a (brief) history of violence

There are many things wrong with our nation but none as imperative to the moment as the issue of violence. Violence has recently taken lives in Abuja, Jos and Maiduguri. It has been elevated into the national psyche by the ‘innovation’ of concealed bombs and drive-by shootings on a consistent level. These are the most common and recent symptoms but they are not the only pointers to the disease that threatens our community. We have all heard the tales of fathers killed, mothers threatened, sisters raped and brothers left with the unholy taste for vengeance in their mouths. The reality of these sad events creates a cycle of violence that can only assure the end of our society if carried through to its illogical conclusion.
Now, not later, is the time to address the question of violence in our society. We must provide answers to why it goes on untouched, sinking deeper and deeper into the mire of our experience, claiming more and more lives, stifling democracy, dashing hopes, creating fear and futility against the noble idea that a human life, any human life is sacred. For if we take value from any life we take from all and when we take it for granted when anyone is killed we may become accomplices to our own imminent murder.

How do we address this as individuals? For the role of the state is clear and I am sure commentator after commentator over the coming days and weeks will speak of how the government is failing and the political class is a mess. I am more concerned, here, in what the individual can and must do in reaction to such violence, especially that individual of the faith. When I speak to my friends on the issue of violence they usually, in the heat of the debate, quote from to bible and say, in effect: “the state does not hold the sword for nothing but as an instrument of God to administer justice upon the earth.” It is a fine quote from the New Testament. It seems to suggest that the state wield force for the sake of doing what is just and protecting that which is sacred. But what do you do when the state itself is unjust or incompetent? Could this verse apply to those in Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Russia or Mugabe’s Zimbabwe? What do we do in the face of a state that yields the sword for its own end?
Of course the scripture still applies because the apostle was talking to Christians under the imperial rule of Rome. Yet I think it is an ignorant and dangerous thing to isolate the reaction to violence to this singular verse which was spoken as a guide for Christians to follow the law of the land. In reaction to violence we have rich store of quotes: “blessed are the peacemakers…” “…and the lion shall lie down with the lamb.” “…shall study war no more.” “Love your enemies.” “We wrestle not against flesh or blood...”

If the earlier scripture seems to tell the state to be violent for justice sake the latter verses seem to tell the individual to be pacifist for holiness sake. In fact Christ was a victim of gross violence and he said: “those who live by the sword die by the sword.”
When I hear of violence across Nigeria and the world it scares me. I think of the people that I love and where they live. It is then I desire private militias and a storehouse of weapons for “protection.” I think of an eye for an eye modified to be a hand to my face so you cannot reach my eye.

I am not a pure pacifist but I believe that when violence becomes an option for the individual cooler heads will not prevail. I am afraid that when we claim it as permissible it will become necessary. I am convinced that all it will do is escalate the situation to the point where every home is a fortress and every street is a war zone. Violence is not the answer to violence.
For Nigeria to survive we must build a community of peace and justice. Peace ensures that violence is never a viable option; justice ensures that evil is always challenged and defeated. The church must be a leader toward the light of peace and justice in our society. We must never hate, never use violence as retaliation, and never reduce the battle between good and evil to one between religions. There are mad men of every faith.

The state must protect its citizens, sometimes with force, but the citizen must never take the role of the state in doing so. It is hard and many are hurting but if we are ruled by hate and revenge the history of violence will always be present and never past. We fight for democracy, for credible elections, for forthright leaders so we can transform our fractured state into a community of peace and justice. We do not fight in vain and if we are vigilant and endure through the dark night of doubt we will wake up to a morning where the violence we have so feared is a passing dream, part of a regrettable piece of history.