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Boer believes that he tried to present descriptions that were representative of the “facts” seen through the lenses of the two religions. (Her promise to him is that the second and third volumes will examine Muslim and Christian analyzes of the riots.) In the first chapter, the introduction, he identifies two major problems facing Christian spirituality in Nigeria. The first is the corruption that has penetrated all levels of society. The writer blames both Christians and Muslims. The second, Christian-Muslim relations, is the subject of the book. If corruption has demonized Nigeria, Boer argues that Christian-Muslim relations have plagued it. The essence of his message to Christians and Muslims is, respectively, holism and pluralism. Christians must repent of their flirtations with the language and concepts of secularism in an environment shared with Muslims and move away from it by developing a more comprehensive worldview. Muslims, on the other hand, need to update their sense of pluralism. Nigeria is now marked by a pluralistic situation that no longer allows the dominance of one religion over the entire people. Conversions of both traditional religions to Islam and Christianity have produced a Christian community that is at least numerically equal to that of Islam. Such a situation calls for new interreligious relations. Both religions have to affect attitude changes towards each other. They need to move from hostility to respect.

Boer discusses the Kuyperian perspective, often referred to as Neo-Calvinism/Kuyperianism. Kuyper’s form of pluralism would allow for the unfettered development of all worldviews on their own terms and not necessarily defined by secularism. Boer presents Kuyperiamism to Christians and Muslims as a legitimate interpretation of the Christian gospel that should, at the same time, make life and work easier for Muslims. He would allow Christians to remove the red flag of secularism that they are constantly waving in the face of Islam that evokes such passion in the hearts of Muslims. The second chapter is a discussion of the long series of religious disturbances and related activities that have plagued the nation. Boer notes that the Constituent Assembly debate on sharia in 1977 led to a long series of riots that began in the early 1980s and are a reality today. He cites a government source listing more than thirty major violent riots. In his analysis of these riots, Boers notes that they had a number of different motives. Muslims started the majority, while Christians sometimes started later riots. Others were intra-Muslim affairs, while some were initially directed against the government and eventually veered towards Christians. Riots studied include Maitatsine Series (1980, 1982, 1984 and 1985), Kano Series (1982, 1991, 1995), Kaduna Series (1987, 1992, 2000), Katsina (1991), Bauchi Series (1991, 1994 , 2000 and later), Potiskum (1994), Plateau Series (1994, 2001 and later), and Borno-Maidurguri (1998).

Six very important documents are included in the appendices that provide supporting evidence for some of the statements made about the unrest between Christians and Muslims. The titles of these documents are suggestive: The Violent Politics of Religion and Nigerian Survival: Ahmadu Bello University Professors Press Statement 1987 (Appendix 1), Submission to the Kaduna State Commission on the Investigation of the Recent Riots in Kaduna State, Chief Daniel Gowon 1987 (Appendix 2), Death and Destruction at the Baptist Seminary, Kaduna in 2000, Yusuf Gwadah (Appendix 3), The Kaduna Killing Camps?, Bala Abdullahi and Kayode Kolade 2000 (Appendix 4), Escalation of Anger, Onimissi Alao 2000 (Appendix 5) and Avoidable Carnage in Kaduna, Umar Sanda 2000 (Appendix 6). The subject index in this first volume makes it relatively easy for one to track down important topics and the footnotes and eventual bibliography attest to the number of sources consulted that give the work the credibility it deserves. Boer admitted that he did not tell everything, but the evidence presented is enough to get an idea of ​​the situation. Boer agrees that several accounts are incredible, and he’s not surprised if someone sees him that way. Seeing the ruined city of Kaduna, he quotes President Obasango as saying, “I couldn’t believe Nigerians were capable of such barbarism against each other” (p. 78).

REFLECTION

It should be stressed that Boer’s intention in this text is not to discredit Christianity and Islam, but to steer these two religions into positive channels for nation-building. Few Christians will echo Boer’s statement that he is a Christian with great respect for Islam. This is an example that all Christians should emulate. Christians and Muslims in Nigeria must respect each other. Boer suspects there is a great risk that Nigerians will tire of religious unrest and return to a sanitized form of traditional religion or an African version of secularism. Every Christian should read this text and note that Christians in Western nations are now fighting against the very secularism that they produced through their internal struggles.