Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-22-Speech-4-277"
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"en.20040422.11.4-277"2
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".
Mr President, the Commission shares the concern at conflicts between communities in Nigeria and condemns all attacks and violence, whether apparently ethnic, religious or social, etc. in origin.
We have adapted to the special realities of Nigeria, where the states play a powerful role, and in fact the bulk of our work relating to water and sanitation is being done in six of the 36 states that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We have chosen the six states not on the basis of where it is easiest to work, but where need is greatest. Although, in so doing, we are inviting problems, this is the most meaningful way of working on matters that relate to the core of the problems underlying what we are discussing here this afternoon.
We share this House's call for the Federal Government to do everything in its power to protect its citizens, put an end to violence and promote respect of human rights, including of course freedom of religion. We hope that Parliament's adoption of a resolution which is balanced on this issue will be seen as meaningful encouragement along these lines.
We caution against a simplistic analysis of the situation which focuses on just one area or religious group. The violence is often related to conflicts over access to resources or triggered by political tensions. In the case of Plateau State, the causes of violence are related to both these reasons and the perpetrators have come from both sides of the community. It is factually wrong to describe this as something driven only by Islamic fundamentalists.
For information, I would add that Plateau State is not a state which applies Sharia law, and it is not likely to because it has an overwhelming Christian majority composed of groups of indigenous people and settlers. In very many
cases, there is a sort of social clash between incomer settler groups and the original inhabitants – a version of a conflict that we see in very many
other places. The problem with understanding Nigeria is that there are several layers of problems, and each layer is normally enough to create a conflict. Therefore this complex situation is something we really have to respect in order to do something useful.
For the second time this afternoon I have to say that I agree with Mr Posselt's contribution. We have similar views on this situation. His reference to Yugoslavia is also very important because there we have assisted in a so-called solution which is contrary to what we, for very good reasons, find necessary for Africa, namely to avoid changing the geography. Even though we gave them nonsensical borders, Europe and others rightly agree with Africa itself that, as long as Africa does not want to change the borders, we definitely should not advise it to do that, even if it is difficult.
Conflicts between communities in Nigeria have been evident for some time and we have been following the situation as part of the early warning system for conflict which the Commission is setting up. The Commission has also adapted its cooperation programme to reflect that situation. Support for human rights in Nigeria is a significant component of our cooperation strategy for the country. Nigeria was also selected as a focal country for the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights to respond to precisely the sort of concerns raised by Parliament.
Three projects were approved last year, including one with a Nigerian NGO working in Plateau State and Kaduna State to promote peace between Muslims and Christians. The project also covers improving the drafting and application of Sharia law in conformity with the guarantees of religious freedom provided in the Nigerian constitution as well as respect for the international conventions providing protection for human rights which the country has signed.
In other words, reasonable co-existence between Sharia law and the constitution of Nigeria is an option. This is what the country is trying to organise. I mention this simply by way of a warning that we must not move blindly in one direction without really reflecting on the complexities involved.
As I have already said, other conflicts relating to religious differences are very important and we should be careful not to overlook or marginalise these other aspects. If we fail to understand this, we will not be of much use in a dialogue aimed at stopping the conflicts. Social, economic and ethnic problems – all these other layers of problems I have mentioned – have to be given a proper place in the analysis.
At federal level the Commission is working with Member States to strengthen political dialogue with Nigeria. This dialogue is one of the instruments provided by the Cotonou Agreement and the Federal Government is participating actively in that dialogue."@en1
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