Religion in Nigerian Politics: Historical Dynamics, Manipulations, and Democratic Implications
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Date
2025-02
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Department of Religions & Peace Studies, Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University, Ojo
Abstract
Nigeria is a country blessed with a triple religious heritage namely: African Traditional Religion
(ATR), Islam and Christianity. Each of these religions, relate to the Nigerian society differently and
they fulfil different roles; which are deeply rooted in the nature of each of the religions. Politics is a
loaded term that has a variety of acceptable meanings, therefore, as a working definition, this paper utilizes Quincy Wright’s definition of politics as “the exercise of power, authority, the making
of collective decisions, the allocation of scarce resources, the practise of deception and manipulation, and so on”. An average Nigerian politician views politics as a short-cut to wealth and so pursue
it with their might, using any weapon; religion inclusive, in order to achieve their selfish political
aim. This paper focuses on the negative impacts of religion on the Nigerian society which runs under the democratic governance. Tracing some religious crises and proffering resolvable approach to
ameliorate religion and its practices in democratic governance. Using the historical and descriptive
tools, its findings suggest that the prevalence of political violence is fundamentally caused by the
political elites manipulating religion as one of the ready weapons for selfish interests. The paper
concludes that it is unpatriotic to manipulate Religion to gain political office in the society; patriotism is an integral part of religious faith that must be upheld.
Keywords: politics, religion, manipulate, politician, secularism
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