Jos Crisis: What A Mess!

History is replete with cases of sectarian clashes in the North. Sometimes, it is religious one sect against another. Islamic sect or Moslems against Christians. At other times, it is ethnic. In Southern Kaduna and Plateau (particularly Jos and its environs) it has always been ethno-religious; some people choose to call it indigene-settler crisis because they are ashamed of admitting the religious undertone. Riots in these areas have always been prosecuted with consuming passion. The words of Blaise Pascal, the 17th century French mathematician and philosopher, that “men never do evil so completely and cheerfully when they do it from religious conviction” may be instructive here. (Never mind if the conviction is informed by slavish fanaticism).
The reason is easy to see. Fighting across the Moslem-Christian divide, you have the settlers on one side and the indigenes on the other. And they are almost equally matched in numerical strength. One group must strongly resist the other. Remember Zangonka taf? The native Kataf against the Hausa-Fulani settlers, ostensibly over grazing on both sides. Some person of no mean position or economic means must have supplied those arms. That is history.
Every body who matters in Plateau State publicly maintains the latest Jose riot was not ethnic-motivated or religious or political nor was it a result of indigene-settler disappointment. Not that I believe them. What then could have started the mayhem? Perhaps, some pent-up fury suddenly imploded. Late last year, there was riot in Jos on a smaller scale and nobody truthfully told us what led to it or who the sponsors were. May be, it was spontaneous. Now, this latest one on a grand scale. And the who is who in the Benue-Plateau axis is attending a peace conference holding in Jos. Mere rhetoric and honorarium!
Could the spate of riots be aimed at discrediting the government of Jonah David Jang and undermining his aspiration for 2011? I doubt that a former military man could be rubbished twice in quick succession. Afterall, he has said that the military had acted promptly on security report; the latest hostilities would have been averted. Sabotage suspected? For this, the military is now calling names. I believe the riot borders on some very sensitive areas they would rather prefer hushed up at this point in time the ethno-religious angle is most likely.
What really bothers me is why the Northerners have a penchant for mass murder, for whatever reasons, real or imagined. The pogrom of 1966 could conveniently be compared to the ethnic cleansing in Rwanda in 1994. In 1981, Maitatsine took the stage in a sectarian war that got to such a frightening dimension. And unfortunately hundreds of innocent Christians were caught in the crossfire. In 2009, the mayhem that started in Boko Haram nearly engulfed the entire north taking its toll on Moslems and Christians alike. In between these, we have had at least half a dozen more in various parts of the north that spared nothing-lives, houses and properties.
I do not know of any culture in modern civilization that preaches savagery. But I do know that the world's greatest religions like Christianity, Islam (except the Isma'ilis), Judaism, etc, preach peace. Let me digress a little and talk about the Isma'ilis.
It is a sect if Islam, and is a part of the extreme wing of the Shi'ites. They are eclectic in character. Their Imams (leaders) are believed to be divine and infallible and therefore their commands are unquestionable and must be obeyed. Unfortunately, this is a sect that has a lot of influence on the intellectual life of Islam. It has revolutionary tendencies with its idealism and propaganda on social justice. Its structure is secretive and almost Masonic, its followers are fanatical and its doctrines appeal to every discontented element in the Islamic world.
This description is absolutely correct and can be attested to by any honest Islamic scholars. To continue the digression, we have a lot of northerners in the extreme wing of the Shi'ite sect. And if you look at the description of the sect a second time, you may be tempted to conclude that it is the mother of most terrorists and mass murderers. I hope no Nigerian fit exactly into the mould of the extremist Shi'ite. But it is a forlorn hope!
Back to the main issue. Since most Moslems and Christians embrace peace, why do we allow the minority to hold us to ransom? There is only one logical reason. Some persons among the majority connive with the perpetrators of violence for reasons we do not know.
After the first Jos crisis, the problem was not resolved and no key player was brought to book. Mind you, there are two opposing forces in this madness. One started it, and the other, perhaps, out of a duty of self-preservation, fought back. Since the problem was not settled after the hostilities, it was merely suspended to resume some day, and that day happened to be Sunday, 7th of March 2010 in Jos South Local Government Area.
No group is prepared to turn the other check. Both take to the an-eye-for-an-eye approach. There is something inherently faulty about both approaches, and something to be gained, too. An-eye-for-an-eye approach has the tendency to perpetuate hostilities and for ever fan the embers of hatred. On the other hand, it may be a warning to the aggressor that it does not have monopoly of violence. That the fact that it does not see aggression as wrong does not make it right, and that if it suffers aggression or counter-aggression, what violence means may be driven home to it. This could make the difference
The turning of the other check is a rather noble principle, but in some circumstances patently ominous. For a people to collectively adopt this principle in the face of brazen carnage means a willingness, in fact, a desire to be driven to extinction.
But must we continue to fight like a people who have chosen not to be affected by modern ways of thinking, or who have made fanaticism their culture or a people who feel their very existence threatened by the presence of persons of a different religion or tribe? No.
If the government sincerely wants to resolve the intermittent crisis, there must be no sacred cows. Question everything however long it has existed that is deleterious to harmonious co-existence. No person should be seen as untouchable. Get to the root of the crises. Apportion blame and mete out punishments. Where necessary, apply expediency for sustainable peace.
We are supposed to be of one stock which God created. Why should there be so much intolerance? In view of the fact that we have something to offer one another and considering that in our everyday life, at least, we interact, we need to pay attention more on what we have in common and what could promote peace and unity and less on what differentiates us and could bring anarchy and disunity.
In secular life, the problems that confront man is the same irrespective of his religious beliefs. In the religious sphere, we have the freedom to look forward to our different religions for solutions to the mysteries of our existence; true Moslems and Christians are in agreement on this. All religions to the best of my knowledge, set to improve humanity by enforcing on their respective members rich doctrines, moral precepts and sacred rites. What matters is not the extent to which these differ but the extent to which they go to make a more sane humanity. Strictly speaking, it is a question of ends and means.
Commonsense should tell us that there is no justification for discrimination between peoples. We must preserve human dignity and see hatred and persecution as deplorable.