Medicine for Uncertain Futures: a Nigerian City in the Wake of a Crisis

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Medicine for Uncertain Futures: a Nigerian City in the Wake of a Crisis Medicine for Uncertain Futures ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Uppsala Studies in Cultural Anthropology no 50 Ulrika Andersson Trovalla Medicine for Uncertain Futures A Nigerian City in the Wake of a Crisis Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Geijersalen, Thun- bergsvägen 3H, Uppsala, Friday, May 20, 2011 at 10:15 for the degree of Doctor of Phi- losophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Abstract Andersson Trovalla, U. 2011. Medicine for Uncertain Futures. A Nigerian City in the Wake of a Crisis. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Uppsala Studies in Cultural Anthropology 50. 214 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-554-8054-7. The Nigerian city of Jos used to be seen as a peaceful place, but in 2001 it was struck by clashes that arose from what was largely understood as issues of ethnic and religious belong- ing. The event, which would become known as ‘the crisis’, was experienced as a rupture and a loss of what the city had once been, and as the starting point of a spiral of violence that has continued up to today. With the crisis, Jos changed. Former friends became enemies, and places that had been felt to be safe no longer were so. Previous truths were thrown into confusion, and Jos’s inhabitants found themselves more and more having to manoeuvre in an unstable world coloured by fear and anger. Life in Jos became increasingly hard to pre- dict, and people searched for different ways forward, constantly trying out new interpreta- tions of the world. This book, which is inspired by pragmatism, analyses the processes that were shaping the emergent city of Jos and its inhabitants in the aftermath of the crisis. At its core are some of Jos’s practitioners of traditional medicine. As healers, diviners, and provid- ers of spells to protect from enemies or solve conflicts, they had special skills to influence futures that were becoming more and more unpredictable. Still, the medical practitioners were as vulnerable to the changing circumstances as everyone else. Their everyday lives and struggles to find their footing and ways forward under the changing circumstances are used as a point of departure to explore larger wholes: life during times characterised by feelings of uncertainty, fragmentation, fear, and conflict – in Jos as a city and Nigeria as a nation. Ulrika Andersson Trovalla, Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Cultural An- thropology, Box 631, Uppsala University, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden. © Ulrika Andersson Trovalla 2011 ISSN 0348-5099 ISBN 978-91-554-8054-7 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-150647 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-150647) Cover photo: ‘A union meeting’, by Ulrika Andersson Trovalla. Printed in Sweden by Edita Västra Aros, Västerås 2011 Contents Acknowledgements 7 1. Matters of ‘Coincidence’ 11 2. A Home of Peace 29 3. Competing Prayers 43 4. Poisonous Movements 79 5. The Court System as Counter-Medicine 111 6. To be Part of a Place 133 7. Making Things Real 147 8. Wishful Doing 167 9. ‘The End of the End Time’ 185 Short Biographies of Selected Informants 193 References 197 7 Acknowledgements In the course of this work that is coming to an end, I have incurred social and intellectual debts to a great many people. As tensions and violence in Jos have continued, there are many who are no longer with us and whom I greatly miss, and others I worry for. In order to protect the identities of the practitioners of traditional medicine who helped me find my way in Jos, I have chosen to use pseu- donyms when they appear in the chapters of this book. But since they have all wished to be recognised and have their names mentioned, I want to thank doctors Rahinatu Abdulkarim, Katame Talatu Abdullahi, Sule Abdullahi, Halima Adamou, Bawa Adamu, Jalcubu Adamu, Sule Adamu, Anthony O. Addeh, M. A. Adeoye, Hadiza Adudo, Hadiza Y. Adudu, Danladi Afu Agwashi, Dabo Ahmadu, James Abraham Akpologun, Oyhu Azijah, Adamu Umar Baffa, Ibrahim M. Baninge, Maryam Bello, Nwosu Benjamin, Usamatu Busari, Charlee Choji, Binta Dakubu, David Dalla, Danbiliki Magaji Dankukure, Barki Danladi, Mohammed Danladi, Badamasi Danzuru, Iliya Danchester Dung, Zamani Emil, Stephen V. Fale, Felix, Ibekwe Ferdinand, Dere Tilden Fulani, Rakiya Hassan, Ya- kubu Hassan, Houwa, Houwa, Yakubu Ibrahim, Ibrahim Idris, Laraba Iliya, John N. Iroegbulam, Ibn Jakob, Mohammed Jibril, Mohof Kushi, Houwa Kwando, Mohammed A. Labaran, Idi Madaki, Abdullahi son of Ahmadu Maidori, Ahmadu Maidori, Abdu Liman Maikwai, Audu Maila- fiya, Ibrahim Garba Maiyak, Kuran Mangut, Amina Ta Massallaci, Dauda Maza-Waje, Hassan Ahmed Mohalu, Audu Mohammed, Rajan Moham- med, Bayo Morolayo, Umaru Nange, Titi Naraguta, John Galome Okoye, Munuiet Olaleye, Hussaina Alhaji Salga, Sule, Zamiya Sule, Ak- peji Sunday, Chief Sunday, Halima A. Takuru, Dauda Yaro Wakili, Egge Yakubu, Sale Na Yakubu, Salisu Yakubu, and Muhammed Lawan mai Karanta Yasin. There are other practitioners, whose names are not listed, but who have also helped me. I want to express my gratitude also to them. To the secretary, who alternately was my uncle, security guard, and guide – I miss all our long hours of struggles to get either here, there, or nowhere – Aikin babba ne! 8 There are many organisations in Jos that not only have greatly assisted me, but also form part of the ethnography in this work. I want to thank the members of the Nigerian Union of Medical Herbal Practitioners, the Yoruba group within this Union, the Association of Plateau State Indige- nous Herbal Practitioners, and the Traditional Herbal Medical Research Group and Supply, for letting me be part of their meetings and other activities. I also wish to acknowledge the staff of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Jos, the Ministry of Health, the Minis- try of Culture and Tourism, and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control for their assistance during my work. I want to thank Umar Danfulani, who was my field supervisor in Jos during my fieldwork as a master’s student, and who has continued to provide valuable support. I also want to thank Alfred, Betrus, Santos, Simon, Sunday, and Vincent, who helped me to translate on various occa- sions. The Dabels, the Danfulanis, the Ezes, the Ndayakos – the families who have opened up their hearts as well as their homes to me – it is with the warmest feelings that I thank them. Agnes, who is no longer among us, will always have a very special place in my memory. Sam, who over thirty years ago wrote his thesis inspired by pragmatism, will hopefully be pleased with my choice of theoretical perspective. To Balewa, who cleared a path for me through the Nigerian legal system – I wish a future that brings good fortune. Kerstin and Ezekiel have provided me with invalu- able help in life’s large and small matters, and always made me feel at home. I cherish the memory of breakfasts in their kitchen. I want to thank my supervisor, Jan Ovesen. I am very grateful for all the support through the years, and for following me in my mental excur- sions and helping me to keep them all together. I also want to thank Sten Hagberg, my assistant supervisor, for much-appreciated input and help. To Mats Utas, I am very grateful for careful reading of the whole draft of this manuscript, valuable comments, and encouraging words. I want to express my gratitude to Ing-Britt Trankell for encouragement and for keeping me in her thoughts. I am also grateful to Eva Evers Rosander for kind support over the years, and for comments on parts of the draft of this manuscript. Hugh Beach has provided valuable assistance, especially, but not only, in connection with the printing of this work. I also want to acknowledge my colleagues at the Department of Cul- tural Anthropology and Ethnology for their long-time support and friendship. I want to thank the participants in the department’s Medical Anthropology Seminar Group, the Research Seminar in Cultural Anthro- pology, the Urban Studies Seminar, and the West Africa Research Group 9 for comments on earlier versions of this work. For reading parts of the manuscript for my final seminar, I want to thank David Eile, Carina Green, Gabriella Körling, Jennifer Mack, Ulrika Persson-Fischier, Jelena Spasenic, Johanna Udéhn, Charlotta Widmark, and Eren Zink. To Joachim Morath, my long-time discussion friend, I am grateful for read- ing a very early version of this work, and struggling with me to see the other side of the coin. I want to thank Anne Cleaves for sensitive and skilful language editing. I am grateful to Murray Last for inviting me to participate in the West Africa Seminars and Medical Anthropology Seminars at University Col- lege London. These became important events for me, both academically and socially. I gratefully acknowledge a grant from the Swedish Founda- tion for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education that allowed me to pursue Hausa language studies at the School of Orien- tal and African Studies, University of London. The fieldwork on which this work is based was made possible by the generous economic support I have received from Anna-Maria Lundins stipendiefond (Smålands Nation Uppsala), and Stiftelsen Engelkes dona- tionsfond (the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiqui- ties). For financial support during my writing of this work, I am grateful to the Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History (Åbo Academy), Stiftelsen CG & C Cervins stipendiefond (Smålands Nation Uppsala), and Uppsala University. Generous contributions to printing and language-editing costs have been made by Kungl. Humanis- tiska Vetenskaps-Samfundet i Uppsala, and Stiftelsen Olle Engkvist Bygg- mästare.
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