| Maurice, Yes, there is a religious undertone surfacing herein relative to this post-election violence. However, for all that it is worth, religion is not the main or sole reason for this but a political agenda that is trying to camouflage using religion as a source of convenience. There is even a certain sense of political rhetoric that is patently religiously flavored. But that does not have to mistaken to entail that the source of this violence stems from a religious origin. The current crisis is political. On another level, western media reporting continues to plug-in religion for convenience, for their own agenda that sees religion as a problematic. They never allude to those instances where these two religions- Islam and Christianity- have positively partnered to ensure peace and move Nigeria forward. There are many instances, often unsung. It is so sad, that given these intonation and exploitation of religion, in towns like Kaduna, there is a residential segregation that is increasingly dividing the population into Christian and Moslem communes. The implications of this can only be imagined for the social and economic landscape, the attempt to employ massive intrusive tactics by one group venturing into the commune of another to wreck untold hardships. It is almost taken to be suicidal for a Christian to live within a predominantly Moslem commune, or vis versa as such persons during moments of such crises doesn't stand the chance of survival. I guess there is a certain sense that some people are amply glad about this development, as it suits their ideology of divide and rule, and inflaming the mindset of the most vulnerable and marginal with assinine and acidic rhetoric of hate, thus stocking the amber of these incessant flare-ups. I personally believe that in places like Kaduna State, the impending governorship election, even more than the presidential election- which may just be interpreted as the hourglass sign into the possibility of the future as the anticipatory prelude to the eventual outcomes of the governorship elections in that state. Yakowa, a southern Kaduna Christian, was previously the deputy governor, becoming the incumbent governor when the current Vice President Namani Sambo, the state's then governor, was named to the Vice Presidency. Patrick Yakowa is now seeking to be elected on his own recognition. With all the past struggles to keep the office off from the southern Kaduna and a Christian in the past, Yakowa has been antagonized immensely. Herein, the admixture of ethnicity, plus probably religion seems to be the dominant issue, with ethnicity (southern Kaduna origin) been the major point of contention. We must also not lose sight of the facts that northern moslem politicians like the former presidential candidate for the National Republican Party in the 1993 election, Bashir Torfar, the former speaker of the Nigerian national assembly ( house of representatives), Ghali Na'abba, among others had their houses burnt- by those who started and sponsored this violence, and I am afraid to assert seems likely to be fellow moslems. Therefore, we must amply locate the source of the current turbulence within the political arena than diffusing its sources and target arbitrarily- especially within the religious locale. This is all about the fear of a cowardly class losing their assumed grip on power. Thus, this violence deals more with the issues of political domination than about religious adherence. Under a freer and fairer electoral organization it seems past modes of rigging could no longer deliver, and even that fact of not been winnable already challenges the power of a few. But, having assessed the current happenings, I am quite uncertain whether this violence is not perpetuated to deliberately align with the pre-election forecasts of American and other western analysts. My mind tells me it is fanned to fit these predictions such as to ensure the ability to future negotiate political offices and relevances, even in the region where the ruling party did not win. The same north that voted for President Obasanjo massively in the past, now turns around against another southern Christian president, within a twinkle of an eye! I think the issue here, is that Jonathan is perceived as a president for whom, except through the utilization of violence to get his attention, is adjudged as one with whom it would no longer be business as usual. Without it been business as usual, without free loot and government arbitrary patronization, the handwriting on the wall, with reference to their continued social and political future surge is predicably glaring in stymying the relevance of some of these actors. My hunch is that this storm like others in the past would eventually calm. However, the major reason why these violence has continued unabated is because of the failure of the various elements of the Nigerian security and judicial authorities to bring past culprits to justice. There may also be further resort to violence in climes like Kano, where Muhammed Abacha, the son of the former tyrannical dictator-General Sani Abacha- the candidate for the CPC had his aspiration now impeded by the court by replacing him recently with another candidate. These losers only discernible outlet is easy resort to cheap and crude ways, using illogical and illegal means to truncate the peace. These aberrative tools they have always utilized as twisted social statements of their despice of the constituted legitimated social and governing order in the past without consequences, so they have retardedly continued to deploy it with impunity. This is what the Jonathan administration need to stop with forceful determination, else he would be helmed and doomed sooner than later.
--- On Wed, 4/20/11, Maurice Amutabi <amutabi@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Maurice Amutabi <amutabi@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari, You Are Doing The Right Thing
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc: "leonenet" <leonenet@lists.umbc.edu>
Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 9:58 AM
Dear Jaye, Let us call a spade a spade. Let us condemn the violence. There is clear evidence that there has been violence which is clearly religiously motivated. Whether the contenders had vice-presidential candidates from the opposite regions is neither here nor there. We need to condemn this in strongest terms. Prof. Maurice Amutabi On Wed, Apr 20, 2011 at 3:46 PM, Jaye Gaskia <ogbegbe@yahoo.com> wrote: This caption is very alarming. I am not aware that any of the candidates considered themselves to be candidates of any religion. Apart from the fact both leading contenders had vice presidential candidates from the other religion, in Buhari's case, the running mate is an evangelist, who heads a pentecostal mission. I think we are falling into the stereotypes reinforced by foreign media coverage of our countries. What this does is that contributes to fueling the embers of religious tension, with the result that grievances become expressed along religious fault lines. Regards, Jaye
From: Abdul Karim Bangura <theai@earthlink.net>
To: "USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com" <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: leonenet <leonenet@lists.umbc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 11:47 AM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari, You Are Doing The Right Thing
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 3:46:00 AM EDT Muslim candidate condemns deadly Nigerian riots ![]() Photo: AP KADUNA, Nigeria (AP) — The Muslim candidate who lost Nigeria's presidential election is distancing himself from the angry mobs who have killed Christians and set churches on fire across the country's north, underlining the deep divisions within Africa's most populous nation. Muslim rioters burned homes, churches and police stations after results showed Nigeria's Christian president had beaten his closest Muslim opponent in Saturday's vote. Reprisal attacks by Christians began almost immediately, with one mob allegedly tearing a home apart to look for a Quran to prove the occupants were Muslims before setting the building ablaze. Mobs also engineered two prison breaks, burned down the home of one powerful traditional ruler and attempted to destroy the home of Nigeria's vice president. On Wednesday, the cries of children could be heard in a makeshift ward at St. Gerald's Catholic hospital in Kaduna, where wounded people lay outside the emergency ward. Authorities have been fearful of inciting more violence by releasing casualties figures, though at least 31 bodies had been found in Kaduna alone. Opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari called the violence "sad, unfortunate and totally unwarranted," seeking to distance himself and his party from the riots. "I must emphasize that this is purely a political matter, and it should not in any way be turned into an ethnic, religious or regional one," Buhari said late Tuesday. Nigeria has a long history of violent and rigged polls since it abandoned a revolving door of military rulers and embraced democracy 12 years ago. However, observers largely said Saturday's presidential election appeared to be fair, and the U.S. State Department said it was a significant improvement over the last poll in 2007. The nation of 150 million people is divided between the Christian-dominated south and the Muslim north. A dozen states across Nigeria's north have Islamic Shariah law in place, though the area remains under the control of secular state governments. Thousands have been killed in religious violence in the past decade. In Kaduna alone, more than 2,000 died as the government moved to enact Islamic Shariah law in 2000. In 2002, rioting over a newspaper article suggesting the prophet Muhammad would have married a Miss World pageant contestant killed dozens here. But the roots of the sectarian conflict across the north often have more to do with struggles for political and economic dominance. Many northerners wanted the country's ruling party to nominate a Muslim candidate this year because President Goodluck Jonathan — a Christian from the south — had only taken power because the Muslim elected leader died before finishing his term. However, Jonathan prevailed in the ruling party's primary and became its candidate for president. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin. For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogueFor previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.htmlTo post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.comTo unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue- unsubscribe@googlegroups.com -- Prof. Maurice N. Amutabi (Ph.D),
Department of Social Sciences Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Catholic University of Eastern Africa
P.O BOX 62157-00200 CITY SQUARE
NAIROBI, Kenya
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