Fundamentalisms, Security Crisis and Tolerance in Global Context: The Nigerian Experience*

Abstract

In recent times, the resurgence of critical security questions has gained prominence in global tabloid, consciousness and discourse. From Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen to Syria; the Nigerian experiences of the Golden Jubilee Independence bombing, for which MEND claimed responsibility, the Boko Haram incendiary that has gravitated into suicide bombing, among others are extant. The causes of these ‘security crises’ can be traced squarely to fundamentalisms: religious fundamentalism or religious nationalism; hegemonic fundamentalism, capitalist fundamentalism, ethnic fundamentalism, existential fundamentalism, ethical fundamentalism, etc. These explain the deepening and proliferation of conflicts in countries around the globe. The response to this state of affairs has been ‘sermon’ on tolerance in the face of aggressive terror. Tolerance may not have been properly conceptualized. The thrust of this paper, therefore, is to stimulate interest in the conceptualization of these terms so that their understanding would pave the way for long lasting solutions. In so doing, the paper will employ historical and philosophical approaches to situate the arguments.

Boko Haram Religious Fundamentalism and Western Education in North-East Nigeria

“…These retrieved 'fundamentals' are refined, modified, and sanctioned in a spirit of shrewd pragmatism: they are to serve as a bulwark against the encroachment of outsiders, who threaten to draw the believers into a syncretistic, a religious or irreligious cultural milieu ... (p. 835). Igboin (2012a) posits that fundamentalism has transmuted from purely religious conceptualization to encapsulate political, social, economic strands such that it will be difficult to delineate its contents in one piece. However, from the prism of religion, it has come to be closely associated with fanaticism, traditionalism and conservatism.…”

“…In Africa, conflicts between Christian and Islamic civilizations can be traced to the rapid spread of Islamic religio-economic principles and military conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries in North Africa and Southern Europe, the Crusade's response, the institution of the Ottoman (Muslim) empire and the triumph of European (Christian) imperialism since the 15th century. It seems this ferment is being brewed elsewhere, especially in Nigeria, where political fundamentalism in the disguise of religious fundamentalism is taking place (Ozzano, 2009;Igboin, 2012a;Atoi, 2016;Atoi, 2018). Ali (2002) contends that religious fundamentalism has serious relationship with capitalist fundamentalism.…”