While we were busy grumbling over our economic problems, Arab militiamen known as the janjaweed were busy butchering thousands of black African civilians in Darfur, Sudan. They would arrive on horseback killing women and children with kalashnikovs, G-3s, Belgiques and other machine guns. They would rape and loot non-Arab residents. The bodies of the killed civilians would then be shoveled into mass graves or left in the sun to rot.

So far, over one million refugees have been displaced as a result of the atrocities of this militia. In Chad, where most of the refugees suffering from malnutrition have taken sanctuary, the militia continues to attack. Human Rights groups are reporting that a systematic attempt to cleanse black African population is going on in Sudan.

Evidence points to Khartoum government as the source of logistic and strategic support for this Arab militia. Human Rights Watch reports that janjaweed soldiers are paid a monthly stipend of $100 by the Sudanese government, which also provides them with guns and uniforms. The collaboration of the militia with the Sudanese government extends to ground attacks, raids and killing of survivors after government air assault on civilian targets. The development has triggered International condemnation, except in Africa itself.

Greater Darfur is located in Northwestern Sudan. It has three distinct ecological regions. In north there is the desert region, in the central is the rich agricultural section and in the southern zone is the mild rainfall region. Though mostly Muslims with years of migration from Chad, the peoples of the region have ethnic, linguistic and cultural divisions. The non-Arab African people are primarily agriculturalists while the Arab speakers are pastoralists.

For decades, Darfur has gone through several conflicts. Most of the conflicts were provoked when Arab pastorialists from the north migrated to the south in search of water and grazing field. The dispute intensified in the 80s following years of droughts and desertification. In the past, traditional leaders on both sides resolved these clashes. They did so by negotiating compensation for lost crops and agreeing on animal migration time and route.

In the 90s, the conflict became more intense as things that were at stake became higher. The Arab who felt underrepresented in the local government formed an alliance with the goal of dominating the politics of the region. Meanwhile, the non-Arab grew more distrusting of Arab federal government in Khartoum as it favored Arabs over black Africans. The fear of Arab domination became worse when Sadiq El Mahdi government began to arm Arab militias known as “muraheleen”.

As tension multiplied, the federal government armed Arab militia the more and used them as counterinsurgency force against the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and elements of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) who are fighting against government oppression of black Africans. The janjaweed are the newest and most brutal form of these militias. The Khartoum government preferred to use the militia to subdue black Africans rather than deal with the resource control issues, the lack of rule of law, and economic development issues, which are the core issues inflaming the conflicts.

As I watch the heinous atrocities unfolding in Darfur, I could not help but think about the tense situation in Nigeria, especially northern Nigeria. The persistent religious, ethnic and cultural tension exacerbated by economic downturn portends greater danger than we have seen in decades.

In the Middle Belt of Nigeria, from Zango Kataf in Kaduna State to Yelwa in Plateau State, the dynamics are similar to that in Darfur. If it is not the struggle for grazing rights and water resource, it is a struggle for a fair representation in local administration or the fear of the dominance of a non-indigenous group favored by the federal government. And just like the Khartoum government, the Nigerian government, rather than deal with the core issues causing the conflict prefers to continue with ad hoc measures like emergency rules.

With easier availability of sophisticated weaponry across Nigeria and the tendency of an offended group not to turn the other check but rather to exert an equal amount of revenge, the scale of these conflicts is bound to increase in months and years to come. When that happens, what we currently see in Darfur will be a child’s play. It is not far-fetched that camel – mounted Arab militia will one day breeze through northern Nigeria slaughtering non-Muslims. After all, during the Biafran war, Egyptian pilots flying combat missions for Nigeria viciously dropped bombs on refugee camps and market places in Biafra.

In 1966, under the pretense that Nigerian soldiers of Igbo extraction killed Northern leaders during a military coup, elements in the north that have always desired to massacre Easterners living in the North and have actually attempted that many times before the coup, unleashed a pogrom. In 1994, under the pretense that Tutsi elements in the Rwandan military killed President Juvenal Habyarimana, the Hutus unleashed a genocide in Rwanda that took the lives of over 800, 000 people.

Fourteen years ago in Rwanda, Africa passed through its worst genocide yet. There is no sign that it made any impact in other parts of Africa. Nothing has changed in Africa’s conflict resolution techniques or conflict prevention strategies. What makes heart-wrenching tragedy like Darfur worse, is its recurrent nature and the lack of interest by Africans in the study of past tragedies and the prevention of future ones.

A lesson from history is a terrible thing to waste.