ARCHBISHOP CARREY, LADY ROSE AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

by
Ibrahim Ado-Kurawa B. Sc (HONS) M. Sc Zoology (Applied Entomology)
Director Research, Institute for Contemporary Research (ICR) Kano and General Editor Weekly Pyramid The Magazine
(ibrahimado@hotmail.com)
http://www.kanoonline.com/ibrahimado/
Kano, Nigeria
© 2001

The Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carrey in a recent BBC news bulletin was reported to have mentioned Pakistan, Indonesia, Sudan and Nigeria as Muslim countries where Christian minorities are subjected to persecution. This has come at a critical time during which world leaders are appealing for calm so that war in Afghanistan does not escalate into a direct conflict between Muslims and Christians. This short essay is essential because history has shown that the negative image of Islam in Europe is largely as a result of the problem the minorities had with the Muslims after the Crusades. A Western scholar of Islam has summarized this below:

The embitterment resulting from the long struggle between Islam and Christendom, the needs of security in areas of mixed Muslim and Christian population at a time when religious loyalty was primary, and perhaps one should add, the example of persecution set by Christian Kings and prelates, all combined eventually to bring about a harsher attitude on the part of the Muslims. From this period onwards, relations between the Muslims and their Christian and Jewish subjects became more distant and, often, more difficult . Because of the above indigenous Christian clerics developed a harsh attitude towards Islam, which they wrote about and this in turn contributed to the European misconceptions and manipulations in the name of Orientalism. Thus in relation to this situation one of the European commentators made this observation: Another element that remains true today is that many of the prejudices against Muslims (or Arabs) were planted by some of the indigenous Christian communities (as is today the case with the Maronities in Lebanon and to a lesser extent the Armenians in Turkey).

In Northern Nigeria it seems the Christian elites may not have been reporting the warmth Muslim leaders extend to them. If not it is doubtful if Lord Carrey will have included Nigeria in his comment just a day after a leading Igbo Christian was well received in the Palace of His Highness the Emir of Kano. Whose Emirate is the largest and most prosperous in Northern Nigeria. He also has the track record of accommodating and protecting non-Muslims. For almost twenty years some Igbo traders were renting shops at the house of his elder brother, just behind Gidan Rumfa (the Emir's palace), they remained there until the crises triggered by the "Christian extremists whose quest for converts can come at the expense of peace. In 1991, the visit of German evangelist Rienhard Bonnke to Kano in a bid to convert Muslims touched off bloody rioting".

Lady Rose wrote a book on the Four "Kingmakers" of Kano and it was launched at the instance of His Highness at the Palace Durbar ground. It was well attended because of the Emir's blessing. Lady Rose is a respected Christian Lady and her husband is a distinguished Christian gentleman hence he was knighted. This is not the first time she is so honored by the respected traditional institution of Kano she had earlier written a book on His Highness, which also received his blessing.

Lady Rose was honored not because her works are original or path breaking but simply because Kano elders want to promote peaceful co-existence and tolerance. And apart from His Highness the Emir of Kano, most of the elites do not support intellectual initiative. It has been reported that the Kano State government purchased ten copies of the book for _250000 . A highly respected Kano businessman also contributed _1 million. The same government did not donate one-quarter of that amount to a book written by Dr. Uba Adamu on the history of Kano, which is far better than the book by Lady Rose. Moreover the same government has not available that amount to publish research works commissioned by the state history and culture bureau on the same theme written by Lady Rose but completed since 1991.

This complacency is extended to all fields not only history. Kano Online an Internet group (www.kanoonline.com) wrote a forty-page document to the state government seeking for assistance so that it could commission seasoned academics to write papers that would enrich the site, there was no acknowledgement from the government. The next thing the promoters heard was that some individuals had been contracted to design a website for the state government presumably based on the submission of the group.

This attitude is not limited to Kano State Government most of the state governments in Northern Nigeria and most of the northern Muslim elites are similar in this respect. No single Northern media made coverage of the $75000 Rolex Award for Enterprise given to Mallam Mohammed Bah Abba of Jigawa State for inventing "Pot-in-Pot" a simple refrigerator but it was covered by many foreign media including Popular Science and there was a documentary on it by the Discovery Channel. This invention was the front cover story of Appropriate Technology of Oct/Dec 2000 published by Research Information Limited Herts, United Kingdom. Jigawa State could not even nominate him for national honor being perhaps the only Nigerian who has received that award. The Northern State governments are only interested in nominating retired civil servants most of whom contributed nothing to the upliftment of the society.

Lady Rose is not the only distinguished Christian that has been honor by northern Muslims. There are some others who later made themselves adversaries of the Muslims a good example is Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah who made headlines when he wrote a book, which indicted northern Muslims and he was handsomely rewarded by the northern Muslim elites. This was the observation of the reporter who covered the launching ceremony: Even though the book promises to be the most scholarly indictment yet on the activities of northern, Hausa-Fulani muslim (sic) political leaders, the group was present in force. Chairing the occasion was Alhaji Liman Ciroma, Ciroman Fika, former secretary to the government of the federation, Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed Wazirin Jema'a; Shetiman Sokoto Malam Yahaya Gusau; Alhaji Ahmed Talib, and former governor of Kaduna State Alhaji Balarabe Musa.

Kukah's study was subjective although he pretended to be engaged in a social science enterprise and SOAS, the school he did his Ph.D program has been noted for academic racism and commitment to distorting Islam. Kukah's reviewer rightly observed that: History, particularly rendition of political history, it is acknowledged, is basically a matter of interpretation of evidence. Authors can interpret evidence as they wish and in the process come up with distinct and peculiar picture, and explanation, of events and processes. The challenge for scholars is that of treading the line between scientific and "objective" analysis on the one hand, and on the other subjective and wishful conjectures.

Apart from the fact that Kukah's analyses are based on "subjective and wishful conjunctures" he was often carried away as he wrote unfounded allegations. The reviewer went on to observe that: Secondly, in relation to powerfully advanced assertion that religion, backed by state resources was used to consolidate Hausa/Fulani hegemony, there is the need to provide concrete proof, to move the discussion away from unsubstantiated allegations. For example, Father Kukah stated that "though some have been quick to point out that state funds had no part in the (Islamic) conversion campaigns, insiders have testified that this was not so. p. 44.

Yet the explanatory footnote used as an illustration (No. 68, p. 61, Paden, 1986 p. 575) does not provide concrete proof, beyond the Sardauna's reported "wish," which the responsible civil servant objected to. Similarly, the author claims that "the Gaskiya Publishing Company Zaria was set up mainly to publish Islamic literature," (p. 44). Yet, John Paden, his source (1986, p. 550) did not provide the evidence/confirmation, he merely indicted that the Sardauna had published, "privately" some of Danfodio's books with Gaskiya Publishing Company. The patronage Kukah got from the northern Muslim elites helped him in gaining recognition outside Nigeria, which fosters additional opportunities and resources in form of research grants and visits or attendance to conferences . He has continued his work of indicting Muslims of Nigeria at every available opportunity Ousmane Kane has shown how Kukah and his other Christian brothers Toyin Falola and Jibrin Ibrahim omitted an important issue in "their otherwise well-documented analyses" of the Kafanchan crisis conflict. This was deliberately done in order to propagate the idea that "Muslim Fundamentalists provoke the crisis". Therefore these works assumed to be "scholarly accounts are suspected of being biased".

The Catholic spirit of cooperation with the Muslims on various issues caused by the secularization of the World does not guide Kukah who is a Catholic priest. He seems not be guided by various encyclicals of the late Pontiff Pope Paul IV such as Ecclesiam Suam (His Church) (1964) and Lumen Gentium (Light to All Nations) and above all the ecumenical decree of Vatican Council II, Nostrae Aetate (In Our Times 1965). It seems he only has contempt for Muslims. It is surprising that a Catholic priest could make this statement:

The Muslim elite continues to argue that it does not wish to subordinate itself to the goals and aspiration of a secular society. Yet the reality is that beyond the convenient posturing of the Muslim elite, the argument for a secular state has never been a threat to any religion. And those who think otherwise know that beyond the opportunities it gives for state funds to be diverted to individual or sectional interests such as supporting selected traditional institutions, pilgrimages and other pursuits for legitimation of government, nothing in the secularity of a state threatens religion beyond the whims of those who think that it is they, not God, who owns the religions. Apart from the fact that the Catholic Church does not support the irreligious activities promoted by secularism unfortunately Kukah is also bold in accusing Muslims of using state resources for other ends in the name of religion which is unbecoming of a Catholic priest because he was selective in his accusation. The best answer for him here is the observation of his Christian brother who wrote: But there are contradictions here, as Enwerem points out (and he is by no means uncritical of CAN's political strategies). On the one hand CAN insists that the Nigerian state should hold its secular principle of neutrality as between religions, against the desire of Muslim pressure groups like JNI to associate the state with Islam. On the other it is drawn to compete with them for state favours, such as subsidies for pilgrimages or religious buildings, and to adopt an attitude of automatically endorsing Christians in office, irrespective of their competence or probity. Nor has it been willing to open dialogue or establish links with progressive or secular Muslim opinion .

Some space has been allocated in this short essay to discussing Kukah's behavior this is because he is a typical example of someone who misused the recognition and respect accorded to him by Muslims. He is also not a true ambassador of the Catholic Pontiffs who have advocated for dialogue and understanding with Muslims. In fact Pope Paul IV made this statement: We don't support sending missionaries to Muslim countries to proselytize, but there are some extremists who would like to undertake that in much the same way as you do have extremists in the Muslim world. What we seek is to cooperate with the objective of educating those who do not know God at all. And indeed there are a great number of them in the world, a fact which calls on us to co-operate so that we can draw them to worship God.

It is the behavior and the propaganda of people like Kukah that contribute to the negative statement of Lord Carrey, a World Leader who cannot be everywhere and will have to rely on those on the ground. Lord Carrey is making efforts for promoting understanding between Muslims and Christians therefore he needs to be assisted with balanced and objective information. Lord Carrey and other Christian leaders are only informed that Christians are denied permits to build Churches without any clarification on the nature of permits and in what locations. The good news like the reception given to Lady Rose, which was never given to any Kano indigene including those who wrote better than her never make the headlines. This is notwithstanding the fact that northern Muslims elites are aware that in the southeast Muslims of northern origin are denied basic amenities that should be provided by the government, the Radio Deutche Welle Hausa Service has reported this maltreatment . And on the other hand non-Muslims in Zamfara benefited from the state poverty alleviation programme, the New Nigerian reported that a section of that Yoruba community received 2 million naira and that the Igbo Community was going to be given 5 million naira . It is hoped that Lady Rose will be a better ambassador to Church leaders than Matthew Hassan Kukah and this will go a long way in promoting peaceful co-existence in a multi-religious Nigerian state. Already unconfirmed reports have indicated that another Christian Igbo gentleman in Kano has been given authority to collect N40000 from each of the 44 local government areas (total _1760000) to write a book on the traditional institutions of Kano. This is by far less than the amount required to publish the papers presented at the International Seminar on One Thousand Years of State and Leadership in Kano organized by the State Ministry of Information three years ago.

Brought to you by Kano Online 2001