Christians and Muslims in Twenty-first Century Nigeria

Abstract

The Maghreb Review, Vol. 47, 2, 2022 © The Maghreb Review 2022 This publication is printed on FSC Mix paper from responsible sources CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY NIGERIA ALLAN CHRISTELOW* Nigeria in the 2020s is widely recognised as a country whose population is almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. But it is impossible to get accurate statistics on the religious breakdown of the population of Nigeria since Nigeria does not collect statistics based on religion. One can put the overall population at about 200 million, and suggest that about one half of the population is Muslim and the other half Christian, with some still committed to their traditional beliefs. This new Muslim–Christian frontier, which has developed since the spread of Christianity by missionaries in southern and central Nigeria starting in the mid-nineteenth century, and the creation of Nigeria by the British at the beginning of the twentieth century, might be compared with an earlier Muslim–Christian frontier along the Mediterranean where Christians conducted crusades in an effort to impose their dominance, and Muslims waged jihad to oppose this. This ended in 1492 with the expulsion of Muslims from Spain. But Nigeria has shown the potential to be a territory where Muslims and Christians live in peace, and develop mutual understanding. To explore this situation, one must recognise that both Muslims and Christians are complex groups in Nigeria. Since the mid-twentieth century, some Nigerian Muslims have accepted the importance of modern education – which was introduced by the British colonial power. They send their children to schools where they learn English and study science. Some of them, mainly from well-to-do urban families, go on to study at a modern university. But those who come from poorer families and live outside of urban areas do not have access to ‘modern’ education and some are drawn to the Boko Haram movement, whose name means ‘Modern education is forbidden’. The Hausa word ‘boko’ is derived from ‘book’. It came into use in the 1970s when the government was working to develop English-language modern education in northern Nigeria. Christians, mainly in the south and in the Middle Belt, follow diverse versions of the religion, ranging from well-established branches such as Catholicism and mainstream Protestant branches to Pentecostalism. Those who follow the wellestablished versions of the religions tend to be from well-to-do, or at least relatively well-to-do, families. They see the need for education as a way to build the economy. Nigeria did not formally exist before it was created by British colonial rulers in the early 1900s. But its roots can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century when British missionaries began to make their way up the Niger River in motor-driven boats. The leading figure in this British colonial venture was * Idaho State University CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY NIGERIA 143 Lord Frederick Lugard, who saw the benefits of bringing the diverse territories along the Niger River into one economic unit. Within a short time after its creation the territory would be united not just by the Niger River but by a railway reaching from the port city of Lagos up to Kano, the economic hub of the north. Well-established Muslim rulers in the north came to terms with this, and eventually accepted colonial education with their children learning English in schools while they continued to speak Hausa or Fulfulde at home. But there were many people who remained on the margins without access to colonial education. By the 1970s some of these people were drawn to a movement that rejected modern un-Islamic education. This could be seen in the Maitatsine movement which emerged in the city of Kano and became involved in a violent conflict with the federal police in December 1980. The federal police were recruited from all over Nigeria, so they had little understanding of this movement, and no way to negotiate a solution to the conflict. The far north of Nigeria had remained strongly Muslim during and after colonial rule, with effective traditional rulers such as the Sultan of Sokoto and the Emir of Kano. But the Middle Belt, the area...