HISTORICAL ROOTS OF ETHNO-RELIGIOUS CRISES AND CONFLICTS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA - REVISED EDITION 2019

By Professor Yusufu Turaki

This book updates my earlier books: The British Colonial Legacy, 1993; Theory and Practice of Christian Missions, 1999 and Tainted Legacy: Islam, Colonialism and Slavery in Northern Nigeria, 2010.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Midas Touch GEMS
• Release date: Jun 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088175316

Book preview

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HISTORICAL ROOTS OF ETHNO-RELIGIOUS CRISES AND CONFLICTS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Yusufu Turaki Foundation and Otakada.org publishing

Revised Edition 2019

Yusufu Turaki

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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About Yusufu Turaki Foundation and Otakada.org Digital Publishing

Yusufu Turaki is a Professor of Theology and Social Ethics. He teaches Theology and Social Ethics at the Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS) since 1980. He studied Theology at Igbaja Theological Seminary, Nigeria (Th.B.); Theology and Ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, USA (MATS); and Social Ethics at Boston University, USA (Ph.D.). He was a Research Scholar with the Research Enablement Program sponsored by the PEW Charitable Trusts and administered by the Overseas Ministry Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut, USA and a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Yale Divinity School, Yale University, USA. He is currently the Regional Director of the International Bible Society Nigeria. He is married to Deborah and they have four children: Nyela, Yimi, Iyakachi and Ladi.

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PREFACE

This book is published and distributed in partnership with Yusufu Turaki Foundation and Otakada.org

Yusufu Turaki Foundation is an organization owned by the author Professor Yusufu Turaki in Jos, Plateau, Nigeria. Otakada.org is a digital and paperback publishing and distribution of Christian confused contents company based in USA and Nigeria.

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This book updates my earlier books: The British Colonial Legacy, 1993; Theory and Practice of Christian Missions, 1999 and Tainted Legacy: Islam, Colonialism and Slavery in Northern Nigeria, 2010. Instead of revising each book, I decided to write this book as a follow-up to the long-term consequences of the traditional, Islamic, colonial and missionary legacies upon post-colonial and independent Nigeria. The book seeks to show how the politicians and soldiers addressed the politics of ethnicity, regionalism and religion in both colonial and post-colonial Nigeria. The book primary examines and analyzes the historical roots of ethno-religious crises and conflicts in Northern Nigeria as rooted in the legacies of African traditions, Islam, colonialism and Christian missions. This requires that we develop a new comprehensive and appropriate methodology of addressing and evaluating the prevalent and pervasive ethno-religious crises and conflicts in Northern Nigeria. People have sought to address this very issue by using two basic approaches. The first and easier approach is to examine the immediate causes of ethno-religious crises and conflicts. The readily available causes are usually named as religious, ethnic, political, or economics. These surface analyses tend to examine the nature of social interactions and networks and the use of religion, ethnicity, politics, or economics by various people groups that tend towards crises or conflicts. The categories of people who over-use this approach are mainly foreign researchers, journalists and social media practitioners as well as Government functionaries. They tend to look for quick and easy answers and solutions to the immediate crises and conflicts. This approach tends to overlook the deeper question, especially the historical roots of crises and conflicts.

This takes us to the neglected second but very valuable and enduring approach, the search for the historical roots of crises. This book develops and formulates a new method of social inquiry that can unravel the mystery of frequent, prevalent and pervasive ethno-religious crises and conflicts in Northern Nigeria. This new social inquiry was developed when I was asked to write a research paper on the Historical Roots of Crises and Conflicts in Kaduna State by the Kaduna State Peace and Reconciliation Committee (KSPRC) in 2012. Since then, I have modified and upgraded this new methodology. The outcome of this new social inquiry gives a better understanding of the nature of interactions and networks of relationships between and among various ethnic, religious and regional groups in Northern Nigeria. The historical time-lime that shaped interactions and engagements of various people groups was identified as a very important social factor that needs to be thoroughly defined and delineated. Our new method of social inquiry wove together certain historical primordial social factors as the roots of ethno-religious crises and conflicts. The first group of social factors identified is the primordial social factors of ethnography (ethnicity), geography (land, territory), religion and culture. A second group called the social reformers were identified through the social inquiry. The social reformers identified were, African Traditionalists who produced the African Traditional Legacy; Muslims who produced the Islamic Legacy; the British Colonialists who produced the Colonial Legacy; Christian Missionaries who produced the Missionary Legacy; and the politicians and soldiers who produced the post-colonial legacy. The book describes how each legacy defined, modified, used or transformed the primordial social factors of ethnography (ethnicity), geography (land, territory), religion and culture. The book identifies conflict-generating structures created by each social reformer that have contributed to the root cause of ethno-religious crises and conflicts in Northern Nigeria.

This book asserts very strongly that our search for pet answers and solutions to ethno-religious crises and conflicts in Northern Nigeria must go beyond all immediate causes to their historical roots based in both the primordial social factors and the activities of the social reformers through many legacies and epochs. The current issues of ethnic and religious riots, conflicts and violence; issues of Christian-Muslim relations, issues of Hausa-Fulani versus the other ethnic groups in the North; the plight of Christians of Northern origin within many Northern States, the menace of Boko Haram and militant religious and ethnic groups in both northern and southern Nigeria; all must be defined, understood and interpreted within a historical context, which this book provides.

Politicians, social scientists and social media tend to provide leading opinions as to how to define and interpret ethno-religious crises and conflicts in Northern Nigeria. They have developed a politically correct language to be used and anyone who does not subscribe to their dogma is termed divisive, confrontational or not a lover of peace. Some of such comments are:

The crises and conflicts in the North are not religious. Muslims and Christians are not at war with each other. The North is Muslim, while the South is Christian. Muslims and Christians in Northern Nigeria live in peace. Conflicts in the North are caused by politics and economics. Conflicts in the North are caused by bad leadership and governance. The problems of the North are that of almajiris, and unemployment. The military leaders and Nigeria as a whole failed to develop the North. The problem of the North is underdevelopment. Boko Haram is not Islamic. Boko Haram is a product of Northern underdevelopment. The primary target of Boko Haram is not Christianity. Boko Haram is not a terrorist organization. Only dialogue with Boko Haram can solve the Northern problem. Boko Haram is the same as Niger Delta Militants. You create more problems for Nigeria should Boko Haram be classified as a terrorist group. Only massive economic inputs and development can save the North.

These pace-setters’ opinions seek to present themselves as saviours of the situation. Sometimes, they are unbending and unyielding, thus adding more confusion to the existing problems. This book calls for a more serious study and understanding of the root causes of ethno-religious crises and conflicts in Northern Nigeria than what these experts have to offer.

Ethno-religious crises and conflicts describe a belligerent state of hostility or war between ethnic or religious groups. The issues of crises and conflicts revolve around ethnic, land, religious and cultural matters. Other factors, such as politics or economics may trigger crises or conflicts, but the motivating factors for the crises and conflicts are dominated by ethnic, land, religious or cultural matters. The social formations by these social factors have over the years generated latent hostilities between and among various ethnic and religious groups. Contemporary social factors can trigger or ignite such latent hostilities that have accumulated over the years between ethnic or religious groups. The bulk of contemporary crises and conflicts in Northern Nigeria are of this nature. They have deep historical roots that cannot be explained away.

METHODOLOGY AND STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

Theory of Social Inquiry

The methodology adopted for this paper is a modification of the Theory of Social Inquiry which I developed in the early 1980s. Many researchers have found this method very useful in social research. I have used this Theory of Social Inquiry in teaching my students Research Methodology since the early 1980s. An overview of the theory is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Diagramme of the