Nigeria sends army to control sectarian violence in Jos

Voice of America cites similar criticism from James Manager, a member of the Nigerian senate, who said that the government has failed to adopt the lessons learned from past violence. "Here is a country where commissions have been set up everyday about crises but no results arising from the implementation of those commissions," he said.

The Catholic News Agency writes that Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, the Archbishop of Jos, worried that careless media reports were inflaming the violence, which he argued was spurred less by religion than by the social, political, and ethnic problems facing Nigerians.

Criticizing the Nigerian government, he said the government fails to provide any form of social security. Many young people feel they have no future and there is no employment. Being frustrated, they often turn to violence and this violence is often exploited by political and religious leaders. ... The archbishop called on the government to make Nigeria “a better country,” to develop the potential of the people and to provide security for them.

According to [international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need], he also emphasized that the Church must continue to pursue dialogue with Islam, since it is an alternative to conflict. To increase social harmony among young people, he advocated projects in which young Christians and Muslims learn and work together.

The crisis in Jos is further complicated by the absence of Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has been in a Saudi Arabian hospital since late November. Mr. Yar'Adua did not name his vice president, Mr. Jonathan, as acting president when Yar'Adua left Nigeria for Saudi Arabia, which has hampered Jonathan's ability to keep the government operating. But Jonathan received backing last week from a Nigerian Federal High Court, Nigerian newspaper This Day reported, which ruled that he was allowed to exercise presidential authority in Yar'Adua's absence.

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