Saturday, May 01, 2004
This just in:
Zamfara Governor Orders Demolition of All Churches
Zamfara is the latest Nigerian state to adopt sharia law. Seems the governor, Ahmed Sani thinks he's been given a divine mandate to fight "unbelievers." Nigeria being about evenly split between Christians and Muslims, this is the sort of thing that could lead to the most disastrous kind of civil war: a religious war. Actually, this isn't the sort of thing that would stop at national borders.
I'd be surprised if the policy actually gets enacted - Sani might get a few firm telephone calls from Saudi Arabia and desist - but this sort of thing just underscores the religious fault lines that divide most of Africa. Long term trends do not give any real ground to hope that this is just an isolated event, or that the chances of disaster are remote.
Zamfara Governor Orders Demolition of All Churches
Zamfara is the latest Nigerian state to adopt sharia law. Seems the governor, Ahmed Sani thinks he's been given a divine mandate to fight "unbelievers." Nigeria being about evenly split between Christians and Muslims, this is the sort of thing that could lead to the most disastrous kind of civil war: a religious war. Actually, this isn't the sort of thing that would stop at national borders.
I'd be surprised if the policy actually gets enacted - Sani might get a few firm telephone calls from Saudi Arabia and desist - but this sort of thing just underscores the religious fault lines that divide most of Africa. Long term trends do not give any real ground to hope that this is just an isolated event, or that the chances of disaster are remote.
