₦airaland Forum

toshmann:
somebody is finally stating the hard facts
this is sad but the truth is that we are waiting for the next riot
truth hurts

But what do we do to stop such future indifferences?

FYI The Muslims suffered more casualties than other ethnic groups.
They burned down a Mosque with a couple hundred people in it.
This is justice for some you I guess

Aparently Education does work

In Northern Nigeria, Interreligious Peacemaking Precedes Development
By Isiyaku Ahmed
Kaduna,Nigeria
08 November 2007

profile of Rev. Wuye and Imam Ashafa audio clip
Listen to profile of Rev. Wuye and Imam Ashafa audio clip

Development can not take place without peace. That’s the view of economists and analysts who’ve been watching developments from Bosnia to Iraq. It’s also true of Nigeria, the site of occasional violence between Muslims and Christians, especially in the northern and central parts of the country. Here, the two religious have co-existed – and sometimes competed – for over a century.

That’s why a Pentecostal preacher and a Muslim imam came together to try to reduce conflict. From their hometown, Kaduna, reporter Isiyaku Ahmed describes the relationship between two men who believe religious peace and cooperation are a prerequisite to sustained economic growth.

For decades, religious strife between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria has claimed property and lives. Recurring flare-ups between members of each group have left thousands dead, wounded, and homeless over the years.

The violence contributes to political instability, which in turn deters development. For example, providers of essential services have often been Christian migrants from the south and east of the country. But many of them have fled the area, or avoid settling there out of fear of violence. The same applies to foreign investors.

But two leading religious leaders in the region -- Rev. James Movel Wuye, a Pentecostal Christian, and his counterpart, Imam Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa, a Muslim – are doing something about it. They’re using inter-faith mediation help resolve the religious and politically motivated conflicts that have often kept resource-rich Nigeria from reaching its potential. They’ve also created two organizations for resolving inter-religious conflict in Nigeria -- the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum and the Inter-Faith Mediation Centre.

FIGHTING AND RECONCILIATION

Reverend James Wuye
Reverend James Wuye
Rev. Wuye says it was a particularly violent clash in the northern town of Zangon-Kataf in 1992 that brought the two together. In that incident, the mostly Muslim Hausa and the predominantly Christian Kataf ethnic group, fought pitched battles in a dispute over the relocation of the community’s main market. From there, killings spread to other parts of Kaduna State.

Muslims fighters killed Rev. Wuye’s bodyguard and cut off the reverend’s right arm, leaving him for dead. At the same time, Christian fighters murdered a man known as Ashafa’s mentor and spiritual leader. Both men took the events as a sign from God to collaborate as peacemakers.

Rev. Wuye’s initial reaction at the time wasn’t so different from that of other fighters -- vengeance. In particular, he wanted to kill Imam Ashafa, one of the leaders of the Muslim militias. That may well have happened, had he not been for the sermon of a preacher.

"For three years I nursed the ambition of killing Imam Ashafa," he said, "But then, I attended a program aimed at preaching the gospel to non-Christians, and there I was told by the moderator, [who] said you cannot preach Jesus Christ with hate. Then, it reawakened my conscience. [I realized] that as a Christian, I need to love even when I feel pain."

Imam Mohammed Ashafa
Imam Mohammed Ashafa
Imam Ashafa heard similar words on forgiveness in his mosque as well. He then went to visit Rev Wuye’s sick mother in the hospital.

The two men finally met in 1995 at the urging of a civil leader. They agreed to work out some sort of dialogue promoting mutual understanding and respect.

Imam Ashafa proposed a public debate, which evolved into a forum on the concepts of salvation and forgiveness in Christianity and Islam. It took a year to arrange the event and find a venue willing to host two militant youth groups from different religions. "People came with daggers in their pockets that day." Rev. Wuye told the press. "Both parties came prepared for the worst."

But there was no violence – the forum was a success, and since then, the two men have backed a series of interventions and workshops focusing on the groups peace-making verses from the two faiths. They include the a verse from the book of Matthew in the Bible “In everything, do unto others what you would have them do to you.” And for Muslims, the fortieth Hadith (an-Nawahi, 13):, or sayings of the Prophet from the Koran: “Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”

The effort is focused on enlightening the public – in particular, militant youth, vigilantes and the hizbah, or religious police who enforce Islamic law, or Sharia, in some northern states.

They've also produced a weekly series on local television, quoting passages of the Koran and the Bible that show common ground between Islam and Christianity.

THE PEACE STRATEGY

To prevent religious crises, Rev. Wuye and his partner Mallam Ashafa have developed a multi-pronged approach that they say is both preventive and curative.

For prevention, they use an early warning mechanism that alerts the community to trouble signs and ways to control a contentious situation before it spreads. The mechanism includes improved connections between government security officers, community leaders and others involved in calming a violent situation.

They also work to achieve signed peace agreements between prominent religious leaders and state or local government. The effort includes working with violent youths through Christian and Islamic teachings that emphasize forgiveness and non-violence.

Imam Ashafa says Islam is at the heart of forgiveness. He says learning how to engage in peace comes when one submits to a higher power, the ultimate truth. The Imam says Islam presents its followers with free choice. But he says he favors what he calls the more “courageous” choice, which involves positive thinking and forgiveness, even when angry.

Ashafa told a follower that “[faith] is the strongest nuclear weapon. You can use religion and spirituality to reconstruct the world.” He suggests that the UN work with religious leaders to get involved in the peace process. And he condemns those who use religion to justify atrocities.

Ashafa says he’s a fundamentalist at heart, but rejects the extremism connected with fundamentalism. He says the attitude “if you are not with me, you are against me” is wrong and leads to disrespect for other cultures and traditions.

He cites passages of the Muslim Holy Book, the Koran which support respect for other cultures and religions. For example, chapter 49 of the Koran states “O mankind, We created you from a single male and female. And made you into nations and tribes, that you many know each other….” He says the Prophet said in his farewell message “An Arab is not superior over the white; neither is the white over the black, you are all from Adam and Adam is from dust.….”

Both men say forgiveness includes mediation and a time for offenders to reflect on their actions before being given an opportunity to make amends. If no amends are made, the feuding parties can ask the state to step in.

MODELS OF RECONCILIATION

Rev. Wuye says respect for both religions is at the center of their model for reconciliation.

"Our module [looks] at the reality on the ground before passing out what is called a strategic action plan. [For] all these things we use religion to appeal to people at the end. Whatever you do in Africa or anywhere else in the world, [we] use divinity [to persuade] top people. Because of the respect for divinity and God, they abide."

The workshops and interventions have helped reduce violence.

In August 2002, Reverend Wuye and Imam Ashafa persuaded 10 senior religious leaders from each faith in Kaduna to sign a peace declaration that reduced the ongoing protests connected with the Miss World contest. Violence surged when a columnist wrote that the Prophet would likely support the pageant, an event some Muslims felt was indecent. More than 2,000 people died in the rioting that followed in Kaduna and Abuja.

In 2006, the two leaders were invited to Kenya to help solve a religious dispute. The two communities were on opposite sides over an effort to grant greater recognition to Islamic law, or Sharia, in a new Kenyan constitution. They held a high-level Christian/Muslim consultative forum in Mombassa and issued a strategic action plan for peace.

Their peace model is also in use in the predominantly Christian and animist Southern Sudan. It is rebuilding after long years of war against the largely Muslim and Arabicized north.

Rev. Wuye says both he and Imam Ashafa are encouraging greater Africa Union intervention in the genocide in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, where government support for the “supporter of APC” militias has led to the killings of hundreds of thousands of black Darfuris. “We condemn it in totality,” Rev. Wuye told VOA. “We sent an SOS message to former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo to send more troops to that region, and to put pressure on the Khartoum government to behave humanely and to stop the war and all the activities that go with it.”

The two men went to Bosnia in late October to meet with religious leaders and discuss the inter-religious prejudices that led to war there in the late 1990s. The Nigerian leaders say they wanted to show that Bosnians, too, can reconcile once they talk and confront their pain.

Last year rioting began over the publication of Dutch cartoons that were seen as mocking Islam by equating it with terrorism. But Rev. Wuye asked Christian leaders to go on radio to condemn the drawings. He also asked Muslim leaders to accept the condemnation and to call for calm in their towns. As a result, the violence did not spread to some parts of the north.

Rev. Wuye discussed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda against the minority Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu. He said, “As a Christian, I felt ashamed of myself and religious colleagues who took sides during the war…. and who could have explored religious provisions to prevent the genocide or stop it.” In Rwanda, both Hutu and Tutsi are nominally Roman Catholic. Rev. Wuye and Imam Ashafa are working with the US-based NGO Search for Common Ground in Burundi to help alleviate tensions between Hutu and Tutsi there.

DANGERS

In 2004, Rev. Wuye and Imam Ashafa were threatened during their visit to Kadarko, a Christian-dominated settlement in Wase, Plateau state. They were there to help mediate a politically motivated religious dispute. The violence centered on efforts by Christians in Kadarko to strengthen local government in response to growing Muslim influence in the area.

Fighting broke out and Rev. Wuye says Christian militias would have killed them if not for the intervention of a solder who acted as a human shield to protect them.

THE FUTURE

The two religious leaders have trained four other Christian and Islamic religious leaders in Nigeria to help with mediation efforts. They are based at the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum, which has offices in Kaduna, Jos, Oweri and Lagos.

The Kaduna-based Interfaith Mediation Centre also is also encouraging joint ventures between Muslim and Christian communities. Some of the projects including rice milling, groundnut oil processing, strawberry farming, and potential economic ventures that would bring women together.

Rev. Wuye says they are working to set up an inter faith-mediation structure among Nigerian living overseas.

Rev. Wuye told VOA, “We know even among Nigerians living [abroad], they sometimes align [themselves] along sectional, geographic, and religious divides. The unity for Nigeria in the Diaspora will help our work tremendously and with their collaboration, we can gain more ground.

"[After training others],' he said, "we intend to reduce our activity to maybe [create a] consultancy, while younger generations continue [our task]. We are looking for support to complete our "Peace Village" on 14 hectares of land, and our Interfaith Peace Institute. In the next 20 years, we [hope we] will have replicated [our efforts] in Africa and in other parts of the world. [We hope to influence] the United Nations and also set up such structures in the Commonwealth of Nations."

In recognition of their work, the two men have been given a number of awards: the Peace Activist Award of the New York-based Tanenbaum center for interreligious understanding, the Heroes of Peace Award by Burundi, and the Apostle of Peace Award by the Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria. They are also fellows of the Washington-based Ashoka program, which recognizes what it calls social entrepreneurs, those who come up with innovative solutions to help improve the lives of millions of people.

The two men say their years of dialogue have helped them gain respect for each other and overcome misconceptions. Among their differences: Imam Ashafa questioned why his companion worships Jesus as if he were the Divine, rather than “merely” a messenger for the Divine. Reverend Wuye says he’s perplexed about his friend’s five a.m. prayers. But the two leaders say they’re brothers and can joke about some of the differences that used to divide them. Criticism and commentary is kept on a friendly level, one that would not divide a family, much yet a country.

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-11/2007-11-08-voa54.cfm?CFID=74501120&CFTOKEN=67662647

idupaul:
sabon gari is part of fagge LGA and has more population than all other district within combined

I believe in rule and law. This LGA should be won by those with the most votes, its that simple.
I hate the idea of the Sabon Gari in general because it creates a separation, just like I hate the Idea of Sharia Law.

My perfect Nigeria would be one in which we practice our traditional believes but still stay current in todays civilization.
The Hindu Religion is one what outlasted colonialism. Africa would rather be divided and kill each other.
Ethnic wars in Africa are not endemic to Northern Nigeria alone. They have happened in Southern Nigeria too.

debosky:
All this talk of 'education' - do human beings need to be 'educated' before they know it is wrong to kill a fellow man for no reason?

They felt 'cheated' - so they went into a yoruba man's house in Jos and killed three young men. The people who died neither contested nor supported any candidate. I guess they were the ones deserving of the retribution.

YES That is exactly how it happened.
Why do you people go around perpetrating lies? These lies are what lay the seeds of deceit.

idupaul:
How were they cheated. man go to a local govt that contains sabon gari of kano state , the ibos are the majority but can any ibo man dare contest election result there, man the plateau people have been known to be hospitable for ages so i think u should ask why they no longer trust their hausa guest

Good point Idupaul , but does the Sabon Gari in Kano have an LGA Status? If so their is no way it should be chaired by the Hausa. I will categorically agree with you if so.

Look I am not on any sides, I just refute the fallacies that a lot of Nairalanders would have us believe.

DavidDylan:
Jos abeg just stop this nonsense.

Why is it that when muslims kill it is only because they are "responding"? Responding to what? Can we just call murder what it is and stop cloaking it in flowery language?

They were responding to the fact that they were cheated out of LGA in Jos North, You should the read the paper. Im not cloaking anything, their behavior was unjustified, and they should be forced to answer to the law.

DavidDylan:
Wronged by who? Did you wrong them? I know for certain that 98% of those muslims have killed did not wrong them . . . are muslims the only people on earth to be wronged?
What of the Kurds, jews, armenians, Germans, Native americans . . . when are they going to "respond"?

Like I have re-iterated they were cheated out of LGA

DavidDylan:
[url][/url]
Why? Because your cattle-rearing lunatic leaders can't bear to live without free oil money?
Is it because without oil YOU wont be were u are today because there would have been no revenue allocation for your leaders to steal?

Without Oil Nigerian would not be where it is today. The North provides for about half (7.3%) of the remaining non-oil revenues. Their would be revenue allocation for you leaders to STEAL as well. ALL Nigerian leaders are thieves your point

DavidDylan:
It may be a pipe-dream today but tomorrow you may just wake and find out that your bad dream has become a reality.

It will never happen, you pretend as if all Igbo's are united. Imagine how many candidates you had for the last presidential elections. When all know PDP or ANPP would win the position. United my foot, they sure enjoyed the campaigning money.

DavidDylan:
Another story teller has come with the band-aid called "education". Na wa o . . . one would think everyone else was literate.

Education levels are deplorable in some parts of the North. People are easy to manipulate when they have little or no education.

DavidDylan:
And unity nko? How has that worked for us?

Have we even given this a real try. How many years after the amalgamation of Nigeria did Biafra try and claim independence?

DavidDylan:
Islam my friend . . . stop hiding under the robes of religion. Christianity poses no threat to anyone . . . heck even Ogun worshippers pose no threat.

O boy . . . priests don't wield any power AND YOU LIAR KNOW IT. Obasanjo can afford to say "CAN my foot" . . . let him try it with your muslim "brothers". We'd just have to build more morgues to accomodate the dead . . . afterall its only a "response".

Yes one priest from Akwa Ibom said their are over 3 million witches in Akwa Ibom, how many witches are in Akwa Ibom. this too is illiteracy, the fact that Africans believe vodou exists and manifests itself in innocent children

debosky:
@ josboy

forget this education story - I have said it earlier - even the educated ones kill, many times WITHOUT provocation. Many times they act on mere rumours and kill all the same.

Educating the masses would definitely be the stepping stone for the solution.
Their are some Hausa elites who perpetrate these actions for their own selfish gain and control of the people.
But their motives are different. Guaranteed if the masses were educated this would change.
Did you know that the Bible is a greater educational tool than the Koran. but that even the Bible can be interpreted to spread that which is not good. If the devil knows the Bible guaranteed he surely knows the Koran. All interpretation.

Black people will remain a the bottom of the totem pole unless they start to work together.
The radical muslims are only responding the way they know best and that is with violence.
Have they been wronged? Yes, are their actions justified HELL NO

The fact of the matter is the whole of West Africa is in disarray, their is no way 30 million people are responsible for Nigeria's downfall. We are all responsible for its downfall.
Igbo's like david and quota need to stop Harboring Biafran thoughts because it is a pipe dream.

We need educate our Islamic brothers/sisters with mandatory school and for God's sake Sharia Law can not exist in a non-Muslim nation it does not make sense. Segregation will be our denigration
Religion/Enthnic need to be stripped away from Government/State.
How can we have priests and emirs that wield more power than the government?

naijaking1:
You make my head hurt! What a bad logic. Even if muslims are the majority in any area, it doesn't automatically mean they must all vote to elect a fellow muslim. Have you even wondered that some muslims could have voted for a particulary capable and well liked christian, and vice versa?

I'm tired of you repeating this question as if people from a certain religion can never vote for somebody from a different religion in Nigeria.

Yes That can happen. But it did not happen in this instant. The Hausa muslims in Jos North will always support an ANPP candidate.

QuotaSyste:
Yorubas, you people are fools. You are now listing up your people's victims names for what reason exactly? Were awusas not your partners in crime against the Igbos? Were they not your masters whom you were so loyal to and served with all might? So, why cry now that the senseless killing have affected your people, First of all, may i ask what those names you listed were they doing in northern nigeria? Is Jos a Yoruba land? Why didn't they and other Yorubas stay back in Yoruba land instead of visiting northern nigeria? You Yorubas should know better by not visit any other place outside of Yoruba areas. Nonsense.

You are an evil genius, Have you ever considered being a war-lord?

Tapiya:
Jos boy am from Jos north Anaguta by tribe I grew up In Jos  and So I know Jos in and out, they could be the single most populated Ethnic group but do not forget that there are other tribes that when they add up will be much more in Population to the Hausas.


So stop having the nortion that because there are more of them in the LGA that they should win the Election, I took you up on the fact that even Jang was a member of the ANPP before 2007 So the ANPP does not only comprise of the Hausas and the same thing with the PDP so Lets not stand and try to Justify their actions because thats what you are trying to do.

Justify their actions come on am better than that.
I'm just trying to make everyone understand the root problem?

Your going to tell me the Jos North should be won by Buba Gyang, common

ZuluNation:
Hey JosBoy what's up, I had to come to this site after hearing the horrible news from home, I hope none of your folks was affected.

No thank God, but my village lost a young polytechnic student, Sad

Tapiya:
What terms are you talking about? Religious or Ethnic?

if its Religious then there are more Christians In Jos than the Muslims, Like I highlighted to you the other time where we have a very good Christian Population and where we have more Muslims.

And for Christ's Sake because the was an allegation that the election was rigged should not have been a reason for you to start burnng Houses and Churches, you could have simply go to the courts of Law thats all and pursue your case. if you so much believe that it was supposed to be in your favour.

You did not answer my question, but thanks Sir.
I asked you who are the majority in Jos North LGA, go ahead say the ethnic group?

FYI I am very much against the acts that the Hausa's carried out in my beloved Plateau St.

Tapiya:
you all know I started this thread and what I asked for was how we were going to stop the madness, we must admit that its madness, yeah hatred played a part in my starting post, because I did not see a reason why someone should come to your house beat you and then wants to stop you from crying. but the Issue was how do we stop it? and no one except tpia that has said something close to what could go as a solution, but the problem with Nigeria is when you talk about Legistlations there you remember that Nigeria is never too go at follwing the law, that is a problem.

So what do we do?

Tapiya, who are the majority in Jos North LGA? Be honest and sincere.

What type of BMW is it 3 or 5 series?

Isn't this news a little stale?

duduspace:
Strategic interests are at play my brother, remember the Afghan war? the taleban and the axis of evil? on a side not, the wahala between Pakistan and India is as much as the wahala between the North and other areas in Nigeria.

Same problem of brainwashing the illiterate local population with hate for anything they perceive to be against Islam. I won't be quick to lay the blame at the feet of Islam as there are nice and peaceful muslims but we all know we also have our ultra christian fanatics a-la Rev King and the various Born again business men (sorry, I meant pastors) with their various heresies. He that hath no sin, let him first cast a stone.

Kai Dudu you are good man.
Keep spreading the truth. I heard it is contagious

[quote author=onye_ngbu link=topic=201329.msg3167507#msg3167507 date=1228161308]@Hauwa,
na true say nigeria, gidan duka mu ne. but ur brothers like Josboy and other fellow almajiris no gree.[/quote]How the hell don't I agree? Don't spread fallacy about me.

bawomolo:
yeah because derrick rose and michael beasley cease to exist. all oj mayo does is hoard shots on an horrible team

dirk is soft and drifts to the perimeter for comfort, a 7 footer that plays like he is a point guard.  he choked in the finals against the heat to.  vince carter had to adjust his game after the injuries. mj did the same thing but no one knocked him for having a jumper.  having a jump shot extends one's career.

this is false, you don't average 27points in a season by just being a dunker, corey maggette and josh smith are dunkers and not VC in his prime

Whats a shooting guard supposed to do? He is shooting lights out from the floor, and his free throws are awesome.
If Derrick Rose played for a shitty team he would be more individual too with his play. I won't lie the kid is nice tho. He is top 5 quickest players in the NBA right now ROSE

savanaha:
I have a question maybe its because I haven't been on CNN or BBC lately or because no Americans are involved but why was the Mumbai situation so well braodcasted in the news but this stuff is not? I think maybe the government might have shame and help people if the international community was more aware.

PS

You answered your own questions. Do you know how many bombings happen in the middle east, without all the publicity like on the Mumbai situation.
Spread more hate for the Muslims in the western world, by showing them kill westerners.

[quote author=*Hauwa* link=topic=201329.msg3167477#msg3167477 date=1228161057]@onye,

nigeria, gidan duka mu ne. su na yin fa'da a giida, mu na yin fa'da a na. . . walahi, jikin na ba yin dadi.  

divided we fall, united we stand.[/quote]Nigeria will never break apart, don't worry about that one.

RedHotChic:
How? It's that frame of mind they want you to have. They defeated your people psychologically and that is the main factor in any cold war. Until your kinsmen realize that they do not need or any other southerner them for anything, they can never free themselves from the shackles of the hausas.

How many nations would you split Nigeria into? 250, because that would be the right thing to do  
What  utter nonsense, dont worry it won't happen anyway, for all you internet pretenders.
Education is going to be valued soon in Northern Nigeria, times are changing, Sharia Law has slowed down the process for Muslims tho

bawomolo:
talk about the right time to post such a thread. idiot

I wonder ooo, it is as if some people live for this crap, ethnic bashing.

duduspace:
Think outside the box I said, not go deeper into it. The belgian or swiss constitution has nothing to teach us in terms of population or diversity.

We middlebeltans would be the most displaced people if Nigeria were to split, I will never support such a thing

[quote author=onye_ngbu link=topic=201329.msg3167299#msg3167299 date=1228159203]Now I know how you get all your 'history' From webpages posted on the internet by bigots like u.[/quote]Ikwerre do not claim to be Igbo, nah you go force am claim Igbo?
I guess they were politically sodomized by Igbo settlement in the region.

[quote author=onye_ngbu link=topic=201329.msg3167248#msg3167248 date=1228158635]Prove it.[/quote]I don't have to prove it, go and google it yourself.

duduspace:
And who no fight war before? The Scots and the English or the Irish and the English anyone and even various clans within the Old English tribes such as the Normans and the Saxons abi you no read Ivanhoe? not to mention the Germans and the Austrians as well as the Russians and the balkan states.

But when you mix Hausa, Igbo and Yorubas plus a lot of other languages I can't even begin to count, add religion into the mix, show favouritsm when you are about giving them independence, continue to interfere in their affairs after "leaving" then expect them to start making love and not war.

Whoever thought that up must have been on some strange cocktail of drugs.

Think out of the box my brother, the root cause of our problems is plain to see if you ponder enough, problem is we are content to gloss over it and assume it doesn't matter but until we critically examine those issues and work out our "own" solution rather than all these American and British constitution we have only in writing but not in spirit our problems will remain with us and you and I and possibly our grandchildren will continue to have this conversation.

Good post.
Nigerian constitution is bonkers.
Maybe we should look at Belgium or the Swiss system

Kweenisha:
again who were the first settlers of Port Harcourt?
you're going round in circles.
You can't claim knowledge of something and yet be afraid to state it.
You started this trend didn't you?
Oya tell us

Ikwerre and the Ijaw.

This is a retarded Thread.
If white people had been targeted in Nigeria, it would have made headline news in the west, right away.

We always hear about 1 lonely foreign worker kidnapped in Niger-Delta.
That is the answer to your rather rhetorical question.

[quote author=onye_ngbu link=topic=201329.msg3167167#msg3167167 date=1228157568]Since you know the history why not start by telling us when the igbos 'came and settled there'[/quote]Why not just make it simpler, by telling us if Igbo were first to settle in these lands.

duduspace:
Where did you learn your history from? or you are making the mistake of coming to conclusions about a soap opera in which you watched only the last episode? are you that ignorant to be unaware that there are Yorubas in Togo and Benin who trace their ancestry to Ife and formed part of the old Oyo Empire?

I don't want to get drawn in into that because that should be a thread in another forum, my point is that these colonial artificial partitions distrupted much of the natural and historical partitions that existed and are major factors in the conflicts that exist amongst different ethnicities in the various nations consisting of black people rather than what the other poster implied about the inability of black people to live together as a collective being some sort of genetic trait.

Dahomey and Oyo were waring well before the white man came to West Africa.
History does say that they used to pay tithe to Oyo, but that stopped.

You can trace their ancestry to Ile Ife, but the fact remains that they considered themselves different from Odua.

[quote author=onye_ngbu link=topic=201329.msg3167101#msg3167101 date=1228156865]How can you tell us where the igbo lands starts and ends. All the way from Jos.

There are too many things about Rivers and the people that you do not obviously know.

Nobody is doing that assignment for you.[/quote]You can claim Delta and River State ,but we know that there were non Igbo indigines there well before Igbos came and settled there