Keeping an eye on the Saudi & Iran row
Nigeria must watch the new frontier of conflict which is developing between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran with keen interest and grave concern. These influential and powerful Muslim countries in the perennially conflict-riddled Middle East took their simmering animosities to active mode when Saudi Arabia executed radical Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, 2nd January 2016.
Iran, which had warned of “grave consequences” ahead of the executions, apparently made good its threat by condoning the burning of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran by angry protesters, as the law enforcement agents did little to stop them. An angry Saudi government immediately severed diplomatic ties with Iran. Several Sunni-majority countries in the region also followed suit, and the age-old cold war that had existed between the Sunnis and Shiites in the Muslim world was re-ignited across the globe.
Saudi Arabia and Iran had been engaged in a number of proxy wars even before the executions. For instance, Iran had been actively supporting the Bashar Al Assad regime in Syria, the Houthi Shiite rebels in Yemen as well as a number of radical Islamist groups all over the Middle East. Conversely, the Saudis have openly demonstrated their commitment to the downfall of Assad, whose family belongs to the Shiite tradition, as part of their overall strategic efforts to curb the growth of Iranian influence in the Middle East and the Islamic world in general.
Nigeria has every reason to be wary of these developments because back here, the influence of these Islamic giants cannot be ignored. The historic animosity between the Shiites and the Sunnis, especially in Northern Nigeria, blew into the open recently when the Nigerian Army embarked on a scorched-earth devastation of the Shiites in Zaria led by Sheikh Yacoub El Zakzaky, whose members had blocked a federal highway and refused all entreaties to give way to the Army Chief, Lt General Tukur Buratai’s convoy.
The sacking of the Shiite commune and arrest of the leader, El Zakzaky, prompted a stern warning from Iran. With the Sunnis and Shiites in Nigeria already at daggers-drawn over this unfortunate incident, the fear is that a major spark in the belligerent postures between Iran and Saudi Arabia could easily reverberate here in Nigeria, with unpleasant consequences to our peaceful coexistence.
The Federal Government must, therefore, handle fallout of the Army-Shiite clash with maturity. They must avoid alienating any group and thus predisposing them to be used as tools in the hands of foreign instigators.
The peace and stability of Nigeria is more important than the secta-rian pursuits of foreign powers, and Nigerians must remain mindful of this at all times.