Nigeria is a British colonial invention, formally unified as a "Protectorate" in 1914

[struggle4progress]

It is arguably the most diverse country in Africa, comprising hundreds of different groups speaking hundreds of languages. Prior to the British colonial period, Nigeria served an early and important role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade; the British nominally abolished slavery there as part of their colonial project, through control of the coastal ports, but significant human trafficking persists today. Colonial authorities set policy and organized infrastructure to facilitate the export of raw materials such as palm oil, cocoa, cotton, and rubber. Petroleum was discovered in the 1950s; it is now the world's sixth largest producer of oil; but it is still one of the twenty poorest countries in the world; and the disparity between the wealthy and impoverished drives crime and contributes to political struggles for resource control. The country obtained independence from Britain in 1960, at which time it joined the Commonwealth. Within a few years, Biafra's secession attempt led to civil war; cast as ethnic rivalry, the secession would have affected control of oil-producing regions in the Niger delta; perhaps two million perished in this conflict, before it ended in 1970. The standard response to continuing control problems has been military intervention in government, coupled with further subdivision of existing states. A 1993 attempt to restore democracy was cancelled with the dictatorship realized it would lose; the subsequent hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa provoked further struggle, as well as the suspension of Nigeria's Commonwealth status, which was restored only after the military agreed to elections in 1999; a former military ruler became president

The conflicts in Nigeria are thus complicated by a long history of deteriorated social conditions, extreme poverty, corruption, and official violence. Two million Nigerians have been forcibly relocated in the last decade, a process that continues today. In some parts of the country, mineral extraction has produced significant contamination of land and water. Extrajudicial execution is common and is not prosecuted

It should be clear that portraying violence in Nigeria as mere religious conflicts probably obscures important aspects of the problem


Badagry, Nigeria
Their History in the Atlantic Slave Trade
http://www.freemaninstitute.com/nigeria.htm

The Slave Trade
http://countrystudies.us/nigeria/7.htm

Abolition of the Slave Trade
http://www.country-studies.com/nigeria/abolition-of-the-slave-trade.html

Nigeria's 'respectable' slave trade

Nigeria: the colonial economy 1860-1960
http://www.onlinenigeria.com/links/LinksReadPrint.asp?blurb=467

The day oil was discovered in Nigeria
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7840310.stm

Documenting The Paradox Of Oil, Poverty In Nigeria
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92155119

Rural Poverty in Nigeria
http://www.globalaging.org/ruralaging/world/2008/nigeria.htm

Nigerian oil fuels Delta conflict
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4617658.stm

Nigeria: Niger Delta Gang Violence Goes Unpunished
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/03/20/nigeria-niger-delta-gang-violence-goes-unpunished

Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria’s Oil Dictatorship
http://www.democracynow.org/2003/7/11/transcript_of_drilling_and_killing_documentary

The Biafran War
http://www1.american.edu/TED/ice/BIAFRA.HTM

Nigeria suspended from Commonwealth
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/nigeria/11-11/

Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria
p://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2007/10/08/criminal-politics-0

Politics as War: The Human Rights Impact and Causes of Post-Election Violence in Rivers State, Nigeria
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/03/26/politics-war-0

Nigeria: More than two million people forcibly evicted
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/027/2009/en
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/scores-made-homeless-house-demolitions-nigeria-20091106

Nigeria: Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/018/2009/en

Nigeria: Killing at will: Cases
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/046/2009/en
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/nigerian-police-039kill-will039-20091209

Arbitrary Killings by Security Forces
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/07/20/arbitrary-killings-security-forces-0

A Year After 130 Civilians Killed in Jos, No Prosecutions, New Abuses
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/26/nigeria-prosecute-killings-security-forces

History of Nigeria
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad41

[moobu2]

1. Christians are burning Nigerian Muslims alive, including children - here’s a link

Christians have recently burned Muslims alive - including children

[struggle4progress]

2. We don't actually know what happened yet:

.. Witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that groups of armed men attacked the largely Muslim population of Kuru Karama around 10 a.m. on January 19, 2010. After surrounding the town, they hunted down and attacked Muslim residents, some of whom had sought refuge in homes and a local mosque, killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive. The witnesses said they believed members of the armed groups to be Christians ... One of the town's Muslim imams wounded in the attack told Human Rights Watch that a Christian pastor tried to stop the attack but was beaten by the armed mob. There are conflicting reports of the police response. One witness reported that at least one police officer participated in the attack, while another said the police abandoned their post shortly before the violence began. Witnesses said the killings took place throughout the day, without police intervention to stop the violence, despite repeated calls to the police ... There are conflicting reports of what triggered the Jos violence. Civil society leaders reported that it began with an argument over the rebuilding of a Muslim home destroyed in the November 2008 violence in a predominately Christian neighborhood. Police Commissioner Greg Anyating said the trigger was an attack by Muslim youth on Christian worshippers in the Nassarawa Gwom district of Jos, which Muslim leaders deny. There are also several credible reports that the military and police used excessive force against both Christians and Muslims in responding to the violence ...

Nigeria: Protect Survivors, Fully Investigate Massacre Reports
At Least 150 Killed by Mobs in Kuru Karama
JANUARY 23, 2010
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/01/22/nigeria-protect-survivors-fully-investigate-massacre-reports

[Betty Karlson]

3. And the favour is returned, I believe? N/T

[rd_kent]

4. What favor? Do you think burning people alive is okay?

Regardless of the history, nothing can make it okay do commit brutal murder like that, right?

[Betty Karlson]

5. Tell me where the "sarcasm" icon can be found

And I will readily insert it for your convenience.

[rd_kent]

7. right above when you post is the "smiley lookup table"

If you were being sarcastic, you have my apologies. In THIS forum, your comment seemed genuine, as many DO share that sentiment, without the sarcasm.

[TZ]

6. Yeah but that doesn't mean religion doesn't fuel the fervor

of these conflicts. So much of the problems in Africa can be traced to religous conflicts even with politics...Look at the reason WHY polio is a huge problem in Africa...Because IMAMs in several countries have convinced their flocks that the vaccine was an attempt by the Bush administration to kill off muslims. Want to tell me how religion isn't the criminal in this?