The Seeds of Terror Part 2

In the face of overwhelming evidence that our politics is defined by violence, intimidation and coercion; that we have a history of intermittent religious conflicts in Northern Nigeria (which in fact is becoming more regular); and that our communities are riven with violence, it is simply astounding how we arrived at the unfounded consensus that terror is somehow incompatible with the Nigerian, illustrating that oftentimes popular opinion may be grounded not in facts and rational analysis, but in collective amnesia. Let’s again re-examine the evidence.
Our post-independence politics was very violent-“operation wetie” in Western Nigeria” (political opponents and perceived traitors were doused with inflammable liquids and set on fire); Tiv riots in the Middle-Belt; the January 15, 1966 military coup which appeared to have disproportionately targeted victims from Northern Nigeria, and in some cases needlessly killed even their spouses; revenge attacks of a genocidal nature launched across the North against Southerners, especially those from Eastern Nigeria; the counter-coup of July 1966 which sought to equalise the body count; and civil war which reportedly led to the death of over a million people. During the civil war, we know of the massacre of males carried out in Asaba and surrounding towns and villages by federal troops led by General Murtala Muhammed on October 7, 1967.
We have regular religious crisis in Northern Nigeria-Kano, Bauchi, Jos, Maiduguri, Kafanchan, Zaria etc in which thousands of Nigerians have lost their lives. Most states in Nigeria’s North, we would recall have officially adopted the Sharia legal system, a direct assault on Nigeria’s secular constitution. Our politics is by definition, terror! How do you describe what happened in Ekiti State in the name of elections some months ago? Election observers, civil society representatives and opposition party agents were battered, bruised and thrown into jail for their temerity to stand in the way of those with superior firepower. How about the kidnap of Governor Ngige and the violent raping of Awka during the Obasanjo regime? Or the late Adedibu’s reign of terror in Ibadan, Oyo State which both the then ruling party chairman (Ahmadu Ali) and the President of the nation justified? We have a long list of intra or inter-communal violence-Aguleri/Umuleri, Ife/Modakeke, Sagamu, Warri, Ago-Iwoye, Tiv/Jukun, Ogoni/Andoni, Zangon-kataf etc. The contemporary Niger-Delta militancy indeed also adopted terrorist methods in pursuing its objectives, even though the underlying complaints may have been legitimate.
And then let’s examine the behaviour of individuals and communities. What do you think will happen if a petty thief is caught picking three hundred Naira (two dollars) from a trader’s pocket in Oshodi, Onitsha, Wuse market in Abuja or Kano? Uniformly in all of these places, the outcome is likely to be similar-the trader shouts “Ole Ole” (Thief, Thief); a crowd set upon the petty thief; he is stripped naked, beaten and mobbed; tires are draped around his neck and petrol or kerosene is added and then (except the police arrive before the sequence is completed) he is set on fire! And what happens when the police themselves arrest some armed robbers in the course of an anti-crime operation? Well if Amnesty International is to be believed, they simply shoot them to death! How do our road transport workers select their leaders and conduct their affairs, whether in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode, Aba or Calabar? Well they fight it out-with guns, cutlasses, axes, cudgels, amulets and charms and other implements of war.
And how do we resolve disputes over land and chieftaincy? Well ask the residents of Ajah, Lekki in Lagos about their experience during the urban warfare between the Olumegbon and his adversaries! And our university campuses? Campus cults of all varieties spread terror and fear among students and lecturers with frequent shoot-outs and many deaths. So for those who may have missed last week’s instalment, let us remind ourselves of the definition of terror. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines “terror” as “a feeling of extreme fear”, “terrorism” as “the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act”, “terrorist” as “a person who takes part in terrorism and to “terrorize” is “to frighten and threaten people so that they will not oppose sth or will do as they are told”. Based on the evidence outlined above, is it debatable that our politics, social and communal affairs are regularly characterised by fear and violence? And in terms of religion, isn’t it clear that Northern Nigeria in particular has a problem with religious intolerance and recurrent violence?
As a Nigerian I do not support the US classification of Nigeria as a “country of interest” necessitating strict searches and airport clearance procedures for Nigerian travellers passing through international airports. I believe the preponderance of victims of such a policy indeed are unlikely to ever contemplate acts of terror on airplanes. But shouldn’t we address the fundamental issues? Frankly the trend of religious violence in Northern Nigeria is troubling. Additionally, in Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan, there was first a weakening of government and a power vacuum which Islamist terror seized upon. Any one observing the on-going absence of governance in Nigeria will worry about where all this will lead.