Lagos — For a very long time to come, the recent religious crisis which swept through some parts of Northern Nigeria with the attendant human carnage will remain a subject of discussions both within enlightened and unenlightened circles. In the current madness which has become an episodic and recurrent experience in the north, the costs in terms of lives and property had been very scandalous.

By the time the crisis was quelled by a combined team of military and police forces in a joint operation, the violent campaign by a fringe group of extremists which started in Bauchi , like wild fire, had quickly spread to neighbouring States such as Yobe, Borno and Kano claiming lives of innocent Nigerians including security personnel.

The resolute determination by this group of social miscreants known as Boko Haram (Western Education is sin), to subjugate the nation and impose their own brand of Islamic religion on the country, is a move that is not only worrisome but calls for concerted national action.

A lot has been written and said about the Boko Haram sect led by a 39-year old fundamentalist, Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf who anchored his campaign on the ground that Western education and civilisation are sinful and must be rejected. I am not concerned here about the rationality (if there is any) or irrationality of the actions of this irreverent group. Rather I am concerned about the circumstances that have continued to nurture and promote the existence of such terrorist groups in the northern part of this country. And what should be done to put a permanent stop to these provocative acts?

Nigeria is a multi religious and multi-ethnic society. It is primarily for this diversity, which is supposed to be a source of strength that the founding fathers of Nigeria in their wisdom opted for a federal system of government for the country.

Under a federal arrangement, the powers of the state are shared amongst the constituent units of the federation in such a manner as to ensure the autonomy of the various units. What this means is that power is devolved from the center to the states. It also means that whatever power that the center exercises in a federation is at the instance of the federating states.

Federalism recognizes that differences do exist amongst the constituent groups in the polity; hence genuine efforts are made under a federal arrangement to accommodate these differences in a manner that promotes peaceful coexistence and co-habitation. The diversity that is inherent in a federation is therefore seen as a source of strength. It is basically for this reason that one of the founding fathers of Nigeria, the Great Zik of Africa described Nigeria's federation as a "unity in diversity".

Our experience with Nigeria's federalism especially in the aftermath of the unfortunate Nigeria-Biafra civil war has shown that we have been paying lip service to the practice of a true federal arrangement as envisioned by the nation's founding fathers.

It is this insincerity and total disregard to the visions of our founding fathers by successive administrations that have emboldened and sustained the emergence of such fringe groups and characters like Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf and before him, Maitatsine and several other fundamentalist sects, to wage war against the secularity of the country and the rights of its diverse people to freedom of religion, thoughts and expression.

From 1980 when the Maitatsine sect unleashed terror and mayhem in Kano in which thousands of innocent lives were lost and to date, it has been a harvest of endless religious crises in almost all the major cities in the North with the attendant wanton destruction of precious lives and property.

And in all of these crises, Christians and non-indigenes are often the targets of these mindless and recidivist groups who seem determined as always to impose their religious views and ways of live on others.

The cities that have become endemic for religious upheavals include Kano, Maiduguri, Kaduna, Kafanchan, Zaria, Funtua, Katsina, Gombe, Yola, Bulumkutu in Borno State, Bauchi, Sokoto, Potiskum and Jos where Hausas and the indigenous populations are perennially locked in a supremacy war for the control of the soul of the city.

The recent Boko Haram incident in which these extremists, in what could be regarded as a suicide mission, singled out the police, security agents and institutions of government for elimination has brought a new dimension and pattern to the religious crises in the country. Even though the group is said to be ventilating its anger and frustration with a political and traditional system that has consigned the mass of the people to a life of excruciating poverty and hopelessness, their resort to the killing of security agents and Christians and burning of churches can hardly be defended on any grounds.

If the Boko Haram is protesting against an oppressive political and traditional system in the country as some analysts have contended, why would they have to behead Christian clerics and burn down over twenty churches in Maiduguri alone? This barbaric behaviour also reminds us of the blood chilling incident in Kano during the reign of General Sani Abacha, when an innocent Igbo trader, Gideon Akaluka, was snatched from prison custody by an irate Islamic mob and beheaded for allegedly misapplying some loose sheets from the Holy Koran.

Akaluka's head was put on a spike and paraded round the streets of Kano. In spite of protests by the Christian and Igbo community in Kano against the outrageous conduct of the mob, some of whom were known to the security agents, nothing came out from the incident. Nobody was successfully prosecuted or brought to book.

It seems to me that it is situations like this, in which these bunch of lunatics, are treated with kid gloves after they had committed heinous crimes against the society that emboldens extremists to continue to wreck havoc at the slightest excuse.

We can no longer continue like this. The time has come to tame this religious monster in the country. Yes there is grinding poverty in the North; a consequence of failure of governance. There is also poverty in the South; a consequence of elite failure. But in all of this, there is no justification for the levying of jihad against fellow Nigerians whom we consider as strangers in our midst.

By the act of Providence, we have come to stay together as one country and one people "bound in freedom, peace and unity". It must be clear to every one that this country is a complex polity of diverse people, cultures, religions, values, aspirations and world views. As obtainable in any such heterogonous society, we must learn to live together in peace and accommodate each other.

It will be a wishful dream for any group whether ethnic or religious to think that it can impose its will on the nation. It will never happen. Lebanon and Sudan are typical examples of culturally and politically diverse communities where religious intolerance has wrecked havoc. We do not want such an experience in Nigeria. Like one newspaper editorial noted recently, in Nigeria there is a balance of forces between Christianity and Islam. And I agree. None of the adherents of the two should in any way, overtly or covertly, seek to push out the other.

Any such move will be an obvious invitation to the disintegration of this country. We must learn to ask God to give us the grace to accept what we cannot change.

The Boko Haram incident provides the nation with yet another opportunity to firmly and conclusively deal with this recurrent religious crises in the North. It has become obvious that the inability of successive governments to punish previous religious rioters and their sponsors is responsible for the rising incidents of sectarian violence in the country.

There is need for a detailed investigation to unmask the forces behind the Boko Haram. Those found guilty must be made to face the full wrath of the law. These may help to deter future occurrences.