Security

Abuja appears to be a relatively safe place to live, as compared with other parts of the country. As well, I live amongst embassies and governor's estates, where security seems to be more tight. This being said, the security situation in other parts of the country has not been very good lately. Riots in Maiduguri last week left many dead (reports vary, but a Reuters article I read claimed that 28 people died in the riots) and numerous churches were vandalized/burned. Two of our partner organizations are located in Maiduguri. Yesterday we received word that the home of the Authorized Official of one organization was vandalized and that he and his family had fled in fear for their lives. Reports have claimed that the riots were about the 'cartoon controversy' (as CNN frequently refers to the outrage of many people over the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed). This explanation is far too simplistic with respect to recent events in Nigeria. Whereas many Muslims and Christians are friends, family, and colleagues, there are also ever present tensions between these religious groups. While I do think that religious tensions play a role in the recent riots, a closer examination of the issues would appear to indicate that political issues also play a central role in the conflict.

From Reuters:

"Many Nigerians believe President Olusegun Obasanjo and some state governors will try to stay in office for a third term after eight years in power. The prospect angers those who want their own ethnic or regional blocs to have their turn."

Or, in the words of my friend in Lagos ...

"The information I'm getting is that 'religious tensions' are just a thin facade for political maneouvering. In the north where you have parallel authority schemes run by governors and emirs or shahs, the two groups are often battling for ultimate control. Whispers have it that each group's respective supporters use 'events' like these (cartoon outcry) as platforms for violence that is really politically or power motivated ... So many of the perps of violence ... are bought off and pitted against one another as political thugs, motivated by money and to secure control for their boss, who is also motivated by money to the extent that he'll put in an order for indiscriminate slaughter of his constituents to make it ... But this is how 'democracy' works in Nigeria, and the Western powers tacitly condone it by offering Nigeria $18billion in debt relief and then gasping in horror when the foreign press dish up stories of Islam gone awry, at the expense of 'dozens of charred, smouldering bodies'. Yay Team Obasanjo, and President Bush, and the fight against terror, and the spoils of oil. Wonder why never hear the same terminology, or even anything at all, when a pipeline explodes beneath a riverine community in the Niger Delta and litters dozens of charred, smouldering bodies across people's backyards?"

Add to the mixture frustrations related to persistent poverty and unemployment, and pervasive corruption at both the governmental and societal levels, and you've got yourself a recipe for trouble. Peace and unity in Nigeria are fragile concepts which require support in terms of good governance, actual democratic practices, effective poverty eradication programs, successful employment strategies, transparency, greater promotion and protection of human rights, respect for the rule of law, and so on and so forth. There's still a long long way to go.