Election unease in central Nigeria

Saturday's vote was split along ethnic and religious lines

Voting was relatively peaceful across most of central Nigeria on Saturday, but a history of ethnic and religious clashes means tension is high ahead of the presidential poll, reports the BBC News website's Senan Murray.

Wild street celebrations greeted the announcement of Jonah Jang of the governing People's Democratic Party (PDP) as the new governor of Nigeria's central Plateau State.

But not everyone in the state capital, Jos, is happy.

"Should anyone attempt to celebrate here in this part of town, there will be trouble," says Abdullahi Musa Idris in Dilimi, a poor Muslim area in the heart of Jos.

And true to Mr Idris's claims, no-one is celebrating in the Muslim-dominated Bauchi Road area either.

"We cannot celebrate because Mr Jang was not our choice," Lawal Musa, a local Muslim politician in the area told the BBC News website.

"Mr Jang's win is the Muslims' loss because we know that in the years ahead, Muslims will be excluded from the scheme of things in Plateau State."

The voting in last Saturday's governorship and local legislative elections in Plateau was done along ethnic and religious lines.

"Muslims were told in the mosque this morning to vote for the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) governorship candidate because he had chosen a Muslim as deputy," Lado Musa, 26, said in Gangare, another Muslim neighbourhood that had seen violent religious clashes in the recent past.

Indigenes

Muslims who make up the so-called non-indigenes in Plateau complain about being excluded from the state government.

And for them, this is the most important issue in the elections.

"Look, there are more Muslims in Gombe than there are Christians, yet the deputy governor of Gombe is a Christian. That's the sort of thing we want to see in Plateau," Mr Musa says.

"But with Mr Jang, there is no chance of that happening because his deputy is also a Christian like himself."

The question of who is an indigene and who is not is still a key issue in the politics of Plateau State where about 1,000 people have been killed in ethnic and religious clashes between Christian "natives" and the Muslim "settlers".

"How long do I have to be in Plateau to be accepted as a bona fide indigene?" asks Murtala Mohammed, a Hausa trader in Yan Kaji area of Jos.

"My grandfather, not even my father, was born in Plateau. Today, as a Muslim, I still haven't been accepted as a Plateau man just for being a Hausa and a Muslim."

Although voting was peaceful in Plateau State, analysts warn that the root causes of religious and ethnic clashes are still there.

"The fact that we did not see any violence during last Saturday's voting does not necessarily mean that it won't happen again, says human rights lawyer Nankin Bagudu.

"It'll be foolish to completely rule that out because the same issues that have always led to violence are still present today. I think it depends on the way they are managed. But the possibility is always there."

Elsewhere

It was not as peaceful in the neighbouring Nasarawa State, another central state that has seen ethnic clashes, with hundreds dead in 2001 and 2002.

Access to basic services remains key for most Nigerians

Some people protesting against alleged manipulation of the poll result in Nasarawa torched the palace of a local chief leaving six people reportedly dead.

Further south in central Benue State, 13 people were also killed in clashes between rival political supporters.

Benue is infamous for the Tiv-Jukun conflict that led to the death of over 100 people in 2001.

In Kogi, another central state, some 15 people were killed during Saturday's voting. Kogi has also seen many cases of ethnic clashes in the recent past.

Neighbouring Kwara is the only state in Nigeria's central region that did not witness any killings in Saturday's voting. Kwara also rarely experiences ethnic and religious clashes.

Mr Bagudu thinks the situation in the central region is not likely to change much when Nigerians return to polls next Saturday to choose their president.

In the capital city, Abuja, people seem more interested in who becomes the city's minister, the equivalent of a governor.

And since the minister is usually handpicked by the president, voters will be relying on the president to choose the kind of minister they want.

The city's current Minister Nasir el-Rufai has carried out major slum clearances that saw the demolition of "illegal structures", which included churches and mosques.

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