Nigeria: A Modern Day ‘Good Samaritan’ story

By Idrees Ali

Lying injured and stranded on the side of the road, young priest Charles Kwuelum’s efforts to calm tensions between Christians and Muslims materialized in the form of an elderly Muslim man…

Charles, who grew up in the northern part of Nigeria, became a priest in 2004, sparking his passion for peacebuilding. As a priest, he had the opportunity to travel all over the country and help those in need.

“I found my way combining my local peacebuilding work with my pastoral work,” he said.

While traveling throughout Nigeria, he realized that one of the biggest issue in the country was inter-religious tensions, mainly between Muslims and Christians. Nigeria is a country of almost a 170 million, made up of 50 percent Muslims and 40 percent Christians.

Charles faced an uphill challenge: how could he bring together communities that were divided on religious grounds? It wasn’t uncommon for an invisible line to separate communities of Muslims and Christians. Different groups didn’t wander into each other’s territories or even trade with each other.

Like peacebuilders around the world, Charles used sports to bring together the community. He gathered the community’s children, irrespective of their religion, and provided them with footballs, volleyballs, and a place to play.

It was only a matter of time before they were playing together and the community elders warmed to each other. Charles mediated between Muslims and Christians to help them resolve their issues.

Charles started to see the difference, but he had no idea that the collaboration would end up saving his life.

One night on his way home, his car’s tire burst, flipping the car over several times. When the car finally came to the stop, Charles was pinned inside. In the middle of nowhere, Charles was injured, alone, and had no way to call for help.

Meanwhile, an elderly Muslim man cycled home after a long day’s work. He sold meat in the square and came to know the Christian community through Charles’ work. Charles was the only person in the community with a car, so when the man came upon the scene, he immediately recognized that Charles was in trouble.

Urgently, the old man pried open the door and pulled Charles out of the car. Realizing that he couldn’t help Charles alone, he rushed back to the village, crossed the invisible line into the Christian community, and brought others to help Charles.

“For this person to have rendered assistance and gone back to communicate with my community meant there was a breakthrough…It would’ve been unlikely before,” Charles explained.

The interreligious tension Charles faces as a peacebuilder is also one of the greatest threats to Nigerians as they go to the polls next year. Recently, Nigeria has seen a spike in violence with over 1,000 people killed during the election period in 2011. Poor education, religious tensions, unemployment, alienation of youth, and terrorism are just some of the challenges peacebuilders face leading up to the 2015 elections.

These challenges made Charles realize his future is in peacebuilding. He founded the Solid Life Foundation, an  NGO that empowers orphans and widows through workshops and training.

To further his aim of peacebuilding, Charles is currently a fellow at Search for Common Ground and has completed a Master’s of International Relations from Ahmadu Bello University, providing skills he hopes will allow him to work as a peacebuilder throughout the world.

So what does the future hold for Charles?

He says that he is willing to go wherever peacebuilding is needed.

“I have the heart to work beyond borders and as a peacebuilder. Every context and issue must be looked at.”

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Idrees Ali is currently the New Media Intern at Search for Common Ground, pursuing  a Masters in journalism with a focus on international at Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland College Park.