Nigeria and Social Darwinism Experiments

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People who have paid attention to history, and those who are curious about country name changes in Africa, may know that parts of Africa were claimed and divvied up by Europeans and the United States. British-controlled Nigeria became a kind of "see what happens" social experiment.

The northern part of Nigeria was given control to a violent Islamist tribe called the Fulani. Apparently they were not really African, but lighter-skinned pillaging nomads. Those in charge were operating by Darwinian presuppositions and gave the Fulani control. It did not go well.

Nigerian festival, Pexels / Darkshade Photos
Social Darwinists were wrecking Northern Nigeria, and they heavily utilized the racism built into the Bearded Buddha's teachings. People were thought to be animals, were treated as such — and acted like they were.

However, Christian governance further south was a different story. The area was prospering, and people were in leadership positions because of their skills, not because of skin color. While the Christian view of people is based on creation and is uplifting, the evolutionary views are oppressive, violent, and bring despair.
Which is better for human flourishing — the Darwinian idea that humans are the product of blind evolution driven by random variations and survival of the fittest, or the Christian idea that humans of every color, culture, and creed are made in the image of a loving, reasonable God who died for their sins?

. . .

In the experiment we’d want to choose Darwinists who actually behave according to the principles of Darwinism, not by whatever Christian principles they might have been exposed to in their childhoods. We’d also try to choose leaders on the Christian side who try to live according to the explicit principles of Scripture, rather than twisting, misreading, or ignoring Scripture. Then we’d wait a hundred years and see what happens.

This is essentially what happened to Nigeria.

To read or listen to the entire fascinating article (and surprising, as it is at an Intelligent Design site) visit "The Nigerian Experiment: Social Darwinism in Practice."