Dominicans and the Evolution of Nigeria The coming of independence in 1960 meant that the Dominicans, still all Americans, had to work in a land governed by Nigerians. Practically all the educational and medical work in the country up to that time was in the hands of the various Christian missions. Yet the Nigerians who now controlled the Federation were not products of the Christian schools or members of the Christian Faith. They were Muslims from the far North. The British legacy was to give them controlling interest in the Northern Region, which had the controlling role in the Federation. The Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region promptly launched a conversion jihad with the aim of "dipping the Qur'an into the sea." A tribal and religious struggle had begun.
The first violence came with the coup in 1996, followed by pogroms against Igbos and attacks on churches in the North, then the Biafran secession and civil war. Federal victory was marked by General Gowon's policy of reconciling the Igbos, but also by a takeover of Church schools and hospitals. It was also announced (but not implemented) that a mosque would be constructed in every village in the country. Visas were systematically denied or delayed to would-be foreign missionaries.
The Church had long promoted indigenous vocations and from the early 1960s the implantation of religious orders in Nigeria. The Dominican vocation programme was well underway when the civil war ended in 1970. But the situation was difficult with no new missionaries and an increasing workload at Yaba and in Sokoto diocese. Relief came with the first ordination in 1975.
From the late 1970s to the early 1990s there were several inter-religious riots in the North. At first they were a repeat of the 1966 scene when Christians went like lambs to the slaughter. But soon Christians learned to defend themselves and later riots became a warning for Muslim thugs to be more careful. But another factor was more significant in the fading away of inter-religious riots. That was disillusionment with the government.
Hopes rose or fell among opposing parties at the Murtala Muhammad coup in 1976, followed by the Dimka attempt and the Obasanio succession the same year and the Second Republic under Shagari in 1978. The Buhari coup of January 1983, the Babangida coup of 1985, the annulment of Abiola's June 1993 election, and the devious handover to Shonekan and then to Abacha in November 1993 left people tired of coups and more and more disillusioned with anything that government could offer. As the economy went down and armed robbery increased, Christians and Muslims woke up to the fact that they were suffering together at the hands of leaders who exploited religion in order to divide and rule and serve their own interests.
Dominicans took keen interest in following all these developments and in making their own contribution to peace and the security of people. Iheanyi Enwerem's A Dangerous Awakening is an important study of the situation.
Another factor in the evolution of Nigeria is the phenomenon of Pentecostal movements and churches. Pentecostalism became prominent as the country began to disintegrate politically, economically and socially since around 1980. The failure of all human institutions reinforced the natural religiosity of Nigerians, but Pentecostalism capitalized on the situation by its unabashed advertisement of miracles and its preaching of the "gospel of prosperity". This attraction was reinforced by American tele-evangelist methods, hype music and dress, with a theology that condemns at once "pagan" African tradition and Catholic sacraments and veneration of Mary. Pentecostalism seduced youth and adults from traditional Protestant Churches, "white garment" Africanist Churches, and also from the Catholic Church.
It would be easy to simply shift gear and compete with Pentecostals on their own terms, and this is what many Catholic healers and prophets have successfully done. But in the long run this could be merely a weaning of Catholics from their own tradition. The challenge is to sell the full sacramental mystery of the Church in an attractive liturgy, while at the same time being attentive to the human needs of people. Dominicans have been responding successfully to this challenge by their liturgies, preaching and popular publications, particularly the student publication Decision, of which 5,000 copies are sold quarterly. Jude Mbukanma's Is it in the Bible? is another popular seller that addresses Pentecostal questions.
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