CAN Accuses US John Kerry of "Divisive "Visit to only Northern Nigeria Leaders & Gover

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Nigeria was always a country made up of majority Christian and Muslim, and other religions, and for many decades and perhaps centuries have lived side by side in peace, until in the more recent years. The relationship between Muslims and Christians has progressively worsened since the insurgence of Boko Haram. Anarchy has become the order of the day, especially in the North and several other places and also since former dictator General Muhammadu Buhari became President, things have definitely “fallen apart, the centre cannot hold... anarchy is loosed upon “Nigeria”;” as in W.B. Yeats’ ‘the second coming’.

The centre indeed cannot hold because according to a report by Thomas Reese, in National Catholic Reporter, (2015) the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said that “Nigeria is considered a country of particular concern by USCIRF because of recurring sectarian violence and escalating interfaith tensions; "while the Nigerian federal government does not engage in religious persecution," the commission said, it fails to implement effective strategies to prevent or stop terrorism or sectarian violence and does not bring to justice those responsible for such violence."

The commissions’ statement was empowered when The US secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, amidst the religious chaos in the Northern part of Nigeria, decided to visit the Sultant Abubakar of Sokoto and 19 Northern governors, of whom only 3 are Christians; alienating all the Christian Governors from other states in Nigeria. According to Premium Times, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), accused the US government of promoting schism between Muslims and Christians. The report stated that the president of CAN, Rev. Supo Ayokunle, said Mr. Kerry’s “lack of respect for the heterogeneous nature of Nigeria, amounted to favouring northern Nigerian Muslims to the detriment of the Christian Community”. The newspaper also reported on (2016) that Mr Kerry praised the Sultan for promoting religious tolerance, which according to many Christian Leaders was not the experience of Christians in the North.

Mr Kerry’s visit to Nigeria has sparked nationwide condemnation from Christian leaders in Nigeria who are asking many questions including; why Mr Kerry decided to meet just the Northern Governors especially since his visit was to discuss how to counter terrorism, improve Nigeria’s economy and human rights. Why isolate some States? This is a main question that is on the lips of many Christian Leaders in Nigeria, which was equally echoed by Jardine Malado of Christian News.

References:

• Premium Time, Press Release, (August 26, 2016). Available at: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/209325-can-fumes-john-kerrys-meeting-sultan-northern-governors-accuses-u-s-bias.html

• Vanguard, (26 August 2016). Available at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/us-visit-nigeria-can-blasts-kerry-says-visit-nigerian-muslims/

• Chinua Achebe, (2001) Things Fall Apart. London: Penguin Classics.

• Paden, John, (2005) Muslim civic cultures and conflict resolution: the challenge of democratic federalism in Nigeria. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

• Jardine Malado, (29 August 2016). ‘Christian Group in Nigeria labels John Kerry’s visit as divisive and discriminatory’. Available at: http://christiantimes.com/article/christian-group-in-nigeria-labels-kerrys-visit-as-divisive-and-discriminatory/61713.htm

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Blog Post Author: Maryanne Aniagolu-Oke is a bi-lingual freelance human resource generalist and community development expert who speaks English and German. Maryanne writes for SitiTalkBlog.

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