Christian clashes

Dr. Emmanuel Franklyne Ogbunwezeh is Director of the African Department of the International Society for Civil Rights (IGFM).

DW-WORLD.DE: What's the context of the recent attacks in Nigeria? Do the latest clashes between Christians and Muslims have their roots in religious intolerance?

Emmanuel Franklyne Ogbunwezeh: Nigeria is a country with a lot of problems in relation to the relationship of the two great religions Islam and Christianity. In the North, we have a majority of the people living there who are Muslims, and in the South, we have a majority of Christians. Nigeria has 45 percent of the population as Muslims, and 45 percent who are Christians. The other 10 percent are believers in the traditional African religions.

The problem is the massive poverty of the country. The elite, one percent, have 80 percent of the wealth! So the poor people find refuge in religion, and many of them are being brainwashed in seeing the other religion: The Muslima are being brainwashed into seeing the Christians as their problem, and vice versa. It has to do with poverty, frustration of the government and frustration with their neighbor. But in recent times, we have also observed a rise of various Islamic organisations that are so fanatic and fundamentalist. They are banking on these attacks to prove a point.

How does the situation compare to the persecution of the Christians in Egypt or Iraq?

In a few years time, we will not be able to differenciate Iraq from Nigeria. Nigeria is so instable at the moment - it could be worse than Iraq. The only difference is that in Iraq, we have two different Islamic groups, the Sunnites and the Shiites, fighting against each other, while, in Nigeria, it is the Muslims against the Christians. Muslim leaders say that they would never accept a Christian to be Nigeria' president - and they have never accepted it.

It's a trend we see: Whenever a Christian comes to power, you see Muslims agitating to overthrow the government and make the country instable. It happened in 1999, when General Olusegun Obasanjo was elected president. He's from the South, and he's Christian. That was when they started to introduce the shari'ah. But all the times when Muslims were in power as presidents, nobody agitated for the shari'ah - but once a Christian becomes president, they wanted the shari'ah. So now, when Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua was the president, the attacks were very low. But today, now that Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the South is president (since may 2010 - the ed.) the attacks have started again.

In Iraq, it's a conflict between two sects. In Nigeria, it has to do with power. Whoever controls power of the center, controls Nigeria's oil wealth. That's why it has to do with poverty as well: The North is feeling that they are left out, and that's why they have to get back to power by destabilizing a government that is headed by a Christian from the South.

What perspective does Nigeria have?

Somebody somewhere is trying to lead Nigeria to a civil war. The Muslims attack the Christians, and vice versa - and that's the only option for war. If the situation doesn't change, we do not have a Nigeria in 10 years, if 10 years is not too far - we don't know what 2012 is going to bring. The Christians are losing their patience.

One must remember that the Nigerian government spent millions of dollars bribing what they call the terrorists in the Niger delta. So I think that these guys in the North want to be setted as well. They want the government to do something, to give them a part of the national kick. It's all about money, it's all about poverty and about establishing a muslim caliphate all across West Africa. I believe that these people are getting serious support from outside.

Is the situation already out of control?

Nigeria is a very complex nation. Nigeria has over 350 different tribes. They speak over 3,000 different languages. Over a distance of just 20 kilometers (12 miles), you don't even understand the next person. Our official language is English, but 60 percent of the population are illiterate. So how do you start addressing the problem in such a complex land?

Do you think that the government will be able to avoid a political collapse in Nigeria?

The government now has to show that it's willing and able to address the situation. It's not only about sending soldiers in there to kill people or to kill those who they think are the perpetrators. They must come to the dialogue table, they must invite those peoble. Who are they? The intelligence must be up-to-date: Who are these people, why are they doing what they are doing, and how could we solve this problem? Nigerians are not known to follow a logical analysis to resolve problems. It's only this fire-brigade-approach: Sending soldiers, killing people, then come back - and the situation remains the same.

In order that Nigeria survives this, the government must be able to approach the issues of poverty, educational disabilities - because a lot of militant people are not well-educated - and redistribute wealth. We have to address this problem on three levels: We have to address education. We have to address youth unemployment - which leads to poverty. And we have to address the relationship of the religions, Christianity and Islam.

Author: Johanna Schmeller
Editor: Rob Mudge