Living Letters Team in Nigeria

A Living Letters team of the World Council of Churches (WCC) paid a solidarity visit to Nigeria from 15th to 20th May. The ecumenical team visited one of the most conflict-affected areas, in and around the city of Jos in the Central Plateau State, a region where several hundred people were killed in inter-ethnic clashes in recent months.
They also met heads of churches in the capital city Abuja, as well as leading Muslim personalities involved in peace and reconciliation efforts in the country.
Nigeria is the most populous and largest oil-producing country of Africa. Since its independence, the country has gone through a succession of military and civilian regimes marked by corruption, violence, and human rights abuses. In 1999, elections brought back a more stable government. Economically, Nigeria has remained a poor country, as the oil revenues only benefit the ruling minority. For many years, the WCC has supported the Ogoni people, indigenous to the oil-rich Niger Delta, in their struggle against the exploitation and environmental degradation caused by oil companies.
During the past years, Nigeria has been affected by ethnic and religious conflicts. Recent developments showed that social, economic, tribal and cultural causes were at the root of the tensions that erupted in various parts of the country. Poverty, corruption and mismanagement are the underlying factors that are fuelling conflicts, and sadly resulting in gross human rights violations.
Living Letters are small ecumenical teams visiting a country to listen, learn, and share approaches, and to help confront challenges in order to overcome violence and promote and pray for peace. They are organized in the context of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence as a preparation for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in 2011.

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