Nigerian Ethnic Conflict
Nigeria
Africa has always had it tough to keep up with the Western Nations. It is plagued by famine, corruption and the obvious outcome, immeasurable poverty. Of these countries, the country that has it worst is Nigeria. Nigeria has many problems such as population and corruption but the main and most devastating conflict they are having right now is their religious conflict. Religious conflict is a problem for the people of Nigeria and possibly and can be addressed by employing military sanctions to suppress the conflict, setting up a temporary dictatorship to ease into a less corrupt government or by doing nothing.
Nigeria consists of many diverse groups of people but primarily Christian and Muslim. Muslims make up 50% of the population while Christians make up 40% (Major Problems Facing Nigeria Today). Both of these groups have had tensions for a very long time and it has broken out into violence. There are massacres everywhere and places of worship are mercilessly destroyed. Both sides are usually easily split up, Muslim in the North and Christian in the South, but there is an area in the middle where both sides live peacefully. This is where all of the conflicts occur. They live peacefully side by side and naturally, there are bound to be occasional bursts of hostile activity between the two groups. In 2010, there was a massacre in Jos killing as much as 300 Muslims at the hand of the Christians (What’s Behind the Conflict?). This is just one massacre and the death toll is already extremely high. With more and more massacres adding up, a civil war is basically being begged for. It is not like these massacres just started happening spontaneously. They have been happening for decades and no one has done much about it.
Not only does Nigeria have religious conflict to worry about but they also have a large amount of population inflation and corruption. Nigeria has the 6th largest world population and largest population in Africa (Nigeria Tested by Rapid Rise
Africa has always had it tough to keep up with the Western Nations. It is plagued by famine, corruption and the obvious outcome, immeasurable poverty. Of these countries, the country that has it worst is Nigeria. Nigeria has many problems such as population and corruption but the main and most devastating conflict they are having right now is their religious conflict. Religious conflict is a problem for the people of Nigeria and possibly and can be addressed by employing military sanctions to suppress the conflict, setting up a temporary dictatorship to ease into a less corrupt government or by doing nothing.
Nigeria consists of many diverse groups of people but primarily Christian and Muslim. Muslims make up 50% of the population while Christians make up 40% (Major Problems Facing Nigeria Today). Both of these groups have had tensions for a very long time and it has broken out into violence. There are massacres everywhere and places of worship are mercilessly destroyed. Both sides are usually easily split up, Muslim in the North and Christian in the South, but there is an area in the middle where both sides live peacefully. This is where all of the conflicts occur. They live peacefully side by side and naturally, there are bound to be occasional bursts of hostile activity between the two groups. In 2010, there was a massacre in Jos killing as much as 300 Muslims at the hand of the Christians (What’s Behind the Conflict?). This is just one massacre and the death toll is already extremely high. With more and more massacres adding up, a civil war is basically being begged for. It is not like these massacres just started happening spontaneously. They have been happening for decades and no one has done much about it.
Not only does Nigeria have religious conflict to worry about but they also have a large amount of population inflation and corruption. Nigeria has the 6th largest world population and largest population in Africa (Nigeria Tested by Rapid Rise
Cited: "Major Problems Facing Nigeria Today." Africa and the World. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. This source did not seem opinionated at all and the entire website had no advertisements Handley, Meg. "The Violence in Nigeria: What 's Behind the Conflict? Read More: Http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1971010,00.html#ixzz2TQTPTWSS." Time World. CNN, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 16 May 2013. This source is from Time, a very trustworthy source. Rosenthal, Elisabeth. "Nigeria 's Population Is Soaring In Preview of a Global Problem." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 16 May 2013. This source is from New York Times, a very trustworthy source. Dorward, David. "Death, Oil and Religion: The Origins of Conflict in Nigeria Run deep." The Conversation. The Conversation Media Group, 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 May 2013. This source is written by a history professor. "Nigeria." CIA. CIA, 7 May 2013. Web. 16 May 2013. This source is from the CIA, a government source.