The violence, it’s the economy

On the Admiralty Way killing, imagine sitting in your house, and your child goes out, then you hear that he has been killed because of N100 ($0.17)?

That is what Nigeria has become, and if we are to be honest, it is what Nigeria has always been. Lynching is not a new thing in Nigeria, so the Deborah Yakubu and David Imoh tragedies should surprise no one.

What were the Aluu 4 killed for 10 years ago?

What was that young boy lynched for at Stadium Bus Stop in Surulere back in 2004 (does anyone still remember that?)

In general terms, the differences between the nature of violence in Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria are that in the North of the country, lynching happens a lot more often, and is typically for religious reasons; while in the South, when it happens, it is typically for economic reasons, usually someone accused of theft. The murder of David Imoh brings these two threads together.

The rapid violence of the North, with the economic violence of the South. We have been used to it for a very long time in all parts of the country, I think what has now changed is the ubiquity that the mobile phone brings these things to people’s doorsteps, and, like the way a mobile phone livestreamed the Lekki Massacre into our living rooms, makes us confront the stark reality of what our country is – a Hobbesian state.

Speaking of Hobbesian states, we cannot deny the ethnic element to these tragedies as seen by the attacks on Igbo-owned businesses in Sokoto over the weekend for an incident that no Igbo person was involved in.

This ethnic dimension has also showed up in the fact that many commentators have seized on the identity of Daniel’s killers as Hausa motorcycle riders to call for a deportation of (lower-class) Hausas from Lagos. It is true that other ethnicities (especially Southern minorities) have also been victims of repeated religious violence in Northern Nigeria, but it is also true that Igbos are the biggest victims.

It is true that Daniel Imoh’s killers were Hausa speakers, but it is also true that other perpetrators of mob violence in Southern Nigeria have been locals. For example, on the day after Deborah Yakubu was killed, in Auchi, Edo State, a mob set a robbery suspect on fire. He died on the spot. The killers were local Etsako speakers. Essentially, all of these things can be true at the same time, in much the same way as we can walk and chew gum at the same time.

What we need, at least those of us who know where our next meal is coming from, is to ask ourselves why. For me, the answers are economic.

The Igbos have always been the go-to victims of Nigeria’s ethnic violence for the simple fact that we are everywhere. I always tell about how I have been to every state in Nigeria (except Taraba), and I have spoken the Igbo language with someone who is resident in the place I’m visiting. Historically, the Igbos have moved because of geographical reasons. The same is happening to the Hausas now, but they are moving largely because of economic reasons, and as a result will take roles that are at the lower rungs of society. That ubiquity will stand them out and make them targets.

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Sadly, many of those moving have been – a) socialised by the random violence in the North to see mob justice as normal, and b) have no trust in the legal system in any event, and so are likely to resort to mob justice at the drop of a hat, reinforcing the belief that they are a violent mob, and thus the cycle continues.

The rise of Hausa speakers in Southern Nigeria is not an invasion as I have seen many Southerners claim, it is simple economics. Nigeria has failed them, so they are doing what people will do in order to put food on the tables of their families, they are moving to areas of more opportunity.

Many people from Southern Nigeria, move for better opportunities outside the country. Much the same, when we move, for the most part, like the Hausas in Nigeria, start at the bottom of the rung in the new places, and face discrimination. Where the difference comes is in the ease of resort to violence.

Of course, the other thing (which is dark) that people do will haunt them, as it has haunted Igbos, which is that when things go wrong, they become easy to point the finger at. It is the sad nature of humanity (think of the historical pogroms against the Jews, they always happened during times of economic downturn), and the mitigating factors are economic.

If Nigeria’s economy was creating enough jobs to get these people busy, we’d see less crisis. It is not an accident that Nigeria is becoming more hateful as the economic outcomes are deteriorating. It’s the economy.

Nwanze is a partner at SBM Intelligence