Sobering lessons from Somalia, CAR, Southern Sudan

The ongoing violence in Southern Sudan also shows the catastrophic consequences of disintegrating a country and dividing a country along ethnic lines. Sudan fought a civil war for 22 years which left more than one million people dead. The Southern Sudan eventually got independence in 2011.The conflict in Southern Sudan is a tribal one over […]

The ongoing violence in Southern Sudan also shows the catastrophic consequences of disintegrating a country and dividing a country along ethnic lines. Sudan fought a civil war for 22 years which left more than one million people dead. The Southern Sudan eventually got independence in 2011.
The conflict in Southern Sudan is a tribal one over political power of the youngest country in the world. More than 500 people have been killed and 100,000 displaced so far.
While some political pundits may see the violence in Southern Sudan as part of the transitional consequences of a new state, the loss of lives, the refugee crisis and the possibility of escalation violence to neighbouring countries cannot just be overlooked. The possibility of the youngest country in the world becoming a failed state can also not be overlooked.
In the same vein, while efforts are being made to bring the conflicts under control, those Nigerians who see the disintegration of Nigeria and dividing it along religious or ethnic lines as the only viable option to solving the myriad of challenges facing the country need to learn a lesson from the ongoing violence in Central African Republic and Southern Sudan, and, of course, the sorry state of Somalia.
Our leaders too, need to study the root causes of the violence in these African countries with a view to having positive direction on how to govern or lead without necessarily dragging the country into the unfortunate waves of civil violence sweeping across African countries.
It should be reckoned that there are more tribes in Nigeria than in Somalia or Southern Sudan or Central Africa Republic and the tribes in Nigeria are scattered in the sense that one tribe can be found in more than one region or state or locality. And there is no tribe in Nigeria that can claim to be hundred percent Muslim or Christian.
Suffice it to say that Nigeria would present a more complex scenario if any attempt is made to divide the country along religious or ethnic lines.
We should learn from the political crises that have bedevilled some African countries, and have the vision to see the dangers in allowing a country to fail or dividing the country along religious or ethnic lines.

Ibrahim Mohammed, Nigerian Law School, Yola campus, <[email protected]>;