Sheikh Yahaya Jingri

 #TheNworisaDoctrine

Religious card politics will come to an end when, this time, it is not merely the government that chooses to move beyond the politics of religious division, but citizens themselves who grow into a consciousness of what truly defines nationhood. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 marked a major turning point in the evolution of sovereign states and the changing relationship between religious authority and political power. Perhaps Nigeria now needs a similar transformation not imposed from above, but demanded from below by citizens who have become conscious of their common nationhood.

I have followed the reactions from individuals and politicians to the Sheikh Jingri's statement. Interestingly, some of the politicians condemning these statements today are people who, when they held political power, led administrations that had little or no regard for the diversity that defines Nigeria. Yet, as is often typical of political discourse, they have quickly joined the chorus of condemnation against statements that, in one form or another, reflect the very tendencies they once institutionalised or tolerated tendencies that divide us as a people and continue to dwarf our progress towards genuine nationhood.

This is not to excuse anyone's divisive statement. Rather, it is a call for consistency. We cannot condemn the weaponisation of identity only when it is politically convenient and remain silent when the same identity politics serves our own interests.

Sheikh Jingri's statement is one of those expressions we should begin to reconsider as a society. On several occasions, whenever I have had the opportunity to speak on platforms discussing issues of national identity and diversity, I have drawn attention to the word "WAZOBIA." Some of us proudly use the word without considering what it actually communicates.

Have we ever stopped to ask what an Ogoni man in Rivers State feels when we attempt to define him through "Bia"? What does a Tiv person feel when we attach him to an identity that does not represent his history, culture or people? What about the many other ethnic groups whose identities are reduced to labels created from the names or expressions of three dominant groups?

We often say "WAZOBIA" with pride because we have come to associate it with Nigeria's diversity. But perhaps we should also ask whether celebrating diversity requires us to reduce the identities of those who do not fit within those three letters.

The truth is that we are all guilty in one way or another. Sometimes it is the politician who weaponises ethnicity. Sometimes it is the religious leader who turns difference into suspicion. Sometimes it is the ordinary citizen who repeats a stereotype without questioning it. And sometimes it is those of us who condemn identity politics in one context while participating in it in another.

Nationhood requires something greater from us.

Our diversity should not be something we merely tolerate. It should be something we understand, protect and transform into strength. Being Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Tiv, Ogoni, Kanuri, Ibibio, Ijaw, Fulani or any of the hundreds of identities that make up Nigeria should not make anyone more or less Nigerian.

The Nigerian identity should not demand that we surrender our ethnic or religious identities. Rather, it should provide a common national identity within which those identities can coexist with dignity.

When citizens begin to understand this, religious and ethnic identity will gradually lose its political value. A politician will find it increasingly difficult to weaponise religion when voters refuse to vote on the basis of religious fear. A religious leader will find it increasingly difficult to divide communities when believers themselves reject the manipulation of their faith for political purposes.

The same applies to ethnicity.

The day Nigerians begin to see diversity not as a barrier to nationhood but as one of the greatest strengths upon which nationhood can be built, it will become increasingly irrelevant for any politician, religious leader or public figure to weaponise our differences for influence.

Perhaps the real revolution Nigeria needs is not simply a change of government. It is a change in consciousness.

We must reach a point where our political choices are determined less by the religion of the candidate and more by the quality of their character, competence, vision and commitment to the Nigerian state. We must reach a point where a Christian can confidently vote for a Muslim without being accused of betraying his faith, and a Muslim can support a Christian without being told that he has abandoned his religion.

That is when religion will begin to return to where it belongs: as a matter of conscience and faith rather than a political weapon.

Perhaps, then, the next great milestone in Nigeria's journey toward nationhood will not be another constitutional amendment, another political arrangement or another agreement among political elites. It may simply be the moment when ordinary Nigerians collectively decide that our differences will no longer be allowed to determine how we see one another.

Nationhood will not be handed to us by politicians. We must grow into it as citizens.

Nworisa Michael is the coordinator of Inter-tribe Community Support Forum and writes from nworisamichael1917@gmail.com 

#TheNworisaDoctrine a body of ideas centred on nation-building, civic responsibility, inclusive governance and African self-determination.