DATE=7/29/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=NIGERIA ETHNIC VIOLENCE
NUMBER=5-43976
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Ethnic relations in Nigeria have suffered
several setbacks this year, as rival ethnic groups
around the country have clashed over a diverse set of
issues, from land ownership to religion. V-O-A's West
Africa Correspondent John Pitman takes a look at some
of the major flash-points, and the issues behind them.
TEXT: It has been a deadly year in Nigeria, as
simmering ethnic tensions between some of the
country's estimated 200 ethnic groups have boiled over
with an alarming frequency.
From the Niger River Delta in southeastern Nigeria to
the dry brush land in the north, hundreds of people
have died as disputes between ethnic groups have
escalated into sharp, small-scale wars, often
involving modern weapons.
/// OPT ///
The most recent clashes involved members of Nigeria's
two dominant ethnic groups, the southern-based Yoruba,
and northern-based Hausa. Other recent flare-ups have
involved the Ijaw, Itsekeri, and Urhobo groups in the
Niger River Delta, and Ibo-speaking groups in the
east.
/// END OPT ///
Nigerian experts give mixed answers when asked what
causes these periodic explosions of violence.
Explanations for the various conflicts range from
esoteric questions about religion and traditional
monarchies to practical concerns about land, oil,
corruption or cattle.
Most analysts agree, however, that poverty and other
chronic economic disparities have made Nigeria a
fertile breeding ground for extremists.
The Reverend Matthew Kukah is the secretary general of
Nigeria's Catholic Secretariat. In a recent interview
with V-O-A's English-to-Africa Service, he said
religion is usually not a prominent source of
trouble in Nigeria. In his opinion, much of the
tension stems from economic and social imbalances
created by years of military rule.
/// FIRST KUKAH ACT ///
The divide-and-rule tactics the military
employed over the last few years meant that
people were compelled due to various arbitrary
qualities of the military administration to
adopt new identities, and these identities were
largely ethnic.
/// END ACT ///
/// OPT ///
Reverend Kukah says competition between the various
ethnic groups has been intensified by poverty,
creating what he calls a "tinderbox," where the
slightest provocation can lead to an explosion.
/// END OPT ///
While the negative effects of military rule are not
disputed by other analysts, some point out that
Nigeria's military governments were also beset by
violent ethnic rivalries. In fact, according to Bawa
Hassan Gusau, a professor of political science at
Bayero University in Kano, ethnic violence has been a
fact of life in Nigeria for decades.
/// OPT ///
/// FIRST GUSAU ACT ///
Let me say this: Even during military rule, the
Delta region was violent. There were spots of
inter-communal violence in Kaduna, Benue, in
Taraba So, 15 years of military rule did very
little, if anything, to dampen that level of
violence.
/// END ACT ///
Historians also say the map of Nigeria drawn up by
British military governors in the early part of the
20th century may be more responsible for the country's
explosive ethnic mix than anything Nigeria's post-
independence generals ever did to stir up trouble.
/// END OPT ///
For professor Gusau, the end of military rule may
simply have opened the door for opportunists trying to
take advantage of perceived weaknesses in the new
civilian government.
Like many ordinary Nigerians, professor Gusau and
Reverend Kukah say writing the recent violence off to
long-standing tribal differences is superficial.
Professor Gusau says politicians may try to exploit
ethnic issues to win elections. But he points out
that in many cases - such as the recent fighting
between Hausa and Yoruba - the combatants in these
clashes are long-time neighbors with no history of
ethnic animosity.
/// SECOND GUSAU ACT ///
Certainly, at the very basic level, these people
have lived together for nearly, if not over, a
century, intermingling, attending the same
schools, shopping in the same marketplaces - in
fact, intermarrying among themselves for
generations. So, I think it's inappropriate to
suggest there's this long-standing distrust
among people who have lived with each other for
centuries.
/// END ACT ///
Looking at the Hausa-Yoruba clashes, professor Gusau
says a kind of economic "envy" may have helped fuel
the violence. He says in a place like Shagamu - where
up to 70 people were killed on July 17th and 18th - the
violence may have been sparked by a perceived ethnic
slight. But he believes the unrest escalated when
Yoruba rioters vented their frustration over high
unemployment on wealthy Hausa merchants.
/// OPT THIRD GUSAU ACT ///
In a way, they had become a target of envy from
those who may have graduated from secondary
school with no jobs, nothing to do. And
suddenly they look nearby (and see) people they
considered as aliens or strangers making it,
(while) they have found it difficult to make it.
So, these guys simply become the easiest targets.
/// END OPT ACT ///
While economic and social explanations appear to go a
long way toward explaining Nigeria's troubled ethnic
relations, a darker, more sinister explanation has
also been put forward. After the recent riots in
Kano, the police chief said some of the people
arrested confessed to being supported and encouraged
by retired military officers.
Some analysts say if these allegations are true, this
kind of behind-the-scenes manipulation is a chilling
echo of the kinds of ethnic purges which preceded
Nigeria's bloody civil war in the late 1960s. Others
say they fear the military could use the violence -
and the civilian government's inability to control it
- as a pretext to seize power again.
In his interview with V-O-A's Africa Service, Reverend
Kukah downplayed these fears, and dismissed
comparisons with the pre-civil war era. In his view,
Nigerians do not want war. Rather, he says, most
Nigerians want to give President Olusegun Obasanjo the
time he needs to address the issues behind the
clashes.
/// SECOND KUKAH ACT ///
Obasanjo has(inspired)a lot of hope across the
country. People are very hopeful and looking
forward to a new dawn. I think that it is
important for us to look at this just as a
flash. I don't think it will be the way of the
future.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Bawa Hassan Gusau of Kano's Bayero
University shares Reverend Kukah's optimism. But he
warns that if these pockets of instability are allowed
to fester or flourish, they could threaten what he
calls Nigeria's "very fragile, but potentially
promising democratic experiment." (signed)
NEB/JP/JWH/gm
29-Jul-1999 13:06 PM LOC (29-Jul-1999 1706 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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