News about Nigeria
October 2002by Paul Grant
Of Nigeria's 117 million people, roughly two thirds are members of one of three major ethnic groups: Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. Hausa are largely Muslim, Igbo and Yoruba are largely Christian.
A century ago, the majority of what would become Nigeria were practitioners of Traditional African Religions, that number today is less than six percent and dropping. Today around half the country is Christian, and about 45% is Muslim. The future is most likely to see increasingly hot conflict between Muslims and Christians. The confusion is the relationship between religion and ethnicity: Many riots start as Christian vs. Muslim street fighting, and quickly become Igbo vs. Hausa fighting, or visa-versa. Similarly, recently an anti-Christian riot in the (largely Muslim and Hausa) north of the country was answered by an anti-Hausa riot in the largely Yoruba and Christian south.
For much of Nigeria's independence, the government was run by the military - a Muslim dominated institution. When democracy was restored in 1999, a Yoruba Christian became president, to the frustration of the Muslims. Since 1999, several Muslim-majority states in the north of the country initiated civic enforcement of sharia, Islamic law. The resulting and related tensions will likely be the test of Nigeria's future and peace.
Sharia means different things in different states. In Kaduna state, it has meant not much more than the prohibition of alcohol; but in Kano state, all single women were required to get married (since a single woman living apart from her father was defined as a prostitute - illegal in Islam). This wild interpretation of social life resulted in many Christian women being forced to marry a Muslim, or to leave the region.
Meanwhile, the church continues to grow. The largest denominations are Roman Catholic and Anglican, but the majority of Christians in the country are members of indigenous African Christian groups. These brothers and sisters in Christ are part of a global phenomenon: the 21st century church will be led by the church of the nonwestern world. Possibly the next Catholic pope will be Nigerian, and the real vitality of many major denominations is driven by leadership from Africa.
Newssites
This Day Newspaper in Lagos
AllAfrica.com Pan-African News
OnlineNigeria.com News
and Information on Nigeria
CIA factbook
on Nigeria
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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