Chapter Seven
MAITATSINE
Maitatsine Riots,
The Maitatsine riots were a series of violent uprisings instigated by Islamist militants in northern Nigeria between 1980 and 1985 and represented northern Nigeria's first major wave of religiously-inspired violence. The riots prompted immense ethnoreligious discord between Muslims and Christians in years to come.
The Maitatsine movement was led by Muhammadu Marwa (d. 1980), a Cameroonian residing in Kano who opposed the Nigerian state (Maitatsine is a Hausa term for "He who damns," referring to Marwa). He referred to himself as a prophet—to the extent that one account reports that some of his followers referred to Marwa in lieu of the Prophet Muhammad as God's prophet—and a reformer (mujaddid), with reference to Usman Dan Fodio. He was also notable for his vociferous condemnation of Western culture, education, and technology, and Marwa was known to refer to anyone who sent their children to a state school as an "infidel," which is echoed in the contemporary Boko Haram movement.
Marwa's followers were young, poor men, particularly former seasonal laborers economically displaced by the oil boom as well as petty merchants and youths seeking an Islamic education in Kano. Prior to the oil boom the urban poor were regarded as worthy recipients of Islamic charity; against the backdrop of economic changes—which included inflation and the destruction of the petty mercantile economy—they were looked at as hooligans and thieves. Thus, the socially and economically marginalized were receptive to Marwa's anti-government message and exclusivist religious outlook.
The first riot broke out on December 18, 1980 in Kano and resulted in 4,000 deaths (including Marwa). Numerous other riots took place between 1980 and 1985, killing or injuring thousands of northern Muslims and Christians.
Mohammed Marwa (died 1980), best known by his nickname Maitatsine, was a controversial Muslim preacher in Nigeria. Maitatsine is a Hausa word meaning "the one who damns" and refers to his curse-laden public speeches against the Nigerian state. His militant followers were known as the Yan Tatsine.
He was originally from Marwa in northern Cameroon.
After his education, he moved to Kano, Nigeria in about 1945, where he became known for his controversial preachings on the Qur'an. Maitatsine spoke against the use of radios, watches, bicycles, cars and the possession of more money than necessary.
The British colonial authorities sent him into exile, but he returned to Kano shortly after independence. By 1972, he had a notable and increasingly militant following known as Yan Tatsine.
In 1975, he was again arrested by Nigerian police for slander and public abuse of political authorities
But in that period he began to receive acceptance from religious authorities, especially after making hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
As his following increased in the 1970s, so did the number of confrontations between his adherents and the police. His preaching attracted largely a following of youths, unemployed migrants, and those who felt that mainstream Muslim teachers were not doing enough for their communities.
By December 1980, continued Yan Tatsine attacks on other religious figures and police forced the Nigerian army to become involved. Subsequent armed clashes led to the deaths of around 5,000 people, including Maitatsine himself.
Maitatsine died shortly after sustaining injuries in the clashes either from his wounds or from a heart attack.
According to the history the Nigerian military cremated Maitatsine's remains, which now rest in a bottle kept at a police laboratory in Kano.
Despite Mohammed Marwa's death, Yan Tatsine riots continued into the early 1980s. In October 1982 riots erupted in Bulumkuttu, near Maidaguri, and in Kaduna, to where many Yan Tatsine adherents had moved after 1980. Over 3,000 people died. Some survivors of these altercations moved to Yola, and in early 1984 more violent uprisings occurred in that city.
In this round of rioting, Musa Makaniki, a close disciple of Maitatsine, emerged as a leader and Marwa's successor.
Ultimately, more than 1,000 people died in Yola and roughly half of the city's 60,000 inhabitants were left homeless. Makaniki fled to his hometown of Gombe,
where more Yan Tatsine riots occurred in April 1985. After the deaths of several hundred people Makaniki retreated to Cameroon, where he remained until 2004 when he was arrested in Nigeria.
Some analysts view the terrorist group Boko Haram as an extension of the Maitatsine riots.
This is why we as African countries should go back to our old ways
WHAT WAYS I MEAN?
When I was a kid my Grandma told me there was no way a stranger will come to a community and the people there will not noticed it because when you enter a community it's either you look for the Village head, district head or the king's palace or the person you visit will take you there introduce you to the head of such community and to know how long you gonna stay there and also know the reason for the visit
and reasons for this is that should anything happens it will be very easy to trace.
Look at the way a Cameroonian or someone from another country will go try to destroy a country in the name of religion.
In the name of civilization we are just killing our innocent Brothers and Sisters
my advice is we should use that same method people were using before because there was peace then compare to present day now
You can't just go to Europe without following the due process
but in Africa everyone goes to where they wished to
I bet if anyone will visit any of African countries border's you will know that there is no security garantee in any African countries.
I pray for peace in Africa
I pray for peace in the whole world
I pray for peace in Nigeria
God bless Africa
One love
#Vincent