afrol News, 31 March - "Muslims will always demand shari'a [Islamic law] wherever they find themselves, but it will never apply to Christians." A Muslim scholar from southern Nigeria made these remarks during a conference on Christian-Muslim relations held in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State, the first state to introduce shari'a in northern Nigeria in 1999.

Following Zamfara, eleven other northern Nigerian states since that have applied shari'a criminal laws. All these states have a majority population of Muslims, but count on a significant minority following the Christian faith or African religions. The introduction and use of shari'a laws on several occasions has led to violence between northern Nigeria's different religious groups.

This led to the holding of the Gusau meeting, with the theme "Shari'a and Christian-Muslim Relations in Nigeria: The Way Forward". The meeting was the sixth in a series organised by the Association of Christian-Muslim Mutual Relations in Nigeria, in conjunction with the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and the Zamfara state government. Reverend David Windibiziri, retired archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) is president of the association that was established in 1992.

The recent conference was the first to be co-hosted by the state, an indication of increasing engagement of politicians and religious leaders in issues that relate to religious co-existence. Over 80 Christians and Muslims including imams, bishops and pastors from different Christian denominations, scholars from several universities, representatives of religious organisations and media workers from all over Nigeria attended the conference.

There were presentations by theologians from both religions. Members of the Lutheran "Christian-Muslim Dialogue: Conflict and Peace" study team also listened to and learned from a variety of discussions and interviews with participants from areas in northern Nigeria that had been affected by conflicts and crises between Christians and Muslims since 1990.

After the conference, the team comprising a Christian and Muslim representative each from Denmark, Indonesia, Nigeria and the US was also able to gain insight into the problems connected with the implementation of shari'a, especially in the northern states of Sokoto, Zamfara and Bauchi, and the concern this had created among Christians. Some Christians feared that an Islamic state would eventually be declared, resulting in the elimination of Christianity.

The study team's meetings with politicians, Christian and Muslim leaders and community members in Abuja, Bauchi, Gusau, Jos and in Adamawa state somewhat explained the complexity of the situation. The violent conflicts that had taken place in northern Nigeria in recent years were not spontaneous as earlier conflicts, but had been well prepared, often with support from outside the country.

Poverty, unemployment, corruption and feelings of neglect and exclusion from power and decision-making positions appeared to be the primary causes, while ethnicity and religion were used to fuel the conflicts, the team was told. Christian and Muslim organisations, on the other hand, had often been involved in several initiatives aimed at securing peace and harmony in the country.

But there is concern about political involvement. "The process of reconciliation and peace building has been stolen by politicians and media from the people who are suffering. It must be given back to the grassroots," said Reverend Gopar Barnabas Topkida, director of the Mennonite Central Committee local peace program.

Mr Topkida - who works with community groups and organisations to create bridges of understanding and develop peace building skills especially in and around the Jos area - particularly criticised televised peace conferences involving politicians, which started and ended with a Christian and Muslim prayer.

By Lissi Rasmussen (Lutheran World Federation, LWF)

© afrol News

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