UKONGAAndré Wright, Staff Reporter
WHEN BLOODY riots triggered by a ThisDay newspaper article claimed over 200 lives in Nigeria last November, media bosses quickly turned the spotlight on a nation that, to this day, endures significant levels of religious strife. Though both Christianity and Islam have taken roots in the culturally diverse melting pot, tension, fear and suspicion still keep them apart as enemies.
But since 1999, with many states in the predominantly Muslim north adopting Shari'a law, the incidence of hostility has gone through the roof.
In an interview with The Gleaner last week, Florentina Ukonga, Nigerian High Commissioner to Jamaica, said, "Shari'a has always been around. The difference is when they now want to bring into action the criminal aspects of it." She added, "It related to interpersonal actions, not the administration of justice, which has been the situation since the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914."
According to Ambassador Ukonga, it is "when some politicians made Shari'a the rule, that is what has led to violent clashes and has caused uproar." She explained that these pro-Islamic states have instituted laws, not only on Muslims, but on Christians also, such as no alcohol and no prostitutes, "so all the prostitutes have to find husbands, women can't come out without covering their heads, children have to wear long sleeves and other paraphernalia."
What the Islamists have done in the north, Zamfara state being most successful, is to entrench religion in the political process, which has polarised the country even more.
"Some people have to go underground, girls can't walk on the streets alone at night. Shari'a police go around town to ensure the laws are observed. You have to comply or leave," Ambassador Ukonga said.
But the High Commissioner believes that the newly-imposed laws go beyond religious instruction and strike hard at the core of fundamental freedoms.
"These people are overzealous," she said. "If I see you with a beer, I inform the police and they go into your house, confiscate it and they know that they have the backing of the politicians. Even Muslim freedoms are being curbed; if they wan't a drink, they can't."
COVERT ATTEMPTS
Ambassador Ukonga thinks that the violent religious clashes are being spurred by politicians who are trying to undermine the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo because he is a Christian. "These people, why did they introduce Shari'a under President Obasanjo? We have had four or five Muslim presidents before him and they did not do so," the diplomat said.
Though pressure is mounting on Obasanjo and his Government to reverse the imposition of Shari'a on non-Muslim nationals, the silence is almost deafening. The president is in a pickle. If he leaves the situation to fester, he could well lose a sure market of Christian votes in the general election later this month. If he clamps down on the Islamists, Muslims who gave him significant support in the last election may charge that he is against Islam or is siding with the Christians. It's all about politics. But the space to manoeuvre on the political chessboard is narrowing fast.
However, the High Commissioner wants Obasanjo to put a firm foot forward, though she understands he is trying to keep his balance on a shaky tight-rope. "He doesn't want to seem to be anti-Muslim. In the last election they voted en masse for him so he is playing it cool with them. He has refused to comment on that and, unfortunately, it did not go away. That is why some people believe he is 'pampering the north'."
Ambassador Ukonga believes that political masterminds are also behind a scheme to disgrace Obasanjo internationally so that he will lose face in the world's eyes. She said the media quickly took the bait, saying Nigeria wasn't stable and there was 'crisis in Nigeria'. "They are tarnishing the image of the country abroad. Every time there is a crisis, you have to leave everything, distracting from creating jobs and moving the country forward."
She also had harsh criticism for the media, especially the British Broadcasting Corporation, for their opposition to Nigeria hosting the Miss World contest in December last year. She charged that some media houses had assumed a negative, predetermined position on the country. Ambassador Ukonga is not ruling out a conspiratorial "meeting of minds", as she calls it, between Nigerian Muslims against the hosting of last year's Miss World beauty pageant and the international media which led to the November blood-letting.
One judgement which sent shockwaves throughout the world last year was that Amina Lawal, a Muslim woman who had an extra-marital affair and became pregnant, should be stoned under Shari'a stipulations. The sentence was slammed down by Government authorities and international rights bodies condemned the judgement. Ambassador Ukonga also lashed out at the stoning sentence, saying "it has generated much condemnation and controversy in Muslim circles. They did not even charge the man." She also noted that she believed that the Muslim activists on the periphery want Nigeria to "be portrayed as a barbaric state. People will hear it and they will say 'Nigeria is barbaric'." She also said, "Even those (men) who are casting stones say they never had relations outside of their marriages. But it's not true."
The constitutional crisis is deepening as the constitution allows states to impose Shari'a on their own Muslim communities and the fact that its framework seriously affects non-Muslims threatens the validity of Nigeria's religious neutrality.
Even though the Ambassador is optimistic about the situation, saying she thinks "the worst is over" and claiming that there is available redress for victims of religious persecution, many Christians are suffering in the north. According to the ChristianityToday.com website article, 'Sub-Saharan Powder Keg', "Many northern states continue to ban or limit public proselytising, although it is permitted by the constitution."
And, Bishop Joseph Ade-Gold, founder and president of Overcomers Christian International, in a January 4, 2003 article in The Gleaner, wrote: "Any adult Nigerian can confirm that Christians have been suffering at the hands of the Muslims but more so since the 1980s. Churches have been burnt, and the heads of many Christians have literally rolled down the streets in the north, especially Kaduna. We have lost a large number of Christian brethren due to religious riots which were actually just Muslims backed by the Northern Mafia, on a killing spree."
Will Nigeria's religious problems go away? Don't hold your breath.
André Wright can be contacted at wrights@colis.com.
