'Idle people stir most religious crises in the North'

Alhaji Aminu Garba Sidi is chairman of Bauchi-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Christian-Muslim Peace Movement (CMPM). The objective of the movement, among others, is to ensure religious and cultural harmony among the diverse ethnic and religious groups in the state, where many people have been killed and maimed in fratricidal conflicts that also resulted in enormous destruction of property. In this interview with Reporter, Godwin Egbara, in Bauchi, Sidi identifies idleness as what breeds rumour-mongering, hate, and fanaticism, saying these are the major cause of religious and ethnic conflicts in the society.





You are the chairman of Christian-Muslim Peace Movement (CMPM). What are the objectives of your organisation?

The objectives of the peace movement are to promote peaceful coexistence among adherents of various religious groups and different tribes in the state and the country at large. To encourage the use of dialogue as means of settling dispute; we also aim at encouraging free exchange of information and ideas that would enhance harmony.

Do you also do tension analysis to detect conflicts early enough and try to nip them in the bud?

We also focus on conflict detection and early prevention, inter state ethical propagation, peaceful settlement, and provision of training to promote peaceful coexistence in the state. We aim at the empowerment of women and youth to reduce redundancy and foster self-reliance. We have discovered that redundancy is one of the factors that contribute to crisis in the state because, as the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil's workshop.

What are your strategies for attainment of these objectives?

Based on these objectives, we have been organising lectures, seminars, holding radio and television discussions on how to promote peace in the state capital and in rural areas. Our membership cuts across all sectors of the community without discrimination. In order to achieve our objectives, we usually invite learned scholars from both universities and polytechnics to lecture us on the importance of peace in the society. In the course of our assignment, we also invite security agencies to advise us on what is not sensitive and what might not cause crisis in the society.

How far have you been able to realise your objectives?

We thank God for the assistance of the present administration. Government realised that without peace, there is no development; they have really assisted us in the provision of funds to rent our present office. We contributed greatly to the sensitisation of secondary school students in the state. In the course of research, we discovered that most of the problems emanated from day secondary schools. They are being used to foment trouble. In the past two years most of the crises that occurred in the state emanated from secondary schools, particularly day schools.

How do you go about the mission of sensitising schools?

We decided to visit schools to sensitise them on the need for peace to reign in the state. We also advised them not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to cause trouble because their mission in the school is to get knowledge and use it for the development of the society. In all the schools we visited, we usually establish a peace club to continue with the sensitisation work. This club serves as a watchdog in the school. They report to us if there is any problem in the school so we can take appropriate action to resolve it in time.

In the course of your research, what are those factors you have discovered as the cause of religious crisis in the state?

There are many factors that lead to religious crisis. Among them are rumour-mongering, idleness, cultism, and traditional rulers. Similarly, we have discovered that unemployment also contributes to crisis in the state. If the youth were fully engaged, nobody would be involved in crisis. It is because they do not have anything to do that they see religious crisis as an opportunity to be relevant.

How do you see the role of foreign influence in the religious crises?

Another factor is foreign intervention. You will recall that during the cartoon riots, the offending posters did not emanate from us, but from abroad. A student went to the Internet and downloaded offending materials and distributed them to people. Once they saw it, they were provoked and it took time for them to be pacified. We have sensitised them on this factor; that what is happening abroad should not be used to bring disaffection within our community.

Fanaticism is seen in some quarters as the greatest factor responsible for religious crisis?

We discovered sentiment, religious preferences, as some of the factors responsible for crisis in the state. We sensitised the people that no religion is superior to the other; if we respect one another's religion, it will bring peace and harmony. If you think that your religion is superior, invariably you are relegating mine and there is no peace. People, irrespective of religious differences, should be treated equally. We are created equal

and should respect one another's religion.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/feb/4/713.html

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