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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Ethno-religious Mobilisation as a Response to the Lack of Trust: Nigeria's Transition to Democracy
| Panel |
24. Trust and the Reconstruction of Society
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| Paper ID | 657 |
| Author(s) |
Harnischfeger, Johannes
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | When Nigeria's military rulers gave way to democracy, power shifted from the north of the country to the south. Those who lost out, Hausa-Fulani politicians from the Islamic north, had good reason to fear that they might be excluded permanently from power and government patronage. As they could not trust in being given a fair chance in the next elections, they put pressure on their rivals using as a 'bargaining chip' the threat of a religious confrontation. By mobilising the Muslim majority in the north in the name of Sharia, they turned Christians from the south, who had settled in northern cities, into hostages who could be targeted by religious clashes. However, religious (and ethnic) mobilisation was not just directed against outsiders. From the perspective of the ordinary faithful, Sharia is meant to create a community of trust. The immutable law of God shall become the yardstick by which both rich and poor are measured. Thus the elite would be integrated into a moral community in which rulers and ruled are united by a shared culture.
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