Recent Religious Attacks and the Failure of Governance in Nigeria
'Yemi Ademowo Johnson
September 04, 2009
While many were busy enjoying their summer holiday in the west, Nigerians were busy, trying to grapple with two separate religious ´extremists´ attacks: an attack on all that is western by an Islamic sect known as Boko Haram and a Christian group´s invasion of a child rights conference. The intention here is not to bore you with a repeated account of the incidents rather what we offer is another prism through which the incidents could be viewed with profit to humanism and fairness.
Now, if we want to be simplistic, we could just link the two incidents, via the lifestyles of their leaders, and make our usual submission that the root-cause is religious manipulation which has been made possible by the inability of political leaders to promote and uphold the principles of secularism in Nigeria. Other easily adducible simplistic causes are low literacy level, pervasive poverty which eases recruitment and dearth of science education. But alas, it is more than that!
To start with, the missions of the two groups involved need to be dissected.
Boko Haram is a sect established to spread the teachings and beliefs of Yusufiyya Islamic Movement, which were against western education and civilization, in Nigeria. When this sect, which has a link with AlQuida of Afghanistan, Jamatul Salafia in Algeria and the Talibans of Pakistan, struck in July, over 1000 lives and millions of naira worth of properties were lost. The goal of the strike was to signal the group´s intention to root-out western education and install Quranic-based governance that will ensure equity, justice and good governance
The second group is the Liberties Foundation Church, Calabar founded by the controversial Pastor Helen Ukpabio, whose Christian mission is devoted to witchcraft exorcism because, according to her, "the power of witchcraft has deprived many of their successes". She is also a movie producer and author of controversial books that teaches women on how to know if their children are witches. Her movies, like ´End of the Wicked´, were also mere instruments to promote her witch-hunting ministry (http://helen-ukpabio.com). The group felt threatened by an enlightenment programme organized on July 29 on child witches, by the Nigerian Humanist Movement and Stepping Stones Nigeria, and disrupted it.
If critically examined, one will discover that there are two symbolic elements in the mission of the groups: ´western education´ and ´belief in witchcraft´. While Boko Haram members see western education as the bane of the pervasive moral lax, corruption, economic injustices and mis-governance, Helen Ukpabio´s group, on the other hand, believed that they were doing the people a great favour, helping them to break their demonic jinxes, believed to have been caused by witches, so that they could be successful and live meaningfully.
These groups operate openly not clandestinely. In fact, no one in the Aso Rock (Nigeria´s White House) can claim, for instance, to be ignorant of the activities of Boko Haram because countless security reports have been written on the group´s activities. Yet those in government could do nothing to suppress the group´s growing popularity, mainly among the poorest of the poor in the north. And contrary to some lies in some newspapers, the group´s attacks were predominantly on government facilities and even prison (where many perceived to have been unjustly incarcerated were released).
Again, many will agree with me that science alone is not enough to displace belief in witchcraft. Rather prosperity and a functional social security system with science can do the magic. On this premise, one can say that Helen´s group´s activities is buoyed by the helplessness of the people; but the invasion of the free speech space, the conference, as I see it, is a product of her group´s knowledge of the lax in justice and human rights system. (The idea that she could get away unscratched with such a legally abominable act).
Viewed from the foregoing perspectives, both incidents, to me, are nothing but reactions to the failure of the administrators of the entity called Nigeria to provide for, protect and guarantee justice to its citizens. Religious or secular, any intervention that neglects this submission is bound to fail for its unfairness. QED
Now, if we want to be simplistic, we could just link the two incidents, via the lifestyles of their leaders, and make our usual submission that the root-cause is religious manipulation which has been made possible by the inability of political leaders to promote and uphold the principles of secularism in Nigeria. Other easily adducible simplistic causes are low literacy level, pervasive poverty which eases recruitment and dearth of science education. But alas, it is more than that!
To start with, the missions of the two groups involved need to be dissected.
Boko Haram is a sect established to spread the teachings and beliefs of Yusufiyya Islamic Movement, which were against western education and civilization, in Nigeria. When this sect, which has a link with AlQuida of Afghanistan, Jamatul Salafia in Algeria and the Talibans of Pakistan, struck in July, over 1000 lives and millions of naira worth of properties were lost. The goal of the strike was to signal the group´s intention to root-out western education and install Quranic-based governance that will ensure equity, justice and good governance
The second group is the Liberties Foundation Church, Calabar founded by the controversial Pastor Helen Ukpabio, whose Christian mission is devoted to witchcraft exorcism because, according to her, "the power of witchcraft has deprived many of their successes". She is also a movie producer and author of controversial books that teaches women on how to know if their children are witches. Her movies, like ´End of the Wicked´, were also mere instruments to promote her witch-hunting ministry (http://helen-ukpabio.com). The group felt threatened by an enlightenment programme organized on July 29 on child witches, by the Nigerian Humanist Movement and Stepping Stones Nigeria, and disrupted it.
If critically examined, one will discover that there are two symbolic elements in the mission of the groups: ´western education´ and ´belief in witchcraft´. While Boko Haram members see western education as the bane of the pervasive moral lax, corruption, economic injustices and mis-governance, Helen Ukpabio´s group, on the other hand, believed that they were doing the people a great favour, helping them to break their demonic jinxes, believed to have been caused by witches, so that they could be successful and live meaningfully.
These groups operate openly not clandestinely. In fact, no one in the Aso Rock (Nigeria´s White House) can claim, for instance, to be ignorant of the activities of Boko Haram because countless security reports have been written on the group´s activities. Yet those in government could do nothing to suppress the group´s growing popularity, mainly among the poorest of the poor in the north. And contrary to some lies in some newspapers, the group´s attacks were predominantly on government facilities and even prison (where many perceived to have been unjustly incarcerated were released).
Again, many will agree with me that science alone is not enough to displace belief in witchcraft. Rather prosperity and a functional social security system with science can do the magic. On this premise, one can say that Helen´s group´s activities is buoyed by the helplessness of the people; but the invasion of the free speech space, the conference, as I see it, is a product of her group´s knowledge of the lax in justice and human rights system. (The idea that she could get away unscratched with such a legally abominable act).
Viewed from the foregoing perspectives, both incidents, to me, are nothing but reactions to the failure of the administrators of the entity called Nigeria to provide for, protect and guarantee justice to its citizens. Religious or secular, any intervention that neglects this submission is bound to fail for its unfairness. QED
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