What we should learn from Nigeria

I do not condone violence, but have heard it said that violence is the language of the unheard. So, perhaps we should start listening to violence as a means of coming to peaceful solutions. By listening, I do not mean accepting and celebrating it, but simply finding out what it is saying-from whence it comes. For the past few weeks I have been thinking about the violence in Nigeria's delta region. I have listened to this violence in the context of finding a lesson of peace that African can learn. And I am beginning to see that Nigeria's children, like most of Africa, must learn to play well with others--they must share resources.

I know it would be an insult to simplify the violence in Nigeria, but still I believe there is a grain of truth in the statement that the a conflict stems from the unequal distribution of resources. Indeed, Nigeria, like many African countries, still suffers from the colonial mentality of appropriating resources from one region to another without regard to those people under whose feet, noses, and huts the resources are being plucked. And it is not Nigeria alone either. If you ask some Sierra Leoneans, they will tell you that the unequal distribution of resources was to the war like gas is to a burning flame. Congo will tell you the same story and so will many other African countries.

What boggles my mind is how governments never seem to learn from their neighbors as well as from history. Africa must and should revert to our traditional values of sharing and simply adopting the golden rule.

If there is anything we can learn from the most populous country, it is that Africa must find ways to manage her resources to benefit the maximum number of people, rather than a few. It is a disgrace that many Nigerians and Africans for that matter are thirsty in a sea of resources that could mend a lot of troubled hearts.