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

217 Pages·2011·10.28 MB·English

by  Ulrika Andersson Trovalla

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

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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!
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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.
Having spent a lot of the time during the production of this work,
both in Sweden and in Nigeria, on the opposite side of the table, Erik
Trovalla, my companion in all things, has been a great support along the
way. I appreciate all his reading of the many different versions of this
work, his editing of the photographs, and all our discussions.
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