Abuse in northern Nigeria has flared up every now and then during the last Thirty years. Primarily by means of city riots, it's got pitted Muslims against Christians and it has seen confrontations concerning different Islamic sects.
Even though there have been some accomplishments incompatible management within the last decade, the 2009 and 2010 troubles in Bauchi, Borno and Yobe states involving the radical Boko Haram sect show that violence most likely will flare up at any time. If the situation were to degrade significantly, especially on Christian-Muslim lines, it could have severe outcomes for national cohesion within the build up to national elections in April 2011. To deal with the risks, community-level initiatives should be reinforced, a more subtle protection response should be developed and the control over general population sources need to be improved. While some in the West panic at what they see as growing Islamic radicalism in the region, the roots of the issue are more complicated and lie in Nigeria's history and modern day state policies.
The far north, if taken to include the twelve states that reintroduced Sharia (Islamic law) for legal cases at the start of the century, is home to 53 million people. The large greater part are Muslim, but there's a substantial Christian fraction, both native to the area and the product of migration from the south of the country. The Sokoto Caliphate, formed in 1804-1808, is a guide point for most in the region.
As West Africa's most powerful pre-colonial state, it is a source of excellent pride. But for some, its defeat by the British in 1903 and subsequent dealings with colonial and post-colonial states mean the caliphate is ruined with the corrupting impact of high-end political power. The influence of colonial rule was peculiar. While policies of indirect rule allowed traditional authorities, principally the Sultan of Sokoto, to continue to expand their power, that power was also circumscribed by the British.
In the first decades of liberty, that have been marked by recurrent violent struggle between the regions for charge of state resources, the north saw the government as a way to power and control. But after the devastating rule of northern General Sani Abacha (1993-1998), the resume democracy in 1999 was viewed as the opportunity for the north to seek out political and moral renewal. This result in the reintroduction of Sharia in twelve states between 1999 and 2002, although only two have applied it seriously. Sharia caused controversy more than its compatibility with international human rights standards and the constitution and regarding the position of Christians in those states. It also exacerbated recurrent conflicts between Muslims and Christians. But it was supported by many Muslims, and some Christians, who had lost faith in secular law enforcement government bodies, and it also induced much open and democratic argument over the rule of law. Tensions over the issue have declined in recent years.
Even though there have been some accomplishments incompatible management within the last decade, the 2009 and 2010 troubles in Bauchi, Borno and Yobe states involving the radical Boko Haram sect show that violence most likely will flare up at any time. If the situation were to degrade significantly, especially on Christian-Muslim lines, it could have severe outcomes for national cohesion within the build up to national elections in April 2011. To deal with the risks, community-level initiatives should be reinforced, a more subtle protection response should be developed and the control over general population sources need to be improved. While some in the West panic at what they see as growing Islamic radicalism in the region, the roots of the issue are more complicated and lie in Nigeria's history and modern day state policies.
The far north, if taken to include the twelve states that reintroduced Sharia (Islamic law) for legal cases at the start of the century, is home to 53 million people. The large greater part are Muslim, but there's a substantial Christian fraction, both native to the area and the product of migration from the south of the country. The Sokoto Caliphate, formed in 1804-1808, is a guide point for most in the region.
As West Africa's most powerful pre-colonial state, it is a source of excellent pride. But for some, its defeat by the British in 1903 and subsequent dealings with colonial and post-colonial states mean the caliphate is ruined with the corrupting impact of high-end political power. The influence of colonial rule was peculiar. While policies of indirect rule allowed traditional authorities, principally the Sultan of Sokoto, to continue to expand their power, that power was also circumscribed by the British.
In the first decades of liberty, that have been marked by recurrent violent struggle between the regions for charge of state resources, the north saw the government as a way to power and control. But after the devastating rule of northern General Sani Abacha (1993-1998), the resume democracy in 1999 was viewed as the opportunity for the north to seek out political and moral renewal. This result in the reintroduction of Sharia in twelve states between 1999 and 2002, although only two have applied it seriously. Sharia caused controversy more than its compatibility with international human rights standards and the constitution and regarding the position of Christians in those states. It also exacerbated recurrent conflicts between Muslims and Christians. But it was supported by many Muslims, and some Christians, who had lost faith in secular law enforcement government bodies, and it also induced much open and democratic argument over the rule of law. Tensions over the issue have declined in recent years.
