Since religious unrest raged in the central Nigerian city of Jos two decades ago, Muslim and Christian residents have largely been segregated. But the cost-of-living crisis that has gripped Nigeria over the past year has blurred those lines.
“If there is hunger in the country, the hunger of Christians is no different from the hunger of Muslims,” notes democracy activist Tony Young Godswill.
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The recent anti-government protests have united Nigerians across religious and ethnic lines. The challenge now is to maintain this solidarity.
When nationwide anti-government protests began in early August, Jos residents from all walks of life took to the streets.
“We have come together here as Nigerians,” not as Christians or Muslims, said Isa El-Buba, a popular pastor who led the protests. “This shows that the spirit of a new Nigeria has emerged.”
Although the protest movement fizzled out after just a few days, observers say the solidarity it has forged across religious, ethnic and political divides in places like Jos may outlast the demonstrations themselves. A shared distrust of the government – whether in Nigeria, Bangladesh or Venezuela, which have also recently seen anti-government protests among broad sections of the population – is also a fragile form of unity.
Whether this will translate into longer-lasting political and social solidarity remains to be seen.
Since religious unrest broke out in the Nigerian city of Jos two decades ago, Muslim and Christian residents have largely lived separately from one another. They have their own neighborhoods and vote for different political parties.
But the cost of living crisis that has gripped Nigeria over the past year has blurred some of those lines. “If there is hunger in the country, the hunger of Christians is no different from that of Muslims,” notes Tony Young Godswill, national secretary of the Initiative for a Better and Brighter Nigeria, a pro-democracy group.
When nationwide anti-government protests broke out in early August, hungry, angry Josians from all walks of life poured into the streets. And the momentum of the demonstrations soon overcame old fault lines. As Muslim protesters knelt to pray on a busy road one Friday afternoon, hundreds of Christian demonstrators spontaneously formed a tight, protective circle around them.
Why we wrote this
A story about
The recent anti-government protests have united Nigerians across religious and ethnic lines. The challenge now is to maintain this solidarity.
“I saw things I never thought I would see in Jos,” says Isa El-Buba, a popular pastor who led the protests. “These young people spoke with one voice.”
Although the protest movement fizzled out after just a few days, observers say the solidarity it has forged across religious, ethnic and political divides in places like Jos has the potential to outlast the demonstrations themselves. A shared distrust of the government – whether in Nigeria, Bangladesh or Venezuela, which have also recently seen anti-government protests among broad sections of the population – is also a fragile form of unity.
“The widespread sense of injustice could be quite explosive,” says Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a professor of international human rights law at Tufts University and former chair of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission.
Wonderful Durowaiye/Reuters
Crisis, hashtag, protest
Nigeria’s protests began in response to soaring food and transport costs over the past year and a half, more than doubling in some cases. According to the World Bank, this situation has contributed to over 10 million more Nigerians being pushed into poverty. Protesters blame President Bola Tinubu’s economic stabilization policies, which include the removal of high subsidies on gasoline and the devaluation of the Nigerian naira.
His government has asked Nigerians to be patient during the teething problems of these economic reforms. At the same time, however, Mr Tinubu’s government has written huge cheques for a new presidential yacht, new SUVs for MPs and a new vice-presidential residence. It has also increased the number of ministers by 11, which has attracted much attention.
“I am very angry when I see how I and the masses who voted for this government are suffering,” said Buhari Shehu, a lawyer who took part in the protests in Jos. He says prices are so unstable that you “can’t even predict” what you will be able to afford the next time you go to the supermarket. “You go to the market and find that prices have shot up and the money you have is not enough,” he said.
Inspired by the success of the anti-tax protests in Kenya, Nigerians began mobilizing on social platform X and other social media sites in July under the hashtag #EndBadGovernance.
They called for a 10-day national protest demanding the reinstatement of fuel subsidies and a reduction in government spending. In response, Mr Tinubu announced that he would more than double the country’s minimum wage to 70,000 naira a month, or about $60.
But that was not enough. On August 1, mass demonstrations took place in over two dozen cities in Nigeria.
As in Jos, protesters in several cities also united across typical fault lines. In politically and religiously polarized states such as Kaduna, Lagos and Osun, Christian protesters also stood guard while their Muslim counterparts performed their Friday prayers.
In the capital Abuja, Ibrahim Abdullahi was among those marching and chanting: “No food! No security! No good life in our country!” As a Muslim, he said he once thought it was inappropriate to protest against a fellow Muslim like Mr Tinubu. Now he held up a placard that read: “We pity Tinubu.”
The police’s harsh approach brought the protesters together. Across the country, security forces fired tear gas and, in some cases, live ammunition into the crowds. According to Amnesty International, at least 22 people died in the demonstrations.
On Sunday, August 4, the president made a televised address defending the state’s response and saying it was his responsibility to “ensure public order.”
“Our government will not stand idly by and allow a few with a clear political agenda to tear the country apart,” he said.
An uncertain future
The rigorous action of the police and the night-time curfews imposed in many states have dampened the momentum of the demonstrations.
Over the course of the planned ten-day protests, the number of participants decreased. On the last day, Saturday, August 10, only a few dozen people were still on the streets in the major cities.
However, experts and some participants believe that the current moment could still be a crucial turning point in Nigerian politics.
The demonstrations “show a very angry youth united by hunger and food insecurity,” says human rights expert Dr. Odinkalu. “Finding the money to address these problems will be key.” Otherwise, he argues, the country is “well-equipped” for more protests in the coming years.
In cities like Jos, protesters have already announced that they will take to the streets again once the curfew is lifted if their demands are not met. And their unity remains unbroken.
On the Sunday after the protests began, hundreds of Muslim demonstrators formed their own protective circle around a church service organized at the protest site in Jos.
The solidarity shown by Christians in the first days of the protests “gave us a sense of encouragement and unity,” said Sheikh Suleiman Khalid, a Muslim cleric, in an interview on local television. “When you see someone, you should know that they are a human being first before they practice their religion. If you have this compassion in your heart, everything will work out well.”
Mr. El-Buba, the leader of the Christian protests, agreed.
“We are gathered here as Nigerians,” he said in the same news segment. “This shows that the spirit of a new Nigeria has emerged.”
