Being text of a lecture delivered by Hon. Musa Ibrahim Ahmadu, Member, Federal House of Representatives, at the 2007 Annual Lecture of the National Association of Seadogs, Aba Chapter, on Saturday, March 10, 2007 at the Abia Hotels, Aba, Abia State.
Courtesies
I consider it a privilege to be here today, as a guest lecturer to discuss the important contemporary issue bothering our nation as a country in a multi religious and multi ethnic environment. That you have chosen this topic for discussion on the event of the Feast of Barracuda is most appropriate considering the position of the PC on matters of religion and ethnicity.
This paper though basically on religious versatility, will dwell on the other diversities in the country especially the ethnic diversity, which has had profound influence on our religious experiences. We will focus on the intricacies of co-existence in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious a society with the ultimate objective of making recommendations that will lead towards attaining religious harmony and peace in Nigeria where we have sadly experienced unwarranted religious crisis that have threatened the very foundation of the unity which we achieved since independence.
In pursuit of this objective, it will not be out of place to commence with a preview of what the PC stands for which is very much in conformity with the objectives of this paper of achieving a just, human society where every body lives in peace and harmony irrespective of religion ethnic affiliations. Indeed if all Nigerians can adhere to the basic tenets of the PC, then we would have been a much better country today where there is prosperity, unity and peace. Unfortunately however, the mission of the PC has been misconstrued (albeit deliberately in some cases) much so that in the extreme vilification of the PC it is even regarded as cults that perpetuate evil. Nothing can be farther from the truth!
The Pyrates confraternity was founded in 1952 by seven Ash Coated weather and time tested seadogs. The PC was formed against the background of a society (and indeed a University community) that was segregated on the basis of class and tribal cleaverages. These tribalistic feelings permeated the entire strata of the then University of Ibadan threatening the social harmony of the University community.
The PC was formed basically to combat these negative tendencies. The NAS is a non-political, non-religious, and detribalized body with the aim of upholding human dignity and the promotion of a just, humane, and progressive society where no one is a victim of colour, sex, race, sex tribe, religion or beliefs. The aims and objectives of the PC are further aptly compressed into the four compass points and the seven rudder blades. The four compass points, which are in conformity with the theme of the paper, are:
i. Against Convention: – i.e. to fight against conservation, stagnation, Bribery, land monopoly, fraudulent acquisition and arrogant display of wealth.
ii. Against Ethnicity: – The PC is opposed to any form of discrimination based on ethnic affiliation.
iii. For Humanistic Ideals: – i.e. placing man at the center of thought, word and action. The emphasis is on what we can do to raise our society to the highest level of fulfillment.
iv. For Comradeship and Chivalry: – i.e. we should have the moral communal and human obligation to protect the under privileged, the week and the less informed.
From the forgoing, we can see that the aims and objectives of the PC have sufficiently addressed most of a realistic economic and human development of the country. The PC abhors ethnicity, discrimination and corruption while encouraging human emancipation and development as the very basis for the Nation’s economic and social transformation. It is furtherance of these ideals that the PC engages in all manners of philanthropic activities all over the country.
The constitution has given guarantee to the citizenry, which can be considered as a sacred right of Nigerians. Section 38 of the 199 constitution has guaranteed all Nigerians the right to association and religion by stating inter allia: “Every person shall be entitled to the freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief and freedom (either alone or in a community with others and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
Religion has been described as the opium of the poor several decades ago. The truism of this statement has much to do with the fact that religion has been a powerful element in the life of man since the beginning of time propelling him and directing his affairs absolutely. Philosophers and mystics have laboured to conceptualize the true essence of religion.
In approaching religion, there exists diversity in the characteristic and attitudes of adherents of particular religious, sympathizers, and critics. There are tow3 major religions in Nigeria – Christianity and Islam. There is also the existence of what is loosely considered as traditional religion. In the course of our presentation we will however be referring to only the two main religions since even most of the adherents of the traditional religion in Nigeria find solace in identifying themselves with one of the two major religions, while still practicing their acts in the confines of their shrines.
Nigeria has always been a pluralistic state with very divers ethnic, religious, cultural linguistic, economic and social characteristics. In spite of these diversities, Nigerians have tried to live more or less in harmony tolerating each other’s religious beliefs. The phenomenons of religious crises are recent developments, which obviously have been dueled by self-seeking individuals and groups to feather their selfish interests. Thus we are confronted with realities whereby some of the so-called religious crises are indeed not religious in origin but have ethnic and political undertones. Religion is exploited in this manner because it is the most vulnerable since adherents of the various religions, which are considered divine, can be very easily manipulated to fight for “God’s cause” dogmatically without reservation.
It is from this perspective that one is inclined to appreciate the so called religious crisis in Zango Kataf, Kaduna, Jos, etc. these crisis are products of existing ethnic differences which are given religious colorations in order to win sympathy both from within and outside the domain where the crisis originated in the first instance. Expectedly as is usual with religious matters many innocent people are inadvertently dragged into the crisis in order to defend their respective faiths as it were. What were then witness is an expansion of the crisis across the country in the quest for retaliatory strikes.
Most world religions believe in the concept of a supreme God that directs and oversee the affairs of the world. He also mete out punishments to those who go against His commandments except if they renounce their wrong doing and seek forgiveness from this Most High Being. In Islam He only needs to say “Be”! And it will be. In the Bible, God said, “let there be light and there was light”! This belief should as a matter of fact engender a spirit of love, cooperation and understanding between adherents of the great religions of the world.
This is neither the only point of congruence between the two most popular religious in the world nor indeed between the multitudes of all religions of the world. All world religions preach peace. There is no religion that propagates violence as part of its doctrine. Religion in its true sense is a way of life that has nothing to do with hatred and any form of oppression that breeds violence and as a matter of fact, should, engender instead, good neighbourliness, universal love and moral religions believe I a judgment day this, happily, should and must serve as a sort of needed restraint on the actions of humans world over. Essentially, therefore, religions is a spiritual philosophy which if practiced faithfully should as bring out the goodness in man to the fore.
If we accept this assertion as we of course ought to, being true adherents of the divine teachings of our sacred faiths, it must then become crystal clear to most discerning minds that those who use religion to foment crisis ad chaos in Niger, merely manipulate ignorant followers of their faith into violence to protect and propagate their selfish political and asocial interests. This realization, more than any, should make us see religion as a powerful unifying force and a catalyst for the development of man and his society.
In this sense, religion is therefore a versatile tool for the brotherhood and indeed sisterhood among all mankind. The diversity in our religions as I our ethnicity therefore must be a source of strength and unity amongst uses aptly captured in our old national anthem, which pronounces and though time and tongue may differ in brotherhood, we stand’ rather than a source of conflict! So for true development to flourish in our society, we need to apply this not only in words but also in our deeds. It must be realized that all human beings came to this world with nothing and shall return back with nothing except the evidence of their deeds.
From what has been said to far; it is quite evidence that ignorance plays a powerful part in the crises has bedeviled use. We must realize that Nigeria is a nation of over 120 million people, a pluralized democracy and a multi-religious society needs a lot of understanding among her different peoples. The only way to foster this is through a proper education of the various people to eliminate the ignorance that leads to a lot of misconceptions about the other person’s beliefs, culture or traditions by engendering proper understanding and insight into the other person’s ways.
All religions canvass the acquisition of knowledge, justice, and fairness in the conduct of worldly affairs, including honesty, transparency and service top mankind. That means that if religion is allowed to direct the conduct of man we shall have a peaceful and progressive nation where all en will be equal. It therefore means that those that instigate crisis are hypocritical who can be said to be doing so to be not in the name of their religions but pursuing selfish agendas.
Due to the diverse nature of Nigeria there is the need to be careful when dealing with any issues that concerns the interest of a part or of the whole of Nigeria so as to ensure an equitable representation of all the diverse interests at play in the Nigerian nation state without compromising the interest of the whole. Only this will guarantee an even playing ground for all and a meaningful and coordinated development of the country in general. There must be the conscious effort on the part both or leaders and the followers to accept the peculiarity of all the federating units to ensure true and lasting unity and real integration of its people. Any leader who fails to understand the dynamics of the country does so not only at his own peril but also more importantly, to the detriment of the country as well.
In his preface to the book, The Humanistic Management of Pluralism-Formula: for Development in Nigeria: which was complied in the use of proffering a solution to the myriad of problems confronting Nigeria. Agworonodo E. Eruvbetine notes that “Nigeria is a plural state with diverse and complex ethnic, economic, cultural, linguistic, religious and social realities with high conflict potentials that the colonial masters who created the Nigerian state were quite aware of and utilized as the basis for enunciating their administrative policy of divide and rule. Most of our leaders and elites unfortunately, have continued to frustrate the efforts of genuinely committed Nigerians to forge a close unity between Nigerians from every divide and bring about concrete and deep- rooted development of the Nigerian state instead of Programmes which are really out of touch with the people they are supposed to serve and impoverishes them the more.
Thus on way of mitigating these perennial crises is by improving the economic conditions of the masses of this country. In line with the conclusion of the book under reference, ‘any worthwhile development must place the human being in a central position; instead of ‘relegating the human being to the background.
From the forgoing ignorance, poverty, deprivation and the inequitable distribution of abundant resources can be acknowledged as the root causes of the recurring tensions and conflict between the different groups that inhabit the geographical space called Nigeria. Devising strategies to surmount the negative possibilities of our diversity for meaningful development rather than employing such as smokescreen for stirring trouble amongst the otherwise loving and peaceful people of Nigeria is indeed paramount and ought to be the concern of every progressive Nigerian or every Nigerian of good conscience.
All the listed potential sources of confusion can be turned into advantages through a conscious effort at both the federal and the state levels throughout the country. Hence, there must be a coordinated effort and conscious drive to incorporate the cultural values and aspirations of the different ethnic, while also bringing about a common ground where various groups can interchange their cultural heritage with each other. The cultural exchanges could then result in an increase in national consciousness and nation building. This strategy must also cater for the needs of the very small ethnic groups, those usually ‘swallowed up’ by the three or four dominate groups in the country: the Hausa and Fulani in the north, the Yoruba in the west and the Igbo in east. The protection of the interest of every component of the polity no matter how small have to be taken into consideration in the formulation and implementation of national programmes of action and development strategies otherwise we shall continue to experience the tenuous stability that presently exists in the nation and which does not auger well fore the enduring development of our nascent democratic culture.
It needs to be appreciated that inequity in the ‘sharing’ of national wealth among the various ‘competing’ groups engenders hatred and the politics of fear, which more often than not, results in ethnic conflicts. Nigeria has continued to witness destructive ethnic assertions, unhealthy rivalry among various groups, the dismantling of the body politic and a negative intellectual and moral climate. These have largely contributed to the improvement of the populace, tribal wars, selective ethnic killings, inter and intra religious feuds and the civil war of 1967-70. What is urgently needed is a new national direction and enshrinement of a real sense of belonging by all the country’s ethnic groups. The sense of belonging to one nation is crucial in order to overcome divisions among groups.
Conflict, it is said, arises when two or more persons or groups “seek to posses the same object, occupy the same space or same exclusive position, play incompatible roles, maintain incompatible goals or undertake actually incompatibly means of achieving their purpose”
According to Abraham Maslow’s Dynamic Theory of Human motivation, human beings have basic needs, which are arranged in a certain hierarchy with the most basic physiological needs of food and physical survival as the foundation which is followed by safety needs, the need for belonging, the need for love, self-esteem and ultimately self-actualization or self-realization. Whenever, the individual or group perceives that these basic needs are being threatened, there arises a situation of conflict.
Our energies should be geared towards enshrining an enduring and sustainable peaceful co-existence among Nigerians of all shades and walks of life. Whatever the source of conflicts in Nigeria today, it is important that we locate the real basis of these conflicts and not ascribe them merely to ethnicity and religious differences as that will be too infantile a conclusion that would continue to blind us to the real causes of our recurring national crises; a conclusion which will no doubt be in the interest of pr4ofessional trouble makers who seek to ride on the ignorance of many Nigerians to achieve their myopic interests.
Whatever the source of conflicts in Niger today, it is important that we locate the real basis of these conflicts and not ascribe them merely to ethnicity and religious differences as that will be too infantile a conclusion that would continue to blind us to the real causes of our recurring national crises; a conclusion which will no doubt be in the interest of professional trouble makers who seek to ride on the ignorance of many Nigerians to achieve their myopic interests.
It must be appreciated that the there is a world of differences between what a religion truly stands for and the use to which its adherents, including malcontents and psychopaths, choose to corrupt its doctrines. At some point in world history, slave traders and the apostles of the inhuman practices of apartheid justified their actions on Christianity doctrinal grounds. In his new book, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, Ignatius Pope, analyzing about 315 suicide attacks in the name of Islam around the world from 1980 to 2003, concludes that in nearly every case, the terrorists were acting against what they regarded as foreign occupation, and their objective was to compel the invaders to vacate their countries. Even if we concede that they have a right to carry out their struggle their actions have definitely violated the rights of innocent people that are affected by their actions.
Lack of consensus among relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian contract on fundamental values and structural arrangements of the Nigerian State has been identified as a source of conflict in Nigeria. Only when all relevant stake-holders are given the opportunity to participate, without preconditions, in deciding on the fundamental values to be pursued by the Nigerian state, institutional arrangements for giving effect to these values, for identifying violations and enforcing conformity with accepted rules, extent of the public domain over the private domain and other critical issues, conflict will remain an endemic feature of the Nigerian system.
CONCLUSIONS
I have tried in this short paper to look at the interplay of religion and ethnicity in our body polity by highlighting the reasons for religious and ethnic crisis in Nigeria and attempting to proffer suggestions as to how we can put an end to these ugly developments.
I have opined that most of the crisis that we consider as religious are not religious in origin, though may ultimately assume religious dimensions. These crises are actually instigated by interest groups under the guise of religion to foster their own selfish ethnic, political and even economic interests.
In proffering solutions I believe that a lot has to be in the area of education and economic development top dissuade the masses from being recruited to commit heinous crimes in the name of religion. The Government has a major role to play in this respect in order to stem the tide of religious and ethnic crises. The paper has indicated very unambiguously the need for Government at all levels to pursue meaningful development projects and programmes based on fairness and equity, which are in tandem with the realities of our economy.
I believe absolutely in the saying that there is unity in diversity and urge that we should explore those common attributes in our calling that will bind us together not tear us apart.
I believe that if we all follow the dictates of our faith religiously, then we cannot experience religious crisis in Nigeria anymore since none of the two major religions condone violence and killing of innocent lives.
Finally for the pyrates, you do not need any education. Follow and practice the ideals of your four compass points and seven rudder blades and you are sufficiently guided.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interact with you. God bless.
Hon. Musa Ibrahim Ahmadu
Membe, Federal House of Representatives
