Religious tensions, it is reported, are behind the violence in the city of Jos in northern Nigeria. Police say that up to 60 people may have been killed in the confrontation between Christians and Muslims. A church was set on fire while worshippers prayed; mosques have been targeted too. The reason? A contentious plan to rebuild homes that were destroyed in a previous outbreak of inter-religious conflict.
Large Christian and Muslim communities have lived in peace in Nigeria for centuries, but there has been violence before. In 2002, a dispute over a newspaper article containing insensitive comments about the Prophet Mohammed escalated into large-scale confrontations in the city of Kaduna. More than 200 were killed, mosques and churches were torched, businesses were looted and homes destroyed. There is an undeniable sectarian element to these confrontations, and it is tempting to resort to the simplistic explanation that only religion can drive people to such extreme behaviour. Indeed, religion has also been blamed for the violence in Egypt between Copts and Muslims this month.
The truth is that religion is no more than an exacerbating factor in existing problems and a convenient pretext with which those who engage in violence drape themselves to justify their actions. For every case of proselytisation gone wrong, there are a hundred cases of petty or legitimate disputes that spiral into sectarian clashes. An improperly settled conflict between two men over property may lead one to invoke religious discrimination and rally his community; if a criminal and his victim are of different religious persuasions, a wave of sympathy within one community can turn into a contest with the other.
Egypt, Nigeria and other countries with similar issues need to define and address the challenges appropriately. When gangs fight, it is first and foremost a criminal issue that must be dealt with by police and the justice system. When two individuals are in dispute, they must resort to a civil court, not sectarian passions. And when minorities feel disenfranchised, the state must fulfil its duty to treat all citizens equally and to encourage dialogue.
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Specs
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
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AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
