Kaduna’s peace narrative (I)

– where it once was in terms of conflict, –  where it is now in the transition to peace – and the reconciliation processes it is putting in place to ensure that peace agreements do not result in frozen peace, but provide the starting point for healing and reconciliation among the member cities;Participants at the […]

– where it once was in terms of conflict,
–  where it is now in the transition to peace
– and the reconciliation processes it is putting in place to ensure that peace agreements do not result in frozen peace, but provide the starting point for healing and reconciliation among the member cities;
Participants at the FCT will be drawn from some of the countries torn apart by cleavages that have resulted in widespread and indiscriminate violence. In all these countries different factions sought to advance their claims by using paramilitary organizations to proclaim the right to protect an ethnically related minority. These countries are Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Lebanon, South Africa, the Balkans (when Yugoslavia imploded after the collapse of Communism), Iraq and Kurdistan, where the Kurds carved out their own enclave under American protection after the first Gulf War, and Nigeria where Kaduna will be hosting the fourth FCT conference. In most of these countries which have witnessed devastating ethno religious conflicts, violence has now ceased or been brought to manageable levels and policies have been adopted that sufficiently address the out groups’ grievances.
In sharing its past experience with FCT conference parti-cipants, Kaduna should ana-lyse the ethno religious conflicts that have occurred in the state from the 1987 Kafanchan crises to date. Of particular importance is the Zangon Kataf and the Sharia crises.  For the Zangon Kataf violence the deep rooted causes of the conflict are historical and cultural, while competition over scarce resources added an economic dimension to it. The Kataf and indeed other ethnic groups of Southern Kaduna argue that historical developments since the colonial conquest have favoured the Hausa and Fulani who are Muslims and they dominate the politics and economy of the region. They control the traditional leadership offices and the markets and marginalise the ethnic minorities who also told the Justice Rahila Cudjoe Commission of Inquiry established after the Zangon Kataf crises that they resent being called animists (arna) by the Hausa and Fulani. In terms of geographical spread, the Hausa /Fulani are the majority and occupy 15 out of the 23 local governments in Northern Kaduna, with some large settlements in the south. The minority groups numbering almost 50 ethnic groups are concentrated in 8 Local governments in the south.
The conflict over Sharia implementation which broke out in February 2000 added another dimension to the complex issue as the parties in the conflict also belong to different religions.
On what was done to address the issue, Kaduna could share the policies developed by the government and the activities embarked upon by various NGOs to address the conflict.
Government set up a Commission of Inquiry to examine the immediate and remote causes of both the Zangon Kataf and the Sharia crises. In its white paper, the government accepted the Commission’s recommendations and compensation was paid to victims and to religious bodies for the rehabilitation of places of worship. The government also set up two Bureaux for Religious Affairs charged with managing Muslim and Christian affairs. A practice of holding weekly security meetings was also established by the Governor Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi.
Parts of the bureau’s mandate are promoting religious understanding and harmony and the coordination and regulation of religious educational institutions. The bureaux initiated the development and signing of a Kaduna Peace Declaration signed by eleven Christian and Muslim leaders and state Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi. The Kaduna Peace Declaration had seven action points—Human life is sacred and taking people’s life should be prevented, defending and protecting vulnerable groups, reorientation of various groups, combat misuse and abuse of religion, youth and women’s economic empowerment, collaboration with security agencies and establishment of early warning and early response system.
All these were implemented except the empowerment project for women and youth. The implementation of the action points brought some peace and stability in Kaduna for 10 years and most of the experts and activists working in peace building were convinced that Kaduna got it right and peace had returned to the state.  When an old simmering ethno religious crisis broke out in neighbouring Jos, the Kaduna formula was being considered for replication. The bureaux worked in partnership with NGOs to implement the Peace Declaration at community level. The major advocacy projects jointly undertaken by the bureaux in promoting religious harmony are the Pacification Project involving visits to estranged communities by the Muslim and Christian members to reconcile them and initiate dialogue among religious leaders, community leaders and members. The other is the Peace Campaign to all post primary institutions by Muslim and Christians to promote peace and religious tolerance.
The projects, laudable as they are, have been poorly funded. Investigations conducted ten years after show that government has established various bodies to undertake conflict prevention and peace building at the grassroots but many of them are now dormant. One of the projects designed for economic empowerment of women and youth was not implemented and failure to address the issue became a potent time bomb that erupted ten years later 2011. With the change of leadership, Governor Muhammad Namadi Sambo who succeeded Governor Ahmed Muhammad Makarfi replaced the community focused peace initiatives and community policing contained in the Kaduna Peace Declaration with deployment of security task force known as Operation Yaki using policemen, some soldiers and air force personnel to maintain security. When the crisis erupted ten year later, the community initiatives sustained by the civil society organisations( CSO’s) were too thin on the ground and could not cope and neither could the Operation Yaki. Additional reinforcement of soldiers had to be deployed to quell the riots and curfew was imposed on Kaduna.
Other government initiatives for promoting peace and religious harmony include establishment of a Consultative Committee on Peace and Religious Harmony which is chaired by the State Governor and meets every quarter. Others are the two sub-committees to facilitate early warning and early response to conflicts, a Committee to prevent segregation of the Kaduna’s population named the Quick Resolution Committee and Segregation Prevention Committee. The numerous activities undertaken by NGOs will be discussed next week.