Nigeria, Jan. 16 -- I have always resisted being dragged into ethnoreligious arguments. Not because the issues are trivial, but because many of the loudest voices in such debates are not merely passionate - they are fanatical. Some are so blinded by affiliation that they excuse injustice, flirt with heresy, or even justify violence in the defence of identity. In recent months, especially after US President Donald Trump's inflammatory threats against Nigerian Muslims over an alleged "Christian genocide" in Nigeria, I found myself losing respect for some elders, friends, and colleagues. Their positions were so reckless and prejudiced that they made me question whether our long-standing relationships had ever been grounded in sincerity.

It ...