CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Being paper presented by Solomon Selcap Dalung, Esquire, at World Muslim League International Peace Conference taking place in Sokoto, Nigeria.

Iam highly honour to be accorded the privilege to share my thoughts with this prestigious audience, the Muslim World League International Peace Conference, organized to cross pollinate ideas with a view to catalyzing strategies of enhancing global harmony.

The choice of the theme, "Islam and the foundations of Peaceful Co-existence in Nigeria" could not have been more appropriate than now taking into consideration the challenges confronting world peace and especially Nigeria. Also significant is the choice of the environment for this discourse, Nigeria and  indeed Sokoto city, recognized for its enormous contributions to Islamic civilization within the West African Sub region. I concurred with the organizers on the choice of this theme and pray that the out come will confer durable advantage to humanity. In order to maximize this opportunity I have adopted conventional approach to the topic so as to provoke fertilization of thoughts within the audience.

 

ASTRACT:

One of the consequences of frequent ethnic conflicts in Nigeria in recent times is the impact on the definition of citizenship. So many questions have been raised in public discourses on the subject of citizenship as a result of the discrimination against Nigerians who live in places over several years where them or their forefathers were not indigenous. Various contemptuous concepts are employed by different ethnic groups to describe other Nigerians from other ethnic cluster as Nigerian with alien status. On the whole, these various nomenclatures raise questions on the essence of being a Nigerian citizen, they fuel ethnic hatred and aggravate the problem of national integration.

The issues revolving around the indigene-settler question reflects the intricacies and contradictions inherent in inter-group relations in the country. Nigerian like other African nation states has been blamed for its inability to develop methods of integrating the diverse ethnic nationalities  that make up the national political community. Instead, post-colonial policies of the Nigerian state reinforces fracturing social harmony.

The implication of all these instances of conflicts arising from indigene-settler disputes highlighted above is that the citizenship question in Nigeria remains contentious and a veritable trigger of social upheavals. It is not disputable that Nigerians residing in parts of the country other than their own feel alienated as a result of the indigenes or settlers dichotomy which discriminates against 'visitors’. Many Nigerians suffer from denial of certain basic citizens rights because the host communities considers them as settlers and non-indigenes.

The inability of the Nigerian state to address the  citizenship question has escalated conflicts dimension in most of the crisis pruned areas. The remote causes of these conflicts dwells mostly on disputes over land, the basis of the warfare between those claiming to have settled earlier on the land.

 

INTRODUCTION:

In recent times unfolding developments around the world and Nigeria in particular has generated contentious debates amongst analysts, legal experts, politicians and scholars about proliferating ethnic and religious tensions within the dominant faiths. Of utmost concern is the graduating regime of social violence characterized by eroding degree of tolerance for mutual co existence. The nationality question has been exaggeration beyond understanding as a result volcanic social eruptions has dominated many national landscapes. At the background of most of these ugly scenario is the indigene-settler dichotomy. Even though there is no express Constitutional basis for such practices, certain provisions and legislations are manipulated to perpetuate injustices against fellow citizens on the basis of origin. 

Sadly, this negative trends have been entrenched in social consciousness of many including people in authority. The discriminatory treatment meted to non indigenes has deep historical and socio-political under pinnings which appears to be a very sensitive subject in Nigeria's public life. It has contributed to a cycle of violence in some states which is of National security concern for Nigeria. Therefore, if unchecked, it can threaten very social fabric of the Nation. The indigene-settler distinction is explosive because it reinforces identity discrimination based on divides.

These differences in ethnicity, religion, language and culture may have long history that is deeply felt but the question still remains that how are they factored into violence? There are diverse opinions about the remotes causes of sudden conflicts escalations between people that enjoined peaceful co-existence with one another. According to a renowned African Scholar, Ali Mazuiri amongst the things that trigger the Shariah advocacy in some Northern States of Nigeria was the resentment of being at the periphery of Nigerian politics and power configuration. There were points when the Northern leaders held sway politically in power configuration, but the 1999 elections saw a balance of power shifting South without any any remarkable transformation in the economies of the North. Hence, the politics of Shariah advocacy was part of a protest against regional economic in equalities existing in Nigeria{1}.

This theory located the remote causes of the conflict to the parameters of power shift and economic imbalance within Nigerian polity.

While Paul Adujie held a contrary opinion when he opined thus, ultimately, the issues which are the root causes of what has now become the routine carnage in Jos must be addressed. And these issues primarily remains the fluidity of Nigerian citizenship. The definition of citizenship of Nigeria and the enforcement of full citizenship rights remains very fluid and in flux.

Mutual suspicions amongst and between Nigerians of our various national components parts between our diverse ethnic, religious, linguistic group is the bane of our development and sundry national challenges. It is common knowledge, public knowledge, that national important issues crucial to our national development, progress, advancement and greatness of nation, are debated through the vagaries of negative denominators. Our national direction therefore remains concave, opaque, confused and convoluted {2}

Either way the situation is analyzed there is national dilemma as a result of political, religious and ethnic opportunism which constantly exploit the mutual suspicion between Nigerians who are in abject poverty, hardship, desperation shared in common by average citizens regardless of ethnicity, religion, linguistic groups and region. On the other side, a socially just society is defined by its advocates and practitioners as being based on the principles of equality and solidarity; this pedagogy also maintains that the socially just society both understands and values human rights, as well as recognizing the dignity of every human being{3}.

These traumatic trends have provoked uncertainty about the future of Nigerian federation, which has generated the agitation for convening of Sovereign National Conference by some segment of the populace as a way of resolving certain national questions. However, debates of national issues are too often slanted, coloured, skewed and seen through deceptive prism of ethnic, religious, regional and linguistic loyalties, and as a consequence, Nigeria is loses the benefit of our superb intellect in problem solving{4}

CONCEPTUALIZATION:

To lay foundation of better analysis of the topic under review it is imperative to examine definitions of some key terms.

CITIZENSHIP:

Citizenship denotes the link between a person and a state or an association of states. It is normally synonymous with the term nationality although the latter term may also refer to ethnic connotations. Possession of citizenship is normally associated with the right to work and live in a country and to participate in political life. A person who does not have citizenship in any state is said to be stateless. While in International law, Nationality is often used as synonym for citizenship –although the term is sometimes understood as denoting a person's membership of a nation{5}.

Many thinkers point to the concept of citizenship beginning in the early city-states of ancient Greece, although others see it as primarily a modern phenomenon dating back only a few hundred years and for mankind, that the concept of citizenship arose with the first laws. Polis meant both the political assembly of the city-state as well as the entire society {6}. In the United States of America, Citizenship is a legal marker denoting political membership that entails specific rights, privileges, and duties. Citizenship is understood as a "right to have rights" since it serves as a foundation for a bundle of subsequent rights, such as the right to live and work in the United States and to receive federal assistance. There are two primary sources of citizenship: birthright citizenship, in which a person is presumed to be a citizen provided that he or she is born within the territorial limits of the United States and naturalization, a process in which an immigrant applies for citizenship and is accepted {7}.

National citizenship signifies membership in the country as a whole; state citizenship, in contrast, signifies a relation between a person and a particular state and has application generally limited to domestic matters. State citizenship may affect tax decisions and eligibility for some state-provided benefits such as higher education and eligibility for state political posts such as U.S. Senator. The  laws of United States permits multiple citizenship, a citizen of another country may retain their previous citizenship after becoming a citizen of the United States, and retain their US citizenship when becoming the citizen of another country, should that country's laws allow it. A  Citizenship can be renounced or restored when a citizens a formal procedure at an American Embassy {8}.

The evolution of the concept of Citizenship began in colonial times as an active relation between people working cooperatively to solve municipal problems and participating actively in democratic decision-making as was obtainable in New England town hall meetings. The earliest form of American democracy were derived from these town hall meetings, which was vital in building citizen participation in public affairs which assisted in keeping study democracy. Alexis de Tocqueville argued that a variety of forces changed this relation during the nation's history. Citizenship became less defined by participation in politics and more defined as a legal relation with accompanying rights and privileges. While the realm of civic participation in the public sphere has shrunk, the citizenship franchise has been expanded to include not just propertied white adult men but African-American men and adult women {9}

Nationality law is the branch of International law that is concern with the questions of nationality and citizenship,  how these statuses are acquired, transmitted or lost. Customarily, a state has the right to determine who are  its nationals and citizens. Such determinations are usually made by custom, statutory law or case law or combination of both. In some instances determinations of nationality are also governed by Public International law.

Broadly speaking, nationality law is either based on jus soli or jus sanguinis or a combination of both. Jus soli meaning the law of the soil is the principle which provides for acquisition of nationality status on the strength of being born on a territorial jurisdictional a country. While, Jus sanguinis meaning the law of the blood is the principle by which a child acquires the nationality of his or her parents. Today, most countries apply a mixture of these two principles, that is neither granting citizenship to everyone born within the country's jurisdiction, nor denying citizenship to the children born abroad {10}. Article 15 provides that“everyone has the right to a nationality” and that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality”{11}

However, this provision is globally observed more in breach especially in  African countries because of the problem of statelessness.

A major weakness of the provisions of Article 15 is that it did not place responsibility of implementing individual citizenship rightly the state. The legal framework for the protection of human rights is located with the state which the individual resides or the state is violating the citizenship right.  Generally, International law does not impose any obligation on states on right to citizenship or nationality even when such individuals are born there. Therefore the question of which state is violating the right of any particular stateless person or responsible for citizenship right is not sufficiently covered by the provisions of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Another basic problem is that international law has no well defined right of nationality which can be intuitively understood. What is the meaning of the right to political participation? Contextually, this depends on the political practice obtainable and the country in question. For instance, in countries where absolute monarchies exist all may be citizens but no one has the right to political participation. While in countries which have no national identity cards there is no distinction between citizens and non-citizens on records. However, international law and jurisprudence over the years have clearly defined the right to freedom from arbitrary detention. 

The lack of a clear definition of citizenship means that it is hard to separate the idea of a right to citizenship or nationality in the abstract from state recognition of that citizenship in practice. If a person is tortured, we don’t believe that he has no right not to be tortured, but that his right not to be tortured is being violated. But because the right to citizenship is so poorly defined in law that it’s hard to say when someone has it; thus, when that person is denied or deprived of citizenship  or proof of citizenship by a state, the victim herself may conclude that she is stateless, rather than that her right to citizenship has violated. But many of the world’s stateless people would not be stateless at all if their country’s laws were non-discriminatory or properly implemented{12}

In Nigeria citizenship or nationality rights have been at the center of most conflicts. It is well entrenched in the consciousness of the people such that minor gesture in that direction can result into violent conflict. Indigene-Settler dichotomy has threatened the basis of the union as people whose fore fathers were born in a place are denied citizenship rights. The legal basis for such discrimiations cannot be located within Constitutional framework of Nigeria because the letter and spirit of the constitution re-in forces citizenship.

 

According to Iberiyenari, the Nigerian Constitution makes no distinction between the right of a citizen and of inhabitants of a political community who are not indigenous to that community; so there ought not to be discrimination and thus rivalry. The people of Nigeria may have various and over-lapping identities based on such factors as religion, race, ethnicity and social class yet the single identity possessed equally by all citizens is a civil identity - it is the tie that holds us together in a single democratic political order and thus we all still remain citizens of Nigeria, regardless of which part of the country we find ourselves in. Every eligible Nigerian citizen should be allowed to take part in the political life of the country and of his state of residence irrespective of his state of origin. Nigerian citizenship should stop being operative only at the home land level {13}

Despite all these National citizenship in Nigeria is far from being resolved and this inability is due to the fact that various ethnic groups that compose the Nigerian state have conceived different attitudes to the concept of citizenship. 

Consequently, there has been nothing that has shaken the foundations of national unity like it.

SOCIAL JUSTICE:

Social justice is a broad concept but for the purpose of this paper we will limit its application to Nigeria. It is conceived as justice exercised within a society, particularly as it is applied to and among the various social classes of a society. A socially just society is defined by its advocates and practitioners as being based on the principles of equality and solidarity; this pedagogy also maintains that the socially just society both understands and values human rights, as well as recognizing the dignity of every human{14}

Flynn, J.P., Social  justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities {15}. While  Banu az-zubair, M.K argued that social co-operation makes possible a better life for all than any would have if everyone were to try to live by his own efforts, and, also, that men are not indifferent as to how the greater benefits produced by their joint labours are distributed, for in order to further their own aims each prefers a larger to a lesser share{16}.

Examining the above, it is certain that  Social justice refers to the virtue which guides the creation of organized human interactions known as institutions. social institutions when justly organized provide access to the good of not only for the individual but in associations with others. It also imposes a personal responsibility to work with each other or design continually perfect institutions as tools for personal and social development. The term encompasses economic justice as well.

In recognition of social justice as germane to  harmony, the preamble of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization affirms that "universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice.  Furthermore, Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action treats social justice as a purpose of the human rights education{17}

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE.

The proponent of modern concept of "social justice" was  a scholar of St.Thomas Aquinas known as Jesuit priest Luigi Taparelli in year 1840 whose thoughts were influenced by the teachings of  Antonio Rosmini-Serbati in 1848. While writing in his Journal titled Cavilta Cattolica, he argued that "the rival economic theories, based on subjective Cartesian thinking, undermined the unity of society present in Thomistic metaphysics; neither the liberal capitalists nor the communists concerned themselves with public moral philosophy". Initially, the meaning of the phrase was very controversial and varies depending on usage. However, John A. Ryan, a moral theologian expanded the idea of social justice by introducing the concept of a living wage. In his works in 1930, Father Coughlin also made use of the term in his publications. Therefore, social justice is an integral aspect of  Catholic social teaching and the Protestants' Social Gospel. As a secular concept, social justice has a distinct character from religious philosophy which emerged lately in the twentieth century, a great thinker, John Rawls proposed that, "Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others." {18}.

The traditions and teachings of most religions consists of the values of the social justice. Christians believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ that on the day of judgement God will ask every person what did he do to help the poor and the needy, "Amen, I say to you, what ever you did for one of these least brothers of mind, you did for me" {19}. Therefore, a Christian must show companion to the less privilege. The moral test of any society is "how it treats its most vulnerable members. The poor have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the nation. People are called to look at public policy decisions in terms of how they affect the poor" {20}

In Islam, there are numerous references in the  Holy Quran that are central to the concept social justice. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam, which obligated charity and assistance to poor as important aspect of Islamic faith.

In Muslim history, Islamic governance has often been associated with social justice. Establishment of social justice was one of the motivating factors of the Abbasid revolt against the Umayyads{21}. The Shi'ite believe that the return of the Mahdi will herald in "the messianic age of justice" and the Mahdi along with the Messiah (Jesus) will end plunder, torture, oppression and discrimination, {22}. For the Muslim Brotherhood the implementation of social justice would require the rejection of consumerism and communism. The Brotherhood strongly affirmed the right to private property as well as differences in personal wealth due to factors such as hard work. However, the Brotherhood held Muslims had an obligation to assist those Muslims in need. It held that zakat (alms-giving) was not voluntary charity, but rather the poor had the right to assistance from the more fortunate.{23}

Though monetary donations are the most practiced way of zakat, Islam is deeply rooted in the tenets of volunteerism and social activism. Many Muslims practice this today by ensuring that they produce minimal waste, give to charity what they no longer need, and spend time in prayer and meditation upon the bounties of nature so as to more mindfully approach all that is provided by nature and ultimately, Allah {24}.There is no gain emphasizing that Social Justice is an Islamic tenet which every Muslim must use to assess his or her daily life, without which every efforts towards attaining true spirituality and a connection with God will be void.

A careful review of the religious traditions of dominant religions above established the institutionalization of the theory of social justice. Not only as being practiced but also religious traditions played key roles in entrenching the principles of social justice as prerequisite for the attainment of Peaceful co-exiatence. It follows therefore that the foundation of social stability must have the building bricks of social justice. By the same token any political system that is in short supply of this commodity stands the risk of conflict. Of course social justice is the parameter of determining the quality of leadership. Simply put it if you want peace do justice.

Since the teachings of dominant religions consist of tenets social justice and a review of leadership  especially in Nigeria indicated that almost all holders of public offices are either members of these faiths. Then why has the concept of social justice eluded leadership? Can it be attributed to lack of knowledge or lack of commitments to religious obligations or better still hypocrisy? To my mind, the latter is applicable in the Nigerian context. As a nation, our religious credentials is unprecedented but practically the attitude and conduct of leadership is completely a betrayal of true religion. And I make bold to submit that any religious life devoid of social justice is bankrupt.

TWIN VARIABLES TO SOCIAL STABILITY:

Citizenship and social justice are twin variables for establishing stable societies. Historically, all successful political systems derived credibility and strength from application the concepts. Mention a successful unjust society that ever existed and I will contradict it with contemporary leadership built around social justice.

The manipulation of nationality question into indigene-settler dichotomy even though an African syndrome is more notorious in Nigeria. It is the discrimination of citizens on the basis of nativity even though in some instances the affected people may have live in a place place beyond memory lane. They are denied access to basic citizenship rights of either political participation, education in public institutions and public health systems despite their contributions to economic growth and development of those areas.

Why has nationality question remain tragedies to African states instead of invigorating national integration? Bayart et al contributing to african argument on nationality submitted that Belonging is a pertinent trope in Africa and beyond. However, in many parts of Africa belonging is not only understood in national terms but also, and most importantly, as belonging to a place or a group; e.g. a village, a region, a clan or an ethnic group. In the context of democratization processes, belonging gained salience in political discourse, and in many countries has been coupled with the notion of autochthony as a criterion for privileged access to natural and state resources {25}.

In describing this lamentable scenario, an African human rights scholar, Brownen Manby stated that Common to all these situations is the manipulation of citizen- ship laws: the detailed rules and regulations by which individuals can obtain recognition of their right to belong to a state, to claim equal protection under its laws, to vote in its elections and stand for office. Much as discrimination in these cases is always multifaceted, with raw violence at its extremes, the apparently dry detail of the rules for obtaining papers can hide an ocean of discrimination and denial of rights. The use and abuse of the law frames and enables the politics of ethnic exclusion. Reform of the law can be the first step back from conflict and the start of a politics of inclusion{26}

The nationality question has been identified as basis of re occurring conflict culture. It was reported that many of Nigeria’s worst conflicts pit the recognized original inhabitants, or indigenes, of a particular place against supposedly later settlers. These conflicts may be growing deadlier and more numerous with time. State and local governments have free rein to pick who is an indigene. Abuse of the label can foster deep socioeconomic inequalities, given that indigenes enjoy preferential access to land, schools, development spending, and public jobs. These inequalities feed into violence, although righting inequality may not be sufficient to end violence in every case. The indigene-settler distinction is also explosive because it reinforces and is reinforced by other identity-based divides in Nigeria. These differences in ethnicity, language, religion, and culture can be longstanding and deeply felt, but how they factor into violence is again not well understood{27}

In trying to locate the roots of citizenship conflict, Mark Amanza blamed the 1999 Constitution when he argued that the problem with the 1999 Constitution at present with regards to the indigene–settler divide is its non-definition of the word ‘indigene’. Throughout the entire constitution, the word ‘indigene’ appears only once, in Section 147 (3) which says that, “at least one minister be appointed from each state, who shall be an indigene of such state”. It does not say how the indigeneship of one could be determined: was it by ancestral line or by number of years spent in the state?{28}

Also concurring with the reasoning to the effect that some provisions of the Constitution which may intend good has turn out to be the undoing of national unity. According to Suleimon Olarenwaju, the major culprit for the indigene-settler crises is the constitution. This is because of its federal character component. Although Chapter 25 of the amended 1999 Constitution is devoted to the issue of citizenship with the attendant benefits and privileges, the federal character component actually acts as a bulwark to the enjoyment of these benefits by all Nigerians. Although the essence of the federal character is to strengthen the unity of the nation through inclusion of all major tribes and groups in the country, it has turned out to be the undoing of the nation{29}

To some extent these arguments are appealing, however they failed legal logic  citizenship conflicts which occurred before the coming into force of the 1999 Constitution. For instance, the Modakeke-Ife, Aguleri and Umuleri  and  Zongon Kataf were all crisis that occurred outside the scope of the present Constitution. Agreeing but not conceding that the ferocity of the destruction of lives and properties with impunity under the present arrangement is monumental. Also, the frequency of re-occurrence has graduated beyond historical epoch which no doubt has threatened the foudations of our unity.

On the other side social justice is lubricant to good governance, peace and stability. Any social system in short supply of it stands the risk of playing host to conflicts and disharmony. The Holy Prophet of Islam said: "A moment of justice is better than seventy years of worship in which you keep fasts and pass the nights in offering prayers and worship to Allah"{30}  Therefore, no any act of human sacrifice can be equated with justice before Our Creator. It often beats human imagination whether people saddled with management of public affairs are oblivious of this great responsibilities or by their conduct they have opted out of favour with Allah? 

The concept of leadership begins and ends with justice. To buttress the essence of justice in leadership, The Holy Prophet further said: "The deed of justice performed by a leader for one day for his people is better than the deeds of the man who spends fifty or hundred years amongst his family members in the worship of Allah"{31}. A just society depends on both spiritual as well as material power and each one of them is necessary for establishing justice.

It argued that the level of social injustice currently prevailing in Nigeria is reaching alarming heights and we are beginning to feel the effect in the level of discontent amongst the citizenry as demonstrated by various uprising against the state such as the Boko Haram incidence, the Niger Delta Militancy, OPC and Bakassi vigilantes and what have you...these social injustices are becoming so glaringly obvious to the common man on the street and this has led to a large spectrum of our population to lose faith in Nigeria and this is something that the federal government has to address if it does not want Nigeria to become a failed state{32}

Nigeria is a nation endow with diverse potentials yet crippled by lack of social justice, consequently, it battles with multi faceted challenges from poverty, hunger, unemployment, corruption and currently security. The situation was graphically painted by Utomi, when he stated thus: that 85% of Nigeria’s resources are consumed by 1% of her population leaving the remaining 99% to share the balance 15%....Nigeria’s elite have gone beyond flying themselves and their families to Europe for treatment, there some who actually fly their polo horses to Europe for treatment. This would not be so bad if these were folks with identifiable sources of income who have ventures that employ people and add value to Nigeria’s GDP. No. These are men and women whose only claim to fame and wealth is that they have at one time or the other been men of political power and influence in Nigeria {33}.

CONCLUSION:

It is obvious that Nigeria is in a delima with respect to the twin variables. The take off point here is for our political leaders to have the fear of God and sincerely design and implement policies base of principles of social justice. They should always remember that they are accountable to their Creator for the public trust of stewardship.

Secondly,  the citizenship question should be radically addressed by giving every Nigerian equal rights and privileges in order to guarantee freedom from all forms of discrimination.

The Constitution should be amended to include social security by giving legal effect to the provisions to economic and social rights in order to give citizens the sense of loyalty to the nation instead of ethnic, religious or regional affiliations.

In Oder to liberate the people from being manipulated negatively, education must be made free at all levels to every Nigerian child because it is affordable. Illiteracy opens the mind to all forms of manipulation.

Corruption as a social malice must be sincerely tackled. There is urgent need to review our penal laws to introduce capital sanctions for all corrupt practices in public offices.

Finally, the only option opened out of the current security challenges is for government to open up sincere and genuine dialogue with all arms carrying groups because all wars end at conference tables. As mark of commitment, I lean my voice to the demand for amnesty to these groups to pave way for dialogue and national reconciliation. Force in the circumstance will not produce the desire results.

Assalamalaikum waritalmatu Allah wa barkatu.

Solomon Selcap Dalung, LLB (Hons), B.L, LLM

Jos, Nigeria.                                

March, 2013.

REFERENCES:

1.  Mazurui, Ali A., (2001) “Shariacracy and Federal Models in the Era of Globalization: Nigeria in Comparative Perspective” -www.gamji.com. Accessed March 2001.

2. Adejuie, Paul, I. (2010) "Are you a ctizen of Nigeria or merely a Settler or Indigene of a Locale?"

http://community.vanguardngr.com/profiles/blogs/are-you-a-citizen-of-nigeria?xg_source=activity. 

3 & 4. Zajda, J, Majhanovich, S, Rust,  V, Education and Social Justice, 2006, ISBN 1-4020-4721-5

5.  Weis, Paul (1979). Nationality and Statelessness in International Law. Sijthoff & Noordhoff. p. 3. ISBN 9789028603295.

 6.  Pocock, J. G. A. (1998). Shafir, Gershon. ed. The Citizenship Debates. Chapter 2 -- The Ideal of Citizenship since Classical Times (originally published in Queen's Quarterly 99, no. 1). Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota. pp. 31. ISBN 0-8166-2880-7.

 7.  Robert Heineman (book reviewer) (2004-07). "Downsizing Democracy: How America Sidelined Its Citizens and Privatized Its Public (book) by Matthew A. Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg". The Independent Institute. Retrieved 2009-12-16.

 8.   See 8 U.S.C. 1481; "Giving Up US Citizenship: Is it Right for You?" http://www.usvisalawyers.co.uk/article14.html

9.  Jerry Markon (June 12, 2008). "Judge Offers Lesson In U.S. Citizenship". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-11-19

10. Jean Bethke Elshtain (1996-10-29). "Democracy at Century's End (speech)". Brigham Young University. Retrieved 2011-07-15. 

11.  Julia Harrington,  "The Right to Citizenship under International law",

http://africanarguments.org/2009/10/12/the-right-to-citizenship-under-international-law/

12 & 13. Universal Declaration of Human, Rights,http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

14.  Lauretta Iberiyenari, "The political Concept of Citizenship",

http://thelawyerschronicle.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124:the-political-concept-of-citizenship-within-the-modern-state-structure&catid=36:international-affairs&Itemid=60

15.  Flynn, J.P. (1995). Social Justice in Social Agencies. In R.L. Edwards

(Ed-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of Social Work 

(19th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 95-100). Washington, D.C.: NASW Press.

16.   Banu az-Zubair, M. K, "Social Justice and Resource Control in Nigeria: A Crisis of Legitimacy"

http://www.gamji.com/article4000/NEWS4802.htm

17.  Part II, D, Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(symbol)/a.conf.157.23.en

18.  John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (2005 reissue), Chapter 1, "Justice as Fairness" – 1. The Role of Justice, pp. 3–4

19. Mathew 25:40, King James Version, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Peabody, M.A

20.  Option for the Poor, Major themes from Catholic Social Teaching, Office for Social Justice, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

21, 22 & 23. John L. Esposito (1998). Islam and Politics. Syracuse University Press. p. 17, 205 & pp. 247-8

24. The Eco Muslim, http://www.theecomuslim.com/

25. Bayart, Jean-François, Peter Geschiere and Francis Nyamnjoh. 2001. Autochtonie, Démocratie et Citoyenneté en Afrique. Critique Internationale 10: 177-194.

26. Bronwen Manby,  Struggles for citizenship in Africa, 2009, Zed Books Ltd, New York, ny 10010, USA

27. United States Institute of Peace Report, July, 2009, http://www.usip.org/publications/rethinking-nigeria-s-indigene-settler-conflicts

28.  Mark Amanzo, Bridging the Indigene-Settler  divide, http://nigerianstalk.org/2012/12/20/bridging-the-indigene-settler-divide-mark-amaza/

29. Suleimon Olanrewaju,  Indigenes vs Settlers: The hostilities continues, http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/1249-indigenes-vs-settlers-the-hostility-continues

30 & 31.  Jami'us Sa'adat, vol. II, p. 223, http://www.al-islam.org/lessons/3.htm

32 & 33. Pat Utomi, Nigeria need Social Justice, http://www.patitospost.com/?p=281

 

PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE, CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION IN NIGERIA, THE JOURNEY TO SOMALIA

Being Lead paper presented by Barrister Solomon Dalung at Two days Worshop for Clergy/Pastors organized by Ministry of Religious and Community Relations Bauchi State at the Conference Hall of Shindaba Hotel Bauchi from 21st - 22nd June 2013.

Iam highly honoured for the privilege accorded me to cross pollinate ideas with this audience with the aim of provoking thoughts that will provide alternative opportunities to review critical question that in contemporary history has attracted serious concerns. This discuss looks at the key concepts and review various opinions of scholars in relation to conceptualization. The role of spiritual leadership in enhancing social harmony in the Nigerian project is also examined and finally concluded with some considered opinions that may be of advantage to current challenges to peaceful co-existence.

    On occasions of this nature, it is imperative that stock taking and assessment of social relationships with the barometer of public responsibilities is reappraised with the view to enhancing better welfare conditions for citizens. The whole concept of democratic culture revolves around rights, privileges and social security which is determined by the quality of leadership in place. Therefore, any act that short-circuit this reduces its value to glorified dictatorship. Of course, the involvement of spiritual leaders as custodians of moral values is germane in developing econsciousness will evolve credible leadership. This democratic experiment since its inception has remain vulnerable to instability which has  perverted every aspect of steady progress and without peace nothing is attainable.

Introduction:

The unfortunate developments in contemporary history in Nigeria have generated public concern about future of Nigerian federation as a political entity. Quite disturbing is escalating regime of violent crimes, religious and ethnic tensions. Consequently, economic and social relationships drifts into state of comatose in most commercial cities which justified the fears of many that the nation may not be able to navigate the storm of uncertainty to far. Security challenges, religious intolerance coupled with massive corrupt  in public places have dominated every national discourse. The insurgent question has been politicized with attendant consequences on human lives and properties. The culture of fear with mutual suspicion determines every aspect of human relationships. Sadly, the capacity of the state to contend with these challenges obviously is below expectations.

There are different schools of thought about the origin of the state of affairs. Professor Ali Mazuiri, while reacting to crisis of introduction of Sharia in some Northern States argued that amongst the things that trigger the shariah advocacy in some northern states of Nigeria, was the resentment of being at the periphery of Nigerian politics and power configuration. There were points when the northern leaders held sway politically in the power configuration, but the 1999 elections, saw the balance of power shifting south without any remarkable transformation in the economics of the north. Hence, the politics of shariah advocacy was part of a protest against regional economic in equalities existing in Nigeria[1]

    On the contrary, some opinions considered the insurgency question as an attempt by some Muslims to islamize the Country. This school of thought is popular among some Christians while the power shift theory orchestrated mostly by a segment of Southern political elites in defence of leadership failure. However, as the nation drifts towards catastrophe,  hunger, poverty, unemployment, corruption ravages the citizenry unabated. The net effects of these traumatic developments may explains the agitation for a National Sovereign Conference, (NSC) as means of resolving some burning national questions. 

PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE

Peaceful co-existence is a term derived from Peace which is a state of harmony characterized by lack of violent conflict, commonly understood as the absence of hostility. Peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the establishment of equality and a working political order that serves the true interest of all. In international  relations, peace is not the absence of war or conflict, but also the presence of cultural and economic understanding.

    From Latin pax, meaning, “freedom from civil disorder”, the English word came into use in personal greetings from the Thirteen Century as a translation of the Hebrew word shalom.  Such a translation is, however, imprecise, as shalom, which is a cognate with the Arabic, “salaam”, has multiple other meanings in addition to peace, which includes justice, safety, well-being, prosperity, equity, prosperity, good fortune, and friendliness. At a personal level, peaceful behavior are kind, considerate, respectful, just, and tolerant of others belief and behavior, tending to manifest goodwill.

    This later understanding of peace can also pertain to an individual’s introspective sense of concept of her/himself, as in being “at peace”, in one’s own mind, as found in European references from the twentieth Century. The early English word is used for “quet”, reflecting calm, serene, and meditative approaches to family or group relationships that avoid quarreling and seek tranquility and absence of disturbance or agitation.

    In many languages the word peace is used as a greeting or a farewell Salaam, for example the Hawaiian word Aloha, as well as the Arabic word Salaam. In English the word peace is occasionally used as farewell, especially for the dead, as in the phrase ‘Rest in Peace’.

Religious beliefs often seek to identify and address the basic problem of human life, including the conflicts between, among and within persons and societies.

    Christians believed Jesus of Nazareth to be the “Prince of peace, the Messiah Christ who established a Kingdom of Peace where persons, societies, and all of creation are to be healed of evil. For persons to enter the Kingdom and experience peace, Christians believed that one must develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who stated “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for Iam meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest of your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”, (Mathew 11:28-30)

    While Islam means submission. The title “Muslim” etymologically directly related to Salaam and the name Islam means a person who submits to Allah in Salaam. The submission to Allah (the Arabic proper noun for “God”, One and only) is based on humility.  An attitude of humility within one’s own self cannot be accomplished without total rejection of violence, and personal attitude and alignment toward peace.

    These two dominant religions in Nigeria advocate peace and humility and de-emphasized violence. So how can one reconcile the current wave of socio religious and ethnic conflicts that characterized most parts of Northern States where majority of the people profess these religions? What can be responsible for the collapse of both moral and spiritual values to the extent that incessant killings of fellow human beings has displaced the humility and peace demanded by God?

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT:

    Conflict resolution is a set of ideas and ways to reduce sources of conflict. The term conflict resolution is sometimes used interchangeably with the term dispute resolution. The terms conflict and dispute overlap. As a term, conflict is broader than dispute, more concerned with physical action, and less concerned with verbal arguments. Processes of conflict resolution generally include negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy. The processes of arbitration, litigation, and formal complaint processes such as ombudsman processes, are usually described with the term dispute resolution, although some refer to them as conflict resolution.

    Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest of the group (e.g., intentions; reasons for holding certain beliefs, and by engaging in collective negotiation. (Forsyth, 2009). 

    It may be important to note that the term conflict resolution may also be used interchangeably with dispute resolution, where arbitration and litigation processes are critically involved. Furthermore, the concept of conflict resolution can be thought to encompass the use of nonviolent resistance measures by conflicted parties in an attempt to promote effective resolution.(Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton, 2009)

    Conflict management is often considered to be distinct from conflict resolution. In order for actual conflict to occur, there should be an expression of exclusive patterns, and tell why the conflict was expressed the way it was. Conflict is not just about simple inaptness, but is often connected to a previous issue. The latter refers to resolving the dispute to the approval of one or both parties, whereas the former concerns an ongoing process that may never have a resolution. Neither is it considered the same as conflict transformation, which seeks to reframe the positions of the conflict parties.(ibid)

    Conflict management refers to the long-term management of intractable conflicts. It is the label for the variety of ways by which people handle grievances standing up for what they consider to be right and against what they consider to be wrong. Those ways include such diverse phenomena as gossip, ridicule, lynching, terrorism, warfare, feuding, genocide, law, mediation, and avoidance. Which forms of conflict management will be used in any given situation can be somewhat predicted and explained by the social structure or social geometry of the case.(supra)

    In any organized social community conflict seems to be a fact of life. We have all seen situations where different people with different goals and needs have come into conflict. And we have often witnessed intense personal animosity that can result into conflict. The fact that conflict exists, however, is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it is resolved effectively, it can lead to personal and professional growth. However, the neglect or mismanagement of conflict situation may have adverse consequences on social harmony and economic advancement.

    In many cases, effective conflict resolution can make the difference between positive and negative outcomes. The good news is that by resolving conflict successfully it can solve many of the problems that it has brought to the surface, as well as getting benefits that you might not at first expect.

    Having considered the general principles of conflict management, it is proper to locate same within social context. Conflict indices in Nigeria are multi faceted, ranging from poverty, hunger, unemployment which manifested into conflict socio religious, ethnic or sectarian crisis or general insecurity. This phenomenon has created leadership burden, which as a result made some scholars and foreign nations to predict the collapse of the nation in no distant future. It is not the presence of conflict that is of concern but the capacity to manage it.

    In tracing the roots of the conflict situation in Nigeria, Loimeier, (2003) argued that so many years back the country started manifesting malignant symptoms of this current situation. However, weak citizenship political consciousness was exploited by manipulating sentiments to create divisions. It also contributed to gradual erosion of value system with collapse of reward system. With these scenarios, the stage was ripe for corruption and other leadership vices to dominate public responsibilities. While the current democratic enterprise has produce a self-style imposed and deceptive leaders, who lead by deception and create Islamic revivalism to mobilize and capture cheap support by claiming to be introducing Islamic legal principles amidst missive collapse of services, poverty, failed governance, absence of social justice and a fair electoral process which produced consensus candidates that lack legitimacy. Corrupt and power hungry politicians, who hijacked votes and self imposed leaders, declare billions of fictitious amounts of Naira as assets only to be recouped as investments through falsification and over pricing of contracts awards, in spite of the existence of framework of due process and diligence in contract awards and procurement. 

THE CHALLENGE OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS:

    The deteriorating social harmony between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria has attained alarming proportions. Before now these faiths enjoyed peaceful co-existence playing complimentary roles in building national harmony but reverse is the situation now. 

 Analyzing this ugly situation,  while speaking on the topic "Non-Muslims Rights within Muslim Society" an International African Scholar, Dr. Almukashifi Taha Al-kabbashi, stated that Christians are "ahlul kitaab" meaning "men of the book" and not "kafir" which means "infidel". He proceeded to define the rights of Christians within an Islamic society which includes the freedom to practice there religion. He went further to argued that "there is no compulsion in religion".  while buttressing this point he cited relevant provisions in the Holy Qua'ran and Hadith. "There is intermarriage between you, ahlul kitaab and the Jews. You cannot attack them unless they aggress you and seek to prevent you from practicing your religion" he postulated.

   He lamented the degeneration of social harmony in Nigeria especially the growing rift between Christians and Muslims. He stated that Islam means peace and that in contemporary times Islam is misconceived as synonymous with violence based on negative trends associated with it. Islam abhorred violence and no true Muslim will embrace violence as crusade mechanism for Islam according to him.

   For me it was quite interesting and eye opening because I had held the opinion that 

violence has some established traditions in Islam because of the manner and way some Muslim clerics propagates Islam. The concept jihad has created serious misgivings between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, because to non Muslims, it simply means the killing of kafir in prosecution of holy war. I had listened to some clerics making uncomplimentary remarks about Christians. And I now wonder from where did such clerics derived their own revelations which contradicts the teachings of the Holy Prophet, (Peace be upon Him)? I think something is basically wrong with these contradictions between reality and religious doctrines. 

   No doubt the answer to this unfortunate developments lies within the confines of our political life. Politics as a concept is instrumental to the state of decay in both moral and religious values. Religious leaders are culprits of this growing divide between the two religions. Instead of propagating the gospel they are more or less mega phones of the corrupt political system. In realizing material advantage, religion is manipulated to keep people perpetually divided so that they can be controlled. Our religious leaders cannot face political  leaders with any question bordering on injustice and corruption rather they preferred night visits to country homes to determine the content of their sermons. He who play the piper dictates the tune according to African adage. As a result of compromise of responsibilities by custodians of conscience, our political contents is determined by religious affiliations to the extent that a non performing or corrupt political office holder continue to enjoy support of his fellow religious members without sanctions. It's so bad that we have lost our sense of reasoning to religious sentiments.

   Our Muslim brothers must do much to disassociate Islam from these manipulations and negative image building. Clerics with the penchant of calling Christians kafir must be reprimanded as its anti Islamic to refer to ahlul kitaab as such. Also, Muslim leaders should concentrate more on interfaith dialogue to promote better understanding. The use of demeaning terms on ahlul kitaab has no doubt contributed to escalates misgivings between Christians and Muslims. The exploitation of extremism as vehicle for promotion of militant groups which wrecked unprecedented havoc on fellow citizens under the guise of Islamic crusade has no scriptural foundations. What has also created negative impressions in the minds of the Christians is the undignified silence of Islamic leaders to dis associate Islam from activities of arms carrying groups taking cover under religion to prosecute political goals.

    All that is expected from Muslim leaders is to distant islam from criminality and extend hands of friendship for collaboration to contend with the situation. We cannot achieve any meaningful progress without peace. Experiences of other secular societies should be good guide for our search for peaceful co existence. Here, Kenya and America provides good templates for our peace studies. When these countries were attacked both Christians and Muslims united against a common enemy. Indeed they succeeded but in Nigeria, once there is an attack on the Church, Christians will raise to kill and maim more people than the terrorist attacks, so also the same thing with Muslims. The shout of Allah akabar can send so many innocent souls to heaven or hell. Can we pretense to be serving God when we shed innocent blood? I think there is no justification for it.

   To the Christians there is need for shifting of grounds from the antagonist reactions because the Bible enjoys Christians to love their neighbors as Christ love them. We cannot compromise the teachings of Jesus Christ for any other thing. The Bible says without love nobody can please God.  Imagine Our Lord Jesus stating how many times a Christian is entitled to forgive any person that offends  her or him. The Bible says seventy times seven in one single day yet Christians today disregard this teching for self seeking vengeance.  There is no doubt that any body who wants to follow Christ must carry His cross which he confirmed to us believers that it is heavy. Obviously there is problem with our attitudes and reactions to persecutions which Jesus clearly alerted Christians of it as part of the price to be paid for been his followers, therefore all that is happening today falls within devine prophesy for those that believe. If care is not utilize as a spiritual value many may be carried away by the present challenges and may fall off tract of discipleship.

   Gone are the era where followers should blindly submits to teachings without cross checking same with Scriptures. Especially in the globalized world were the speed of information is without bounds. Both Christians and Muslims alike must purge themselves of the spirit of hatred which is deep rooted in our social interactions. 

    That you left your house for a journey is not conclusive that you may reach your destination. Once there is terrorist attack, then your faith must be reconcile with your route otherwise you are a living dead man. Ethnic and religious militias mount road blocks hunting for people of opposite faiths. Religious creeds is used as parameters to determine faith. In 2001,  in Jos, I was faced with a situation where even as a Christian, I was compelled by fellow Christians at a road block to recite the Apostle creed with gun pointed on my head. Of course such recitations are done usually under solemn situation of worship and not mob guided conditions. Ironically, I could not complete it correctly and by Devine providence the mob concluded that I was one of their own and allowed me to go. We have lost so many lives under this circumstances so how long shall we continue like this?

   We must be honest and sincere enough to admit that both Christians and Muslims are guilty of these carnages in the name of religion. Shall God admit those perpetuating all these heinous atrocities in heaven as their service to him on the day of judgement?' May God grant us the grace to accommodate each other so that peace and social harmony can prevail in our society amen.

NATIONAL INTEGRATION:

    National integration is central to fostering cohesive security consciousness among citizens to guarantee territorial integrity, while strategies employ for amicable reconciliation of contending interests within a social system is germane to attaining national ideals. 

    National Integration is a very broad statement. To achieve national integration, the nation must pool human resources like cultural, religious, scientific, natural, educational etc, to achieve oneness in all spheres of life of the citizens so that progress can be achieved. With progress, the citizens can enjoy fruits of prosperity and happiness, living in harmony irrespective of the creed, language and cultural leanings professed by each as individuals.

    National integration is the awareness of a common identity amongst the citizens of a country. It means that though we belong to different castes, religions, regions and speak different languages we recognize the fact that we are all one. This kind of integration is very important in the building of a strong and prosperous nation. The integration of multicultural groups into larger pan-local identities is at the heart of the idea of national integration. A brief definition of a nation is important for an understanding of national integration. A nation is a ‘large social group integrated by a combination of objective relationships (economic, political, linguistic, cultural, religious, geographic historical) and their reflection subjective in collective consciousness. (Hoch 1996).

It has also been seen as an expression of ‘large-scale solidarity, constituted by the feeling of the sacrifices that one has made in the past and of those that one is prepared to make in the future.’ 

    Both definitions underscore Renan (1996) and Handler (1998) ideas that the nation is a ‘daily plebiscite,’ and a ‘continuous’ entity, that ‘constitutes a broad framework of interaction beyond specific sub-national identities. ‘These diverse linguistic, cultural and religious groups into broader entities are one of the most dominant features in the formation of nations. Multi-ethnicity is the rule rather than the exception, for there are virtually few nations (perhaps with the possible exception of Somalia) constituted by a single ethnic group. Second, and hinging on the first reason, nations have a historical past however tenuous that past may be: shared myths, culture, language or a common colonial experience. Third, there is often a territory or ancestral land serving as a ‘marker’ distinguishing one nation from others. Fourth, and finally, some level of communication, industrial development, and progress help to hasten the ‘blending’ process.

    Applying these contextually so as to capture the true condition of Nigeria prior to1960 political independence, Anderson (1983) stated thus “Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression. There are no “Nigerians” in the same sense as there are “English,” “Welsh” or “French.” The word ‘Nigerian’ is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria from those who do not”

    Arguing along this line, Clifford Imasuen states that “More than the past a number of decades, Nigerians have sought to create cheap printing company. Nevertheless, the nation constructing process has been largely difficult by Nigeria’s tremendous ethnic diversity and uneven distribution of resource. Since independence in 1960, the geographical expression known as Nigeria has striven without success to bring together the diverse ethnic nationalities into a single” When people speak of Nigeria derisively as an ‘accident,’ they could not, in some sense, have been more correct in their descriptions. All nations are in some sense ‘accidents ‘of history, ‘imagined communities ‘that could potentially develop broad national spaces by subsuming sub-national spaces.

    These statements captured the true condition of Nigeria prior to 1960 when political independence was obtained. There has been no any positive change in this regard since then. Instead, the relationship among the constituent ethnic nationalities and religious groups has worsened drastically in spite of all pretenses to the contrary. Nigeria is not an ethnically homogenous society, having come into being accidentally, as it were, as a product of British imperialism. Today, rather than integrating into a cohesive community with a common sense of national identity and destiny, citizens of Nigeria are returning more and more to primordial affiliations for identity, loyalty and security. Instead of forging a united front and presenting a concerted effort to face the challenges of development in an increasingly competitive and globalized world, Nigerians are busy waging ethnic and religious wars, struggling for control over resources, resisting marginalization by dominant ethnic groups, and contending with diverse problems of basic survival. (Ekanola 2006)

    The point thus is that nations neither drop from the sky, nor are they natural. People, through conscious, purposive activity construct nations; national integration is conscious process of social engineering. The process of construction of national integration takes different forms depending on which specific historical variable that dominated the sub national communities to emerge as the nuclei of solid national political and economic organization. The characteristics of such broad national communities are distinguishable by the followings, internationally recognized geographical boundaries, a fairly   common if broad cultural and linguistic ethos, an identifiable feeling of belonging, and a state. According to (Rokkan (1972) and Yinger (1980), Mechanisms and methods for ‘blending’ multi-ethnic identities into national political communities sharing a common identity are numerous. The following have been identified, religion.

    Whichever factor determines the construction of national integration depends on its relationship with other factors within specific historical interaction. Little wonder Tunde (1991) contended that “Many [Nigerians] deceive themselves by thinking that Nigeria is one….This is wrong. I am sorry to say that this presence of unity is artificial. Adding weight to this argument, Kuna (2005) stated that “In some contexts, religion became a rallying point in the formation of pan-local communities; in others, it was trade; in others it was war and coercion; yet again, it was any combination of these forces in other contexts.

    The British had in 1899 revoked the charter of the Royal Niger Company. By 1914, it completed the process of bringing together several hundreds of ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups and communities which then had attained different levels of economic and political development. These strategies produced a state structure that was to become the servant of imperialism and all those metropolitan interests which owned their existence of the continuance of imperialism (Elekwe 1986)

    The failure of the colonial powers to graft such desirable aspects of the past on to the present rather than super-impose their own experiences on us and our perpetration of this practice in the post independence period has in part led us into the quagmire of governmental instability. It is needless to reiterate the fact that such instability has diverted our attention from the fundamental goal of ensuring a better life for our populace. (Obasanjo 1989).

    The Nigeria ruling class inherited this state structure without any form of modification or moderation. They rather became so preoccupied with the use of the state paraphernalia for accumulating surplus without through the processes of producing surplus. The resultant contradiction was an institutionalized myopic and visionless ethnic centered leadership with separatist and particularistic political outlook.  (Nnoli, 1979)

    In a nutshell, the construction of the Nigerian nation was fashioned not in the overall interest of sub national communities rather as a service centre of the departing imperial political community. Bye and large the emerging indigenous leadership compounded the situation by monopolizing ethnic and regional values against entrenching a national political community. Consequently, political instability and social unrest dominated the national landscape.

    There is no gainsaying that at the heart of the Nigerian problem is not only the complex ethnic configuration but the mismanagement of national focus by leadership over a period of time. Instead of concentrating on building a national political community on the strength of diverse values as formidable basis for progress, parochial material accumulation has replaced patroticism in leadership.

THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP:

    Regardless of these challenges, the country has not disintegrated due to the invaluable sacrifices of noble compatriots galvanized by elastic citizenship tolerance. Of course these safe guards have limitation that requires constant service with justice and equity. Where leadership fail to reciprocate these goodwill,  but rather embark of faulting the system, then there will be adverse implication on national integration.

    Leadership as an institution became parochial scope against national interest. Consequently,  the electoral process remains highly competitive and contentious thereby producing either a disputed, discredited or sometimes massively rigged polls. Even though Nigeria pride itself as belonging to democratic societies it has not been able to pass the litmus test of democratic traditions therefore, the current democratic experiment navigates from political storm to security challenges.

    Of course analyzing the events that dominated the political landscape alongside the volatile atmosphere, it is clear that the polity is in near jeopardy of great conflict. The culture of perpetual  denial that all is well or we are on top of the situation is disservice to national unity, which is mere face saving.  The national debate on the future of the 1914 unholy political matrimony of the Northern and Southern protectorates is provoked by citizenship frustration with state of affairs. Therefore, It will be in the interest of national harmony to focus on the process of national reconciliation instead of the disintegration theory. Fragmentation cannot be better alternative to good governance because even after balkanization there will still be no progress as this leadership virus will still infect the new nations with more severe symptoms than what we are passing through now.

    Obviously, absence of injustice has contributed greatly in exaggerating the state of insecurity bedeviling the country. There are rampant incidences of militancy, arm robbery, kidnapping, rape, hostage taking cross the nation with the unengaged productive segment of the social system patronizing these negative vices. No single moment is idle without report of any of the above. Of course, there will be no need for oracle consultation to arrive at scientific conclusion that the country is enjoying the grace of time to explode. It may look simple to ignore the symptoms but certainly not the consequences.

    Closely related to the conflict paradigm is the theory of collapse of political institutions which naturally safeguards democratic culture for evolution of leadership. The inability of our electoral system to guarantee credible elections is at the centre of generating vote of no confidence in this democratic dispensation. At any general elections, the process become glaringly manipulated by either ballot stuffing, violence, alteration of figures, declaration of losers or sometimes outright rigging backed by state apparatus. In the last general elections, the people were frustrated with the electoral system leading to lost of lives and properties across Northern states. Therefore, the electoral process is another form of conflict within Nigerian polity.

    Addressing these malignant situations requires radical surgery of leadership question which is a prerequisite for justice and peaceful co-existence. Leadership is a sacred burden which must not be sacrifice for political convenience.  

    It is our contention that election criminals including official collaborators within the system deserves capital penalty in view of the damage it has done to National cohesion. Special  courts should be constitutionally created to enhance speedy trials, while verdicts from such tribunals should be executed within the soonest possible time after exhausting all rights of appeal. This will serve as deterrence to would be election offenders.

    Another social phenomenon that has destroyed national integration is corruption in public places. Corruption has pervaded every social fabric including religion. It is corrupt practices that fuels escalation of religious and ethnic tensions leading to destruction of innocent lives and properties. 

    Therefore, severe sanctions including death penalty is hereby recommended as judicial means of combating this menace responsible not only for retarding development but also peaceful co-existence.

    Also poverty, hunger and youth unemployment has been identify as a manipulative factor against peaceful co-existence. We herby challenged 

Governments at all levels confront these social vices with determined zeal of reducing them to the barest minimum. These are potential social tsunamis that is capable of up surging national stability. As a panacea to youth restiveness Job creation must be sincerely pursue so as to pacify the restive constituency.

CONCLUSION:

In terminating this discuss, I will employ the experience of one of the leading world powers to drive home my theory of returning back to the drawing board. During the Second World War, chemical weapons were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan which reduced it to rumbles. After the war the survivors resolved that they were going to spend every sources at their disposal on education to build the people that will build a new Japan. Fifty years later Japan is a world power.

    The argument among leaders that fifty two years of independent is too young for Nigeria to make any meaningful progress is mere justification for leadership failure. The misplacement of budgetary priorities must be reverse in favour of education.

    Therefore, Iam calling on governments at all levels to allocate thirty (30%) percent of annual budgetary allocations to education. Not only that, but education should be placed on first line charge for availability of funds for rapid development. The national curriculum on education must be restructured to accommodate certain positive traditional values so as to make it functional. The mechanism for realizing national integration, security and conflict resolution can only be found in a solid and viable educational system where the teacher is an indispensable factor. Anything contrary to this leaves the nation with severe consequences of social instability.

Thank you for your audience.

 REFERENCES

1.    MAZRUI, Ali A., (2001) “Shariacracy and Federal Models in the Era of Globalization:  Nigeria in Comparative Perspective” - www.gamji.com. Accessed March 2001.

2.  Almukashifi Taha Al-kabbashi, Member of the Scholars’ Council of Sudan,  "Non-Muslims Rights within Muslim Society" International Peace conference organized by Sokoto State Government in conjunction with Muslim World League held at the Auditorium of Sultan Maccido Institute for Quar'an and General Studies Sokoto from 29th-30th March 2013 under the theme, "Islam and the fundamentals of peaceful co-existence in Nigeria".

3.  Hroch, Miroslav. 1996. From National Movement to the Fully-formed Nation: The Nation-building Process in Europe.

Mapping the Nation (Gopal Balakrihsnan Ed.) New York and London: Verso, 1996, 78-97.

4.  Renan Ernest (1966) “What is a Nation? Becoming National”: A Reader (Geoff Eleyand Ronald Grigor Suny (Eds.) New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 41-55.

5.   Handler Richard, (1988) “Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec: New Directions in Anthropological Writing. History, Poetics, and Cultural Criticism” George E and James M. Clifford Eds.), Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. 6-8.

6.  Anderson Benedict (1983) “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spred of Nationalism”, London and New York: Verso

7.  Clifford Isioma Imasuen, “National Integration a Historical Perspective”, webmaster @ http://www.clifford.s5.com. Assessed 23rd July 2012.

8.  Rokkan Stein (1972) “Models and Methods in the Comparative Study on Nation Building, Imagination and Precision in the Social Sciences”: Essays in Memory of Peter Nettle (T. J. Nossiter, A. H. Hanson, and Stein Rokkan Eds.). 121-156. New York: Humanities Press 1972).

9.  Yinger, J. M. (1980) “Religion in the struggle for Power,” New York: Arnold Press), commerce and war (Tilly, Charles, Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990-1990, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

10. Tunde Babawale, “The Poverty of Leadership”, This Week, October 7, 1991, p.30.

11.   Mohammed Kuna j. “Religion, Identity, and National Integration in Nigeria”,Paper Presented at a Round Table on National Integration in Nigeria Organized by the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos,July 15th, 2005.

12.   Ekekwe E. (1986) “Class and Slate in Nigeria”, Longman Lagos, London.

13. Olusegun Obasanjo, (1989) “Constitution for National Integration and Development” www.africanleadership.org. assessed 13th September 2012.

14. Nnoli, O.(1979), Ethnic Politics in Nigeria, Fourth Dimension, Enugu Nigeria.

15. Adebola Babatunde Ekanola, (2006), “National Integration and the Survival of Nigeria in the 21st Century”, University of Ibadan, The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies,Volume 31, Number 3, Fall 2006.

17. Macmillan Dictionary (online version), Macmillan Publishers Limited. Accessed 22 September 2012.

18.   LOIMEIER, R., 2007; Nigeria: The Quest for a Viable Religious Option. In W. F. S. Miles, (Ed) Political Islam in West Africa: State Society Relations Transformed. London, Lynne Rienner.‐ 38 ‐