Religion, security and politics in northern Nigeria : a public intellectual reading of Ahmed Yerima's Pari

Abstract

Nigeria boasts of some of the world's biggest worship centres, as the vast majority of its population attend religious services and pray regularly. However, this nation remains one of the most religiously divisive nations across the world. Critical and literary studies have shown the role of religion in the creation and aggravation of conflict in this nation. This article analyses the ways in which Ahmed Yerima's play, Pari (2016), examines this burning subject of religious violence in Nigeria, and most specifically, northern Nigeria. Classifying this contemporary playwright as an active public intellectual, this article engages in a close reading of how the play speaks to the controversial subject of religion. The latter part of the article explores Pari's handling of the subject of conflict resolution, positing that confession, remorse, and forgiveness are important requirements if lasting peace is to be restored after any crisis. These subjects are constructed around the 2014 abduction of the 275 Chibok schoolgirls in northeastern Nigeria by the Islamic terror group, Boko Haram.