Religion in Nigeria Politics: Historical Dynamics, Manipulation and Democratic Implications
| dc.contributor.author | Daniel, M.T. and Iyanda, S. E. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-04-27T11:26:32Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-04-27T11:26:32Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-02-25 | |
| dc.description | Journal | |
| dc.description.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 tem that has a variety of acceptable meanings, therefore, as a working definition, this pa- per 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 manipula- tion, 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 un- der 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 ofice in the society; patrio- tism is an integral part of religious faith that must be upheld. Keywords: politics, religion, manipulate, politician, secularism | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Self | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2476-8146 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://uilspace.unilorin.edu.ng/handle/123456789/15414 | |
| dc.publisher | Free Enterprise Publisher, Lagos | |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | 7; 1 | |
| dc.title | Religion in Nigeria Politics: Historical Dynamics, Manipulation and Democratic Implications |