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~Youth Views~ Conflict in Nigeria
15 April 2008
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Amsterdam/Istanbul/Cairo
- It's been nine years since Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer and
most populous nation, ended its military rule and became a democracy.
The transformation, though slow and problematic, has been characterised
by three consecutive elections, the latest one in 2007. Despite this
process of democratisation, Nigeria still remains at risk of
ethno-religious, community, and resource-related conflicts, largely due
to its tumultuous history.
In the 1960s, Britain created an artificial Nigerian state that
included about 200 ethnic groups who spoke different languages; the
three major ethnic groups were the Muslim Hausa-Fulani, Catholic Igbo
and the mixed Muslim and Christian Yoruba. Administrative boundaries
created by the British colonial government deepened the division
between the different ethnic groups. Also, Nigeria's large geographic
territory with its different environmental climates limited interaction
between different groups, creating different cultures and economic
conditions.
An imposed system of indirect rule not only reinforced ethnic
divisions, but also gave power to traditional leaders. By abusing this
power, rulers in the villages established patronage networks, which in
the long run, encouraged the tribalism and nepotism that Nigeria still
suffers from today.
These territorial divisions and indirect rule were further complicated
by socio-economic disparities, in part due to the unequal spread of
education. In the North, the percentage of individuals receiving
western-style education was much lower than the percentage in the
South. And those who did receive higher education in the North were
primarily descendants of elite families and aristocracies, many of whom
have dominated Nigerian politics and held major civil service
positions.
Competition for scarce resources also caused ethnic affiliations to
become stronger and created antagonism among different factions. The
patronage networks and corrupted tendency of the elites to benefit
themselves and their ethnic groups span4 also played into the conflict.
The North is predominantly Muslim, while the South is mainly Christian.
However, the problem is not one of religion. Religious and ethnic
diversities by themselves would not have led to the outbreak of
violence. However the westernisation of the South created
socio-economic inequality, strengthening ethnic affiliations along
religious lines. As a result, other tensions began to be expressed and
articulated in religious terms, and eventually main actors of the
conflict started to use religion to gain political support.
The South is more resource-rich, particularly endowed with oil
reserves, while the North is more agriculturally oriented. Oil accounts
for more than 80 percent of the federal government's revenues. Thus,
there has always been competition among different groups in terms of
access to these resources. Violence and kidnappings in the oil-rich
Niger River Delta in 2006 – when militants demanded a greater share of
federal revenue as well as benefits from community development – only
prove that the resource distribution problem is far from being solved
and will likely trigger more violence in the future.
The incorporation of different ethnicities in an artificial geography
makes the regional disparity hard to address. Also, the level of
violence is still very high – especially during election periods.
There is a great necessity to address the socio-economic inequalities
among different fractions of the society by empowering a faithful
democratic ruling class and a strong civil society. It is also crucial
that the international community plays a role to remind the official
and unofficial authorities in Nigeria of their responsibilities to
provide peace and security in the country.
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* Olivia Rammel is pursuing a major in anthropology and a minor in
conflict studies at the University of Amsterdam. Funda Ozcelik is a MA
student of conflict analysis & resolution at Sabanci University and
Doha Samir is pursuing a BA in political science at Cairo University.
This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews)
and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Common Ground News Service, 15 April 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication
http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=22972&lan=en&sid=1&sp=0&isNew=1
