Amidst what has quickly turned out to be a costly and crushing war against terrorism, scandalous distinction after scandalous distinction has tumbled at the feet of Nigeria, and like tongs, each has come bearing the searing coals that have scalded the feet of the Giant of Africa.
It is now not just the record and still rising number of innocent children who are out of school. Recently, reputable international organizations have somehow managed to find some unanimity on the status of Nigeria as one of the most terrorized countries on earth. This has managed to confirm how the lowly the country`s stock has fallen in recent times as the gusts of terrorism continue to batter away at the besieged battlements of a once towering country.
In the face of the rage of killers who have since ramped up their audacious attacks exposing in the process the fact that the Giant of Africa lacks decisiveness, every Nigerian has suffered to some extent. However, there is no doubt that some Nigerians have been hit much harder than others.
A war against religion
The weaponization of religion by some of those responsible for the problems now plaguing Nigeria will go down as one of the greatest tragedies of a period of Nigeria`s existence which is itself marked by tragedy. That religion has provided many flash points as Nigeria has struggled remains a tragic mistake which is unmistakably the handiwork of mischief makers and the connoisseurs of chaos and conflict.
If in Nigeria today, religion continues to contribute in many ways to the national life and national affairs, it is because a significant number of Nigerians subscribe to religion.
Many of Nigeria`s population of approximately 216 people subscribe to either Christianity or Islam which are by far the two major religions in Nigeria. As a result of this huge following, many Nigerians identify as Christians or Muslims. In the all the years during which Nigeria has journeyed as an independent country, religious identity has become quite an important one. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) also provides guarantees on the extent to which every Nigerian must be allowed to enjoy the right to freedom of religion.
A calvary for Christians
One of terrorism`s most invidious inventions in Nigeria is found in the way it takes on the toga of Islam, with many of those who perpetrate acts of terror against others claiming to subscribe to the Islamic religion, and using the religion as a cover and as an excuse for their iniquitous actions. Equally harmful is the way in which terrorism has been twisted to resemble an attempt to stamp out Christianity, so often cast as a competing religion with Islam.
In all these, Christians have suffered gravely and disproportionately. Many Christians and Christian communities have been targeted for annihilation. Many Christian places of worship have been reduced to rubble in deliberate attacks. The message encrypted in these acts has been clearly that there are those who view Christianity as a threat and would do all they can to root it out of the country. This would have been an easy feat were the religion`s resilience not so firmly rooted in the gospel.
According to Open Doors UK, Nigeria is the most dangerous country in the world for Christians with about fifteen Christians killed daily for their faith. While there would be those who will contend with these findings, there would equally be those who would argue that the figures do fully paint the harrowing reality of Nigerian Christians.
The devastations terrorism has rained on Nigerians remain tragic. It continues to ask existential questions about Nigeria and many communities within Nigeria. For many of these communities that have become targets, the questions remain why these ruthless and relentless attacks are being perpetrated and for what reasons?
As long as the answers to these questions are not satisfactorily provide and efforts made to stop these attacks and bring the perpetrators to book, the threads connecting a country of such staggering diversity as Nigeria will continue to be violently shredded.
Kene Obiezu,
Twitter: @kenobiezu
