BEYOND ISLAM IN NIGERIA
Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua
Almost all the newspapers of
Thursday September 26, 2013 reported that the insecurity in Nigeria is an
effort to overthrow democracy in favour of theocracy, a government where God
would be the president of Nigeria.
It should be noted that even in a
theocratic government, God uses human beings as instrument to execute the
divine laws. For instance, in Africa,
Islam, through human agents has had some positive influence in the religious,
economic and political life of many Countries. They are: Algeria, Angola, Benin
Republic, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central
African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of
the Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia,
Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and PrÃncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra
Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo,
Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Looking at the life of Saudi
Arabia where the call to Islam originated from, one is tempted to look beyond
Islam in the enquiry of the root causes of the violence in some parts of
Africa. Islam being a total way of life ought to enrich all aspects of life in
Africa. The use of Arabic numerals can
be traced to Islam. That a person can recite the whole Qur’an means that a true
Muslim has the intellectual potential to contribute positively to the
technology and civilization of any nation. Saudi Government is able to honestly
manage the oil wealth of their country because of their religious conviction
and intellectual disposition. This is to say that Islam is not synonymous to ignorance
as some adherents tend to portray. It is obvious today that we are reaping the
fruits of ignorance and not what some people call “radical Islam”. It is difficult to manipulate an enlightened
person even in abject material poverty.
In Edo State of Nigeria, Auchi
that has a very high population of Muslims in Edo North is one of the most
peaceful communities in Nigeria. Life in Auchi is not defined by religion.
Muslims, Christians and adherents of traditional religion live together in
peace and harmony. This has encouraged dialogue of life and social engagements.
The traditional ruler of Auchi is known for his conviction that he is not the
Otaru of Auchi Muslims only but the Otaru of everybody irrespective of
religion. The royal family of Auchi has the highest number of graduates in
Auchi kingdom.
In most of our meetings with
Christians and Muslims in Interreligious relations; some people often look out
for the Muslims from the Northern part of Nigeria. A lot of people believe that
Islam in the North is different from anywhere else in Nigeria. Some people have
taken the insecurity in the North to mean that all the Muslims in the North are
violent. On the contrary I have personal experiences that make me think
otherwise. In 1991, I went to New Benin market in Edo State Nigeria to change
some dollars into naira. Three months after, I went to the same “malam” from
the far North of Nigeria for the same business. Immediately the man saw me he
said, “I have been praying to Allah that I would see you again. The last time
you came to change money; I discovered that I did not give you the whole money
in naira. ‘Walahi!’ Islam teaches me that I should not cheat anybody”. I was
amazed at the man’s honesty when he handed me a sealed envelope containing the
balanced money which he kept hoping that one day, he would see me. Other
examples of wonderful honest and loving Muslims from the Northern part of
Nigeria are numerous. When we were young we find it safer to trade with the
Northern Muslims because of their honesty and sincerity. This is why I think
that we should look beyond Islam in finding solution to the insecurity that is
presently ravaging Nigeria and other parts of the world. It is alleged that
Christians find it difficult to acquire land to build Churches in the Muslim
dominated areas of Northern Nigeria. Is this the teaching of Islam or the
manipulation of Political leaders?
The history of Islam in Nigeria
appears to reveal that some people and group of people have deviated from the
true teaching of the prophet of Islam (SAW).
In Nigeria, it is possible to identify the Sunni, Shia and Ahmadiyya
Islam that originated from India in the 19th century as a reformatory sect. In
Christianity, the community of Jesus Christ existed as a single Church for
almost sixteen centuries. It was easy to identify the Church as One, Holy,
Apostolic and Universal. The message and interpretation of Islam was one and
universal during the time of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). The efforts of human
beings to proliferate the message of the prophets by forming sects and
denominations have not promoted the unity of believers in the history of
religion.
The era of 1970-1980 witnessed
the rise of Mohammed Marwa Maitatsine, who started a religious revolution in
Kano. Maitatsine claimed to have had divine revelations to purify Islam by
attacking traditional mosques and congregations. The work of Abiodun Alao on
“Islamic Radicalisation and Violence in Nigeria, retrieved March 1, 2013”
reveals that Muhammadu Marwa, the leader of the Maitatsine group was killed in 1980, he was
succeeded by Musa Makaniki who was also executed in 2006. Another leader of Yan
Tatsine, Malam Badamasi, was killed in 2009. At the dusk of Maitasine
revolution, it was clear that their agenda was far from true Islam.
In the Encyclopædia Britannica,
Chicago, 2007, the essay on Othman Dan Fodio
affirms that “in the early 19th century, Islamic scholar Usman dan Fodio
launched a jihad against the Hausa Kingdoms of Northern Nigeria. He was
victorious, and established the Fulani Empire with its capital at Sokoto”. One
would have expected Sokoto to be the citadel of terrorism if our current
security situation is a purely Islamic agenda. It is worthy of note that we do
not hear of terrorist activities in Sokoto even when Alhaji Shehu Shagari, was
unjustly overthrown in a coup by a fellow Muslim. Therefore, we need to go beyond the claim
that the terrorist want to overthrow democracy for Islam. Beyond Islam, let us
examine other possible causes like politics, ethnic bigotry, material poverty
and outright manipulation of others. Is
it not possible that the same people who are financing this terrorist agenda
are those who have lost relevance in the democratic process? Let us search
deeper and not be distracted with this game that is dressed in a religious
garment.
Fr. Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and
Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja and Consultor of the
Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims (C.R.R.M), Vatican City (comonokhua@hotmail.com)
