INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE IN NIGERIA:
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF 40 YEARSPublished in Anthony A. Akinwale (ed.), All that they had to live on. Essays in honour of Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Msgr. John Aniagwu. Ibadan: The Michael J. Dempsey Centre for Religious and Social Research, Dominican Institute, 2004, pp. 184-191.
Christian-Muslim relations in Nigeria are a hot topic these days. High-level research projects result in numerous conferences, books and articles, while on the popular level there is no end of pamphlets, booklets and articles in newspapers and magazines.
I recently gave talks on this subject at Good Shepherd Major Seminary, Kaduna, and St. Augustine Seminary, Jos, and I found an autobiographical framework a convenient way to describe the currents, aspirations, conflicts and resolution attempts over the period of Nigeria's Independence.
Well before my time, Islam became officially recognized in Borno in the 11th century and in the Hausa states in the 16th century. From the 15th century Portuguese and other missionaries began working on the Nigerian coast, particularly in Warri and Benin. These first Muslim and Christian incursions never took solid root. At the beginning of the 19th century came the jihad of Usman Dan Fodiye and the Sokoto caliphate. Later that century came the evangelical and educational jihad of the SMA and Holy Ghost Fathers, together with many Protestant missionary societies. Before and during the colonial era, both Islam and Christianity became vigorous and widespread, each benefiting from a variety of advantages found in the British presence.
Dominicans first came to Nigeria in 1951, with the first foundation at Yaba, Lagos. In 1953 they were entrusted with the new Apostolic Prefecture of Sokoto. From my entrance into the Order in 1956 until my ordination in 1963 I had no interest in coming to Nigeria or Africa, although two of my classmates had that aspiration from our novitiate and did come. In January 1964 the first Bishop of Sokoto (still then a Prefect Apostolic), Edward Lawton, O.P., came to Dubuque, Iowa, to talk to the Dominican theology students, where I was finishing up. He announced two instructions from the Holy See regarding Dominicans in Nigeria. The first — breaking from previous instructions to promote only the diocesan priesthood — was that they should take candidates and eventually form a Nigerian Dominican Province, so that they could make their unique contribution to the Church in Nigeria. The second was that they should provide some specialists in Islam, well versed in Arabic, in order to help the Church understand and relate with the very important Muslim community in Nigeria.
Knowing my capabilities and certain that no one else would dare face Arabic, I decided on the spot. Arrangements were concluded and I found myself on the tarmack of Kano airport on 13 November 1964. As I worked on the Hausa language, I had the chance to see and hear the Sardauna of Sokoto several times and experience the Islamic atmosphere of Sokoto. Two causes were in the air at that time: northernization and Islamization. The first was aimed at preventing Southerners from becoming dominant in the North (and in the Federation). The second was aimed particularly at the millions of Middle Belt people who at that time were still mostly followers of Traditional Religion.
Alongside a quiet majority of very human and humane Muslims, one was confronted with the profile of the Muslim NPC stalwart: proudly attired in babban riga and turban, disdainful of non-Northerners and non-Muslims, courting the obsequious worship of the talakawa, born to rule, poised to dip the Qur'ân in the sea, looking forward to the plaudits of the World Muslim League for delivering the whole of Nigeria to the Islamic umma. Except at occasional diplomatic receptions or in the company of British colonial hang-overs, an unclean kâfir like myself could not get near such lofty people.
The disquiet the Sardauna and his party aroused in other Nigerians blew open in the January and May 1966 coups and the following civil war. Biafra was defeated, but Yakubu Gowon, the Christian Head of State, had remapped the country into 12 states, later to be further divided. The holy North had been dismembered and the Caliphate seemed in disarray. Moreover, the 1966 exodus of southerners from the North permitted the churches to concentrate on the indigenous non-Muslim population of the North. Within a short time the bulk of these people trooped into the churches, changing the religious balance of the former Northern Region.
I was out of the country most of the time from October 1966 to mid-1970, studying in Rome, Tunisa, Cairo and Edinburgh, from whose University I came back to Nigeria with a Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic Studies. A short time in Sokoto convinced me that I could not cross the cultural and religious divide and develop any meaningful rapport with the Sokoto religious establishment, although I did develop a friendship with a number of Northern Muslims; Sheikh Ahmed Lemu is notable among them.
One way forward was to contribute to the formation of Nigerian Christians in relating with Muslims, and through them to promote dialogue, especially in the northern states. I received insistant encouragement towards that from the then "Secretariat for non-Christians" in Rome. Nevertheless, apart from Bishop Michael Dempsey, O.P., of Sokoto, the bishops were either indifferent or leery of the idea. In the East Islam was out of sight and out of mind. In the West Muslims and Christians lived peacefully together and there was no problem. In the North the race was still on to consolidate the Church among the Northern people; any overture to Muslims was seen as a threat to that aim. The message amounted to: "Let the Dominicans stay in Sokoto and talk to the Muslims there, where they have no local Church to develop."
I recalled the efforts of Fr. Victor Chukwulozie, who had studied some Arabic and Islamic philosophy in Oxford and was trying to promote dialogue with Muslims in Kano in the early 1960s. I never met him in those days, but used to hear him belittled by other priests for that interest, tied with his love for playing the piano. I too enjoy playing the piano, but was spared any attack on that score because for my first 20 years in Nigeria I had no access to a keyboard. Victor, unfortunately, relocated to Nsukka after the riots of 1966.
In spite of the discouragement, other avenues opened: an invitation in 1971 to be a visiting lecturer at SS. Peter & Paul Major Seminary in Ibadan (which lasted until 2000), and in 1972 at St. Augustine's Seminary, Jos (repeated in 1976). These opportunities gave me a new and challenging forum that had a wide and enduring impact.
In 1976 I was assigned to Ibadan, initially to lead the first experiment of an Interafrican Dominican Institute of Theology. The terms of reference made it a doomed project from the start, but my stay in Ibadan introduced me to the very different Islam of Yorubaland, welcoming, tolerant, unobtrusive, inventive and progressive. Working with students also resulted in an effective extended outreach in Christian-Muslim relations.
By 1979, the failure of the Interafrican experiment freed me to return to the North. I had the backing of the Vatican Secretariat and Missio to start a centre in Jos to coordinate study of Islam and outreach to Muslims throughout the northern states. In the meantime, the overthrow of Gowon and then the assassination of Murtala Muhammad in 1976 by a northern Christian element led to a more tense atmosphere in the north. The campaign for Shari`a began and, after Obasanjo's handover to the Second Republic President Shagari, not only the top Federal posts, but also the higher ranks of the army and police became a Muslim preserve. Although at first receptive to our proposal, the bishop of Jos in the end would have nothing to do with such a project. Dialogue in the North would have to wait.
I then received an assignment to Yelwa, in the then Sokoto State, and had my bags packed to go when, out of the blue, a representative of the University of Ibadan came to tell me there was a vacancy for a post of teaching Islam in the Department of Religious Studies, and the Deparment wanted me to take it. I had always imagined being allowed to teach Islam in a Nigerian government University an utter impossibility. Fr. Windbacher, the Dominican Vicar for Nigeria, told me to accept it, and there I was based for the next 22 years.
The University, its people, its academic life and habits are something it takes time to get used to — a most stimulating world, in spite of isolation from the world academia, the decadance setting in and the disturbances (not a normal year the whole time I was there). Relations with Muslims in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies were for a long time cordial but stand-offish. These were not ordinary Yoruba Muslims, but had political and international involvements. They made a sustained attempt to have the cross next to the religious round-about removed and stop the Department of Religious Studies from teaching Islam. They were particularly opposed to a colleague in my Department who taught Islamic courses and had no knowledge of Arabic. In the end they put up a screen against the cross, and agreed that Religious Studies could teach Islam in a comparative context. If uncomfortable with me, they at least respected me. Nearly all my classes had some Muslim students.
Since around 1995 I have noticed and personally experienced a dramatic positive turn in Christian-Muslim relations in Nigeria. This can be attributed to a number of factors:
- The strong Islamic character of the Shagari and Babangida regimes made the whole nation, the Catholic Church included, aware that Islam is a national concern, and is not confined to the far North. Christians throughout the country, whether reacting positively or negatively, realized that they could not ignore Islam and Muslims.
- The 1981 return of the military and the later annulled election of Abiola, who had enjoyed the support of Christians and Muslims throughout the country, opened the eyes of Muslims that their co-religionists at the helm of affairs are not always religious people, even though they display religious credentials and manipulate religion to suit their political ends. Christians and Muslims drew together during the bitter Babangida-Abacha days to face the common problem. I could gather this very well at the University of Ibadan, which is like an echo chamber of all that goes on in the country. Friendships and trust grew, especially with younger Muslims, and I was frequently invited to speak at Muslim gatherings.
- In the meantime, the 9 September 2001 attack on the U.S. brought to the fore a "clash of civilizations" and the realization that Islam is an international concern. A large section or the majority of theMuslim world seemed to approve of suicide attacks as an instrument of fighting for a just cause when other means were ineffective; it was a form of jihad which would bring the "martyr" straight into Paradise. Alongside this determined anger, large numbers of Muslims are embarrassed by the image of violence attached to Islam and have gone out of their way to build on another tradition that condemns indiscriminate attacks and promotes working with all agencies and persons of good will for the common good of Muslims and non-Muslims. In Nigeria Muslims and Christians have developed joint organizations working for peace and cooperation between their communities; these are notable in Kaduna, Ijebu-Ode and Ibadan.
- Pope John Paul II, with the Catholic Church in general, has won great respect for his positive outreach to Muslims, as he showed them esteem and respect and supported their just causes, while at the same time condemning violence in the name of religion. The appointment of Archbishop Arinze as Cardinal Prefect of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue gave an added spur to Nigerian bishops to follow the lead of the Vatican in reaching out to Muslims. At his instigation, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (AECAWA) each have established Interreligious Dialogue Commissions. At their study sessions, not only the traditionally friendly Yoruba Muslims take part, but also Hausa Muslims representing such bastions of the Northern establishment as Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI). They not only participate in these seminars, but are most keen to promote the aims of the Interreligious Dialogue Commissions.
These positive developments are not without challenges. A Muslim-Christian coalition backed the election of Obasanjo. His first move was to retire all army officers who were a potential threat. In his first term the legislature was full of Abacha people, and the government could not deliver the expected "dividends of democracy". Although the PDP swept the second election, popular discontent at the government's ineptitude fed opposition within the party. In the north this took on several organized forms with political and religious dimensions:
- The Arewa Forum, a coalition trying to recreate the caliphal Northern Region, strove to bring power back to the North. Groups such as this seem to have had a hand in driving the Tiv out of Nassarawa and Taraba States and harrassing Christians in Jos and in rural areas of Plateau State.
- Another challenge was the establishment of Shari`a as the State law of Zamfara and then many more states of the North. Obasanjo chose to ignore it. State establishment of Shari`a is a means for politicians to make points and for associations of Islamic scholars to gain for their members paid positions of social power.
- Later challenges came in a renewal of the old weapon of religious riots. The U.S. entry into Afghanistan provided an excuse in Kano. The Miss World contest provided an excuse in Kaduna. Riots are warnings to the Federal Government to respect the power of the old northern establishment.
We should be aware that many Muslim leaders are disturbed by these developments. Besides the forthright pronouncements of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Abdullahi An-Na`im,1 let me quote Muhammad Sani Isah, representing the Jama'atu Nasril Islam Kaduna Chapter and the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum, Kaduna, who spoke at the November 2003 AECAWA seminar:
When preachers preach the real teachings of a religion, like Islam which I know better, I am sure there will be practical and meaningful religious tolerance in Nigeria. This shows the need for our religious authorities (Jama'atu Nasril Islam in particular) to revisit the issuance of licenses to Muslim preachers. There is every need for the J.N.I. to revive her policy of censorship to prevent incompetent men from preaching violence and religious intolerance. Incompetent preachers in most cases exploit religion to achieve their personal ends. This is a most unfortunate phenomenon in the religion of God.At the same meeting, Bishop Bagobiri quoted Pope John Paul II:
A religion that teaches violence and war is to that extent a travesty, a negation of what religion is all about. Religion is not and must not become a pretext for conflict. The only religion worthy of the name is the religion that leads to peace and true religion is mocked when it is tied to conflict and violence.In interreligious relations we need two eyes: one with the wisdom of the serpent to know that there are enemies of peace, tolerance and religious freedom, the other with the simplicity of the dove, recognizing the good will and commitment to peace and progress within both the Muslim and the Christian folds.
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