Nigeria: The victory of Goodluck might cause more clashes

By African Bulletin on April 19, 2011

Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, the first president from the south and the oil riche region of the Delta won the Nigerian presidential election, with a wide lead over his rival, former General Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim from the north. The expected victory of the incumbent president has already led to clashes in northern Nigeria, and violence has spread.

Police forces were deployed in the city of Kano, shooting in the air to disperse thousands of youths, burning tires and targeting homes of alleged members of the ruling party (Popular Democratic Party). A curfew of 24 hours has already been established in Kano. Other reports have stated violence in the cities of Jos and Kaduna, and again fears are higher to see, as it happened in Zaria, young Muslims demolishing a church, thus triggering the reaction of young Christians who, in turn, will ransack a mosque next door. The violence also spread to Abuja, Lafia, Taraba and Kaduna, all in north-central, and Yola in the northeast.Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with 150 million inhabitants, divided between the Christians and animists in the South and Muslims in the north. The country has experienced several inter-religious clashes that have caused thousands of deaths over the past ten years. The last elections in Nigeria were marred by violence and fraud, and Goodluck  has promised to introduce electoral reforms, but the political concomitance looks unstable for Nigeria unless a very concerted effort is put in place to ovoid antagonism, conflict and confrontation between the North and the South, based on a particular religion appurtenance, mostly hidden under the umbrella of rival political forces, which still claim to alternate for the presidency between northern and southern candidates, and under this informal rule, the 2011 candidate should be from the mainly Muslim north and not south mainly Christian and animist.The new elected president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan,  called on political leaders to urge their supporters to end violence in the interest of peace, stability and for the good of the country.”The political ambitions of anyone are not worth the blood of one Nigerian,” the president said in a statement.