Emmanuel Kana Mani is the Arch Bishop Emeritus of the Maiduguri Diocese of the Anglican Communion. As a former military officer of the Zuru extraction, Emeritus Mani has seen the good, the bad and the ugly. He has lived in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital for 25 years and has witnessed peace at some point. Having also experienced the most challenging period in Borno state in the wake of insurgency, he speaks with DAILY POST on the security challenges and other sundry issues in Borno State. Our Correspondent, MAINA MAINA sent excerpt: Six years ago, Borno state used to be referred to as ‘the home of peace. Now, the chorus has changed. You are a witness to both times; can we please know your submission on this? Indeed it is very good to remember the past. I had gone round to many states of the Federation as a military officer and chaplain in my 22 years of service before coming to Borno state as a Bishop and by the grace of God, I have been here for nearly 25 years. I did not witnessed in other states the kind of peaceful coexistence that was demonstrated in Borno state in prior to the wake of insurgency. I remember the late Shehu whom I met here. He used to encourage non-indigenes that Borno state belongs to all of us, and I know a lot of University lecturers who have put in their best for the development of Borno state. At that time, the city was actually expanding rapidly, and socio-economic life of the people was booming. But the unfortunate happened, and we are still on it. My prayer is that we overcome this challenge. The challenge of insecurity…Yes, there was an occasion when we gathered at the Government House and I did said from my observation that, certain group of people were migrating to Borno state without being checked, and that if the state continues to allow people like that, it may become what it is today; that was in the Government House and all the traditional rulers were around. The influx of people then was very alarming and actually, that was the starting point of insecurity in Borno state. Some people are saying that the insecurity in Borno state is a plan to phase out Christianity in the state; it has also been said that some indigenous Muslims want to control the economy of their own state and are targeting the Igbos and other non-indigenes whom they alleged have come to their state to amass wealth. How would you react to this? Well, one of the things or the beauty of it all is that if Christians have been fighting back, there would not be a country called Nigeria. Christians have always been saying that vengeance belongs to God and this is what is keeping this country together, because Christians are not fighting back. I pray that Christians will continue to maintain that position. I have realized that everybody is important and there is nothing more than unity or to unite for a common purpose. That has been my emphasis all the years. Even when I was an army chaplain, nobody came between me and the unit Imam. If you touched the unit Imam, you touched me and we did naming ceremonies and everything together and sometimes, you will see the unit Imam in church when we had ceremonies and sometimes you see us in the mosque. That has been my background and I cannot see myself discriminating in any form. And I will continue to do so. When you look at the situation in Nigeria today, we have lots of discriminations and segregations which are reducing our strength to achieve what Nigeria should be. God is interested in the project called Nigeria. Despite our diversity and religious persuasion as well as ethnic background with about 250 languages and different cultures, we are still one. This is a thing to thank God for. But we still have some challenges and those are the challenges I ask that should be tackled headlong. We should not pretend and nobody should just fight for a particular region because the greatness of Nigeria is not in doubt. Let us harness what we have; the human and material resources because we have everything in abundance. Most advanced countries today, those who are doing well in medicine, in different fields are doing so with the help of Nigerians. So, we have all that it takes to make Nigeria realize her dream of greatness. I cited a lot of examples that even in some parts of the North, some indigenes and non-indigenes are working in some ministries without problems. The Boko Haram crises that started like an attack on churches has taken a new dimension as both Christians and Muslims are suffering from the crises. Many people are being beheaded; it has changed from what looked like a religious war to intra-religious conflict and political controversies. How would you explain this? Like I said, I pray that no Christian abandons his or her faith because of what is happening here in Borno state or anywhere else. Anybody who feels he is in danger should prayerfully leave. We would not urge Christians to officially take up arms and fight back. That is our collective resolve, it has happened in the past and the church of God is what it is, and it would continue to be what it is. So, whatever shape or faces this crisis is turning into, the aim is to disunite the country and nothing more. Some people do not want to see Nigeria remain as one indivisible entity, but God will not allow that to happen. When you read reactions, particularly on facebook today, it is likely that; you may conclude that the disaffection and hatred among Nigerians and particularly Christians and Muslims is increasing every day, and our leaders have continue to pretend going by what is happening in many states now. Nobody benefits from any crisis. Both the initiators of crisis and those who are the target of such crisis are all victims and if we are all victims, then nobody benefits. We are losing our youths and also losing a lot of resources. So, it is selfishness as I said, therefore the governments of the day at all levels should provide job opportunities. There must be massive employment and those people who amassed a lot of money which even their children will not need should spread the money to the common man. If people are economically engaged properly, they would not be used for destruction. Politicians should play politics according to the rules. What is happening in the state today is unacceptable. They should know that using other people’s children to commit atrocity is sinful, and all religion condemn such. There is also element of ethnicity because true religion does not say you should kill the other person so that you can be. People use religion to achieve their aims because religion is a very sensitive thing. I can never ask a Christian to attack anybody in any form because that is against the teaching of the Holy bible which says, ‘Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.’ There are a lot of factors but we should deemphasize the issue of ethnicity and religious thinking when it comes to appointments. Whoever qualifies to get anything, he should be allowed to get it. If the President is a Muslim, he will not be there for life and we thank God that the democratic set up is now working in Nigeria because getting democratic positions is by election. The wishes of the people should be respected. Whoever is appointed, we should join hands in praying. Nigeria is still together because we have many people, both Muslims and Christians who want this nation to move forward. We have many people of goodwill. The Muslims are praying, Christians are praying so that Nigeria will continue to be. So many have left, many people are still leaving Borno state; non-indigenes are leaving ; those who said they own the state are as well taking refuge in other states; everybody is leaving, crippling everything the state is once proud of; what is your advice to the people, the government and particularly the church in this regard? For Christians, persecution has been part of the history of the church. Jesus Christ told us that, ‘if they have persecuted me; they would also persecute you.’ So, it is not a new thing and it is the blood of the Martyrs that spread the gospel in the first century Christianity, therefore, my advice to the Christian community is that they should remain focused and should and hold on to the faith once delivered to the Saints. We should not lose our grounds but should continue to worship God in any situation. About those who are leaving; they have the right to leave for where they feel it is better for them. I want government also to do something urgently by ensuring indigenes that they are needed in the city, because eventually, if everybody leaves, there will be nobody to govern and Borno will become a failed state, which we say, may God forbid. If something happened to a non-indigene or an indigene, government should demonstrate a practical concern without regard to religion or tribe. For example, some houses were burnt and some churches that were burnt, some within the capital and others outside, but nothing has been done by the authorities about them. The authorities also need to practically show those who want to remain here that they are with them. My appeal also goes to those killing others. They should learn to safeguard lives and not to destroy it. Killing is not the best. We are all Nigerians whether Hausa, Kanuri, Yoruba or Igbo; whether Christian or Muslim; we are all human beings and should be regarded as such; we appeal to those who are aggrieved to come to dialogue with the authorities so that peace can return to Borno state. What do you think is responsible for the distrust between the Southerners and the Northerners and also between Muslims and Christians? The North was a different thing entirely as its administration was well organized through the traditional institutions and that was why the colonial masters adopted Indirect Rule. The West had their system of government and also the East. As such, it is very difficult to harness and bring people of different thinking together. Like the Kanem Borno Empire where Islam came the first time, the tradition and everything was Islamic and the people were peaceful, if not the recent challenge that we have, Islam came here before Sokoto, before Kano and others. And since I came here twenty-five years ago, it has been a thing of joy because I discovered that we have a lot of people who are peace loving. So that distrust has been (there) even before independence but since God has made it possible for us that we should be a nation, we should continue to learn how to live with one another. We should, in the spirit of one Nigeria, continue to appreciate one another. The Hausa man should be appreciated by the easterner and the easterner should be appreciated by the Hausa man. For instance, even the internal trade, there is nowhere Kola nut is grown in the north, which alone is something because where it is produced, they don’t even consume it. We produce a lot of things (in the north) like beans and cows and take them to the east, which is the greatness of our country. There are some countries that have less than one million people, which is less than the population of some local governments in Nigeria. So, these differences, with patience and genuine fear of God, we will gradually attain that greatness. We always appeal, especially to the political class to eschew violence. Even when we had coups and counter coups by the army, most of them were initiated by the civilians. They were sponsored by civilians because they did not want a particular person to be. If it is not me ‘a taru a lalace’ (let everything spoil), that has been the thing. There have been a lot of desperate politicians across the country, not only in one region, who go to the extent of eliminating others so that they can be. I think that is not good for the growth of this country. If you lose, you congratulate your opponent, pray for him and wish him well. The religious institutions should also continue to teach people the genuine fear of God and to teach the people not to adopt the method of violence in anything because anything violence is against God. We should be our brother’s keepers. Muslims are not the enemies of Christians and Christians’ are not enemies of Muslims. Even the traditional worshipers should be recognized.
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