocentrism, regionalism and religious bigotry. Not long ago, we had the fad of Sharia politics. The Sharia politicians deceived people that Sharia would bring justice and development. Unfortunately, the Sharia apostles only used it to loot their states' treasuries and left their states impoverished. Religious bigotry and hypocrisy have become a trade mark in our national political and religious life.
> Fourthly, Nigerians by and large have not had a proper diagnosis of their national crises, conflicts and violence and the need to finding their enduring historical social roots. All Nigerians, the ethnic, religious and regional groups have their own core values, their hidden authority codes that motivate, shape, mold and define the moral character, attitudes, behaviours and social and spiritual practices. Nigeria's core values are primary to understanding the reasons and/or the motivating factors for social crises, conflicts and violence. This paper focuses primarily upon the historical foundations, the core values and the authority codes that motivate, inspire and moderate the
>
> ...
>
> read more »

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