Religious conflicts in nigeria pdf

Analysis of the drivers, dynamics and sources of ethnoreligious conflict in nigeria. However, it can be said that ethnic differences in nigeria would not have. In the case of nigeria, the frequency of religious conflicts in the northern part between 1987 and 2011 has left adverse effects on the socioeconomic polity of the people. Ethnic and religious identityand consequently ethnic and religious conflict are often intertwined, especially when the majority of one ethnic. The roots of nigerias religious and ethnic conflict.

Religious polarization is a real challenge in nigeria, and it has likely increased. D school of arts and social sciences,national open university of nigeria,lagos. Survey of religious violence in nigeria within the last two decades nigeria has witnessed a variety of disturbances some of which have threatened the existence of the country as a nation. Ethnoreligious conflicts have littered the political landscape in nigeria. Religious groups, indigenes, and settlers should always resort to dialogue and mediation if any issue arises between such groups. The religious divide in the country crisscrosses more than 250 ethnic groups as well as deep political divisions that cross religious. Tilde 2011s comprehensive documentation however dates ethnic and religious conflicts to 1945.

Religious conflicts on the rise in africa africa dw 23. This was a major factor in the biafran secession and the resulting civil war. This would aim to address structural needs and allow the positive potential of religious discourse and values to reemerge so that human relations and dignity can be rebuilt. Nigeria, in view, is a country blessed with vast geographical landmarks, a nation with vast ethnic groups and many dialects with major languages, english, yoruba, igbo and hausa. It is necessary to have the perception of the basic concept of the word conflict before exploring the extensive area of conflicts between african traditional religion and christianity. Ethnoreligious conflicts and democracy in nigeria dr. Nigeria, the most populous african country with a population of over 200 million in 2018, is divided between adherents of christianity, islam and traditional religion quite similar to polytheism though the exact ratio is uncertain. According to adah 20, socio religious conflict in nigeria goes as far back as 1953, and since then it has become a recurrent decimal manifest in several ways as protests, demonstrations, riots, wanton killings. Still, substantial numbers in all the countries surveyed except botswana and zambia say religious conflict is a very big problem in their country, reaching a high of 58% in nigeria and rwanda. Another achievement at the part of british people was division of northern and southern part of the basis of ethnic groups and they. Causes of conflict in nigeria and ways of resolving them legit. Nigeria sectarian violence between rural farmer and herder communities is prevalent in more than a dozen states, primarily in the broadly defined middle belt region of the country.

It does not exist in a vacuum or up there in the blues but among humans. It is true that at least 40 people were killed on christmas day in churches. Researcher matthias basedau says weak african states are a major cause. Mar 10, 2014 the roots of nigeria s religious and ethnic conflict. A symposium on religious conflict in nigeria may 8, 2007 nigeria is the largest country in the world with an evenly split population of christians. Religion is often depicted as a trigger factor in many conflicts. Implications for national security ushe mike ushe, ph. Welcome to this second session of our symposium on religious conflict in nigeria.

Islam started from arab and eventually spread throughout the world. The roots of nigeria s religious and ethnic conflict. Many will attest to it that the jos crisis vividly exemplifies or by locus classicus describes a rancorous experience against religious intolerance. Ethnoreligious conflicts and the dilemma of democratic. It occurred mainly because british colonizers desired a contiguous colonial territory stretching from the arid sahel to the atlantic coast, and because northern nigeria, one of the merging units, was not paying its way while southern nigeria, the other. I will be traveling to nigeria this week as part of a delegation from the u. D department of political science ekiti state university, adoekiti, nigeria abstract. Nigeria is a country that is full of surprises and conflicts in different areas and regions. The religious divide in the country crisscrosses more than 250 ethnic groups as well as deep political divisions that cross religious lines. The situation of incessant christianmuslim conflicts the nigeria civil war, known as the nigeria biafran war which was one of the bloodiest civil wars in africa in the sixties, started after military coups and the subsequent social disturbances of 1966. With several coups, general strikes and a civil war, nigerians have had to experience some of the most sordid tragedies arising from difference of opinions and distrust. The struggle between religious groups in nigeria started in the middle of the 20th century. In the case of nigeria, the frequency of religious conflicts in the northern part between 1987 and. This course takes theory seriously, yet also emphasizes the importance of applied ethics and lived religion.

Conflict in nigeria is more complicated than christians. The roots of nigerias religious and ethnic conflict public. Nigeria 5 international religious freedom report for 2018 united states department of state bureau of democracy, human rights, and labor state officials and many religious leaders have stated students have the right to request a teacher of their own religious beliefs to provide an alternative to any. With the return of democracy in 1999, nigeria has had a complicated federal system of government with numerous rules and traditions aimed at tamping down religious and sectional conflict. A case study of langtang north lga of plateau state. Colonial masters play a vital role in the growth of ethno religious conflicts, these colonial masters brought the christianity with them and try to penetrate the western values in the system of nigeria. Nigeria has not been without its fair share of conflict. Ethnoreligious conflict and peace building in nigeria.

Religious conflict and its manifestations in nigeria before delving into the discussion of religious conflict in nigeria, it will be useful to devote some space to introduce the countrys religious communities that form the conflict parties. Modern nigeria emerged through the merging of two british colonial territories in 1914. Religious crisis in nigeria is prevalent, owing to a number of reasons. Religious conflict in nigeria goes as far back as 1953, and in the case of the town of tafawa balewa, to 1948. Lets start by examining the causes of conflict in nigeria from a religious perspective. Introduction nigeria, currently is operating on zonal system despite its ethnic multiplicity, its political sovereignty is however threatened by religious crises arising from political class trying to hijack the institutions of government. Ethnoreligious conflicts and a nation in crisis punch. The inter religious mediation peace strategy nigeria with over 150 million people consists of muslims and christians who live across the country. However, in 12 muslimmajority northern nigerian states, federalism has allowed the adoption of islamic shariah law in the criminal codes. In a nation bound with vast geographic and vast ethnic and religious differences, these religious differences aid conflict which. However, they can be easily avoided through various ways.

The roots of nigerias religious and ethnic conflict the. Today, religious violence in nigeria is dominated by the boko haram insurgency, which aims to establish an islamic state in nigeria. D department of political science ekiti state university, adoekiti, nigeria mike opeyemi omilusi ph. When it comes to religious conflicts in nigeria, the main cause is the intolerance towards representatives of a different religion. Abstract the persistent religious conflicts and insecurity in nigeria has given meaningful nigerians a cause for deep concern in recent times. Conflict in nigeria 5 results by geopolitical zone north east nigeria conflict levels peaked in 2014 in north east nigeria, but remained relatively high through 2017 from 2010 to 2017, 49% of households in the north east experienced at least one event of conflict or violence against a household member. So, impact of ethno religious crises on socio economic activities in wukari local government area will be xrayed with a view to proffering some recommendations to forestall future occurrence. Ethnoreligious, conflicts, theoretical foundation, nigerias economy, underdevelopment i.

The focus of this paper is on impact of ethnoreligious crises on socioeconomic activities in wukari local government area with a view to proffering useful recommendations as a way forward. It seeks to follow the medicodiagnostic method of inquiry. Nigeria suffers a variety of complex political problems including inequality, corruption, oil disputes, national disunity, and the boko haram insurgency this seven year conflict and humanitarian crisis in the north has killed 20,000 and displaced 2. Ethnoreligious conflict in jos, nigeria, intensely dissected the ethnoreligious crisis in jos and proffered workable solutions. Religion, social life, muslims, christians, sharia law introduction in nigeria mostly there are two types of religions, islam and christianity. These are african religions afrel, christianity and islam.

In the course of these conflicts, christians have at certain times, taken up weapons to counter the attacks from the muslims, claiming to do so in selfdefence. Religious identity and conflict 3 countdown to the 2015 elections 9 conclusions 14 john paden religion and conflict in nigeria countdown to the 2015 elections special reportunited states institute of summary nigeria is by far the largest country in the worldwith a population of just over 180 mil. In addition, substantial minorities 20% or more in many countries say that violence against civilians in defense of ones religion can sometimes or. However, socio religious conflicts in nigeria loom larger than elections and do not necessarily require political embers to burn. Ethnoreligious conflicts and the theoretical foundation for. Jan 28, 2012 in the month since then, fear has led many to warn and believe that nigeria is on the brink of a religious war. Abstract the persistent religious conflicts and insecurity in nigeria has given meaningful nigerians a cause. Religious violence in nigeria refers to christianmuslim strife in modern nigeria, which can be traced back to 1953. Despite some exceptions, such as the yoruba being made up of both christian and muslim segments, ethnic identities generally overlap with religious identities in nigeria. The fact that there is a recent increase in the number of ethno religious conflicts in the country makes it a. Why a terrifying religious conflict is raging in nigeria. Nigeria is on the brink, many claim because of conflict between muslims and christians. However, their extreme groups were inferior to the numerous radical muslims.

Before that, tensions between rivalry groups were covered and maintained by the colonial regime. Indeed, this tripod is what carried the pot of religious conflicts in nigeria. The amalgamation was an act of colonial convenience. The first part of the course provides a general framework for assessing the nature and causes of contemporary conflicts. Religious conflicts in nigeria by barry mason and chris talbot 28 february 2000 violent religious clashes broke out in the city of kaduna in northern nigeria on february 21 and have continued.

Mar 15, 2016 the gruesome clashes among some of nigerias disparate ethnoreligious groups have become a nightmare that haunts the country and constitute a threat to peaceful coexistence among nigerians. In fact, no decade of postindependent nigeria has been conflict free. Especially in africa, religion has been at the heart of much of the contemporary conflicts. The most obvious example of the radical islam is represented by thre boko harm group on the northeast of nigeria. A more ominous if less likely outcome could be the somaliazation of nigeria, if boko haram can accelerate nigerias centrifugal forces ethnoreligious divides, power politics, and economic grievances sufficiently to cause the state to collapse from within. Conflicts between african traditional religion and. Causes of conflict in nigeria and ways of resolving them. Hence the failure on the part of security agents to curtail conflicts when they arise. This session will address contemporary religious dynamics in nigeria. European journal of social sciences volume, number 3 2010 345 ethnoreligious conflicts in nigeria.

The section that follows will provide insights on possible solutions to the boko haram conflict as well as to the other ethno religious conflicts in nigeria. This tripod is however fuelled by lack of education that is on a sound philosophic foundation. Religious contributions to peacemaking n religion is a significant factor in the identity of one or both parts to the conflict. Nigeria s two major religions, islam and christianity, are sometimes depicted as monolithic entities that confront each other in pitched battles, with formal. Religion is a controversial issue in world affairs. The study investigated the effects of ethno religious conflicts on economic development of nigeria. Ethno religious conflicts and democracy in nigeria dr. This study therefore gave an overview of the general concept and causes of religious conflicts in nigeria and, advocated for ethical principles. Religious conflicts on the rise in africa africa dw. British, as usual use their divide and rule policy to sow the seed of conflicts on the basis of religious conflicts among the people in nigeria. Some of these disturbances could be described as intra religious while the others are inter religious. The boko haram insurgency began in 2009, when the jihadist group boko haram started an armed rebellion against the government of nigeria. The conflict takes place within the context of longstanding issues of religious violence between nigeria s muslim and christian communities, and the insurgents ultimate aim is to establish an islamic state. By this is meant the country is a melting pot of ethnic.

A cursory look at all these factors reveals religious intolerance, fundamentalism and extremism. Jul 10, 20 why a terrifying religious conflict is raging in nigeria in the countrys socalled middle belt, 785 people have died in the past two years, and the government is doing little to stop it. A study by a german academic says religious conflicts in subsaharan africa have been on the rise for decades. Igbohausa feud that began after the military coup and countercoup of 1966, culminating in the civil war in 1967, efikibibio conflict, tivjukun debacle, fulanibirom clashes, and itsekiriurhoboijaw conflict in the niger delta. The may 1966 riots for instance consumed over 100,000 igbo christians and other southerners in northern nigeria. Nigerians are divided along religious lines, boko haram is conquering territories within nigeria. Ethno religious conflict in jos, nigeria philip ostien abstract conflict between. For that reason, it is difficult to distinguish ethnic conflicts from religious ones in this country.

The week of protests from strikes related to removing the subsidy fueled even more. Sometimes religious difference compounds the problem. The war, however, quickly gained a religious tonality and before. Impact of ethnoreligious crises on socioeconomic activities. Mar 06, 2019 religious crisis in nigeria causes and solutions. Religious conflicts in nigeria world socialist web site. Christian ethnic groups in southern nigeria have been drawn into these religious conflicts. The main reason for this is an intolerance between religious groups. The igbo massacre of 1966 in the north that followed the countercoup of the same year had as a dual cause the igbo officers coup and preexisting sectarian tensions between the igbos and the local muslims. Conflict one of the earliest deftnitions of conflicts was by karl max 1818 1883 a conflict theorist who defined conflict as the existence of divergent interests within a group or the result of each group or class trying to pursue her interest and in the process come against one another with conflict emerging. The jos crisis, book haram terrorist attacks are examples of the various religious crises that have plagued the country in recent times. Causal analysis and proposals for new management strategies. Here we briefly examine the root causes of the religious crisis in nigeria. To avoid one of the commonly committed fallacies of the century jumping to a conclusion or making a hasty decision, this paper adopts an analytical approach.

This essay studies the indigenesettler tensions in jos, the capital of plateau state. Despite the governments announcement in 2016, that the group had been crushed, attacks have continued throughout 2017. Ethno religious conflict in jos, nigeria, intensely dissected the ethno religious crisis in jos and proffered workable solutions. Religious tensions in nigeria national catholic reporter. However in nigeria, religious conflict does not only carry religious motive but also politically inclined such that according to marshall, recently, the president of nigeria was forceful in saying the nigerian conflict has nothing to do intrinsically with religion, that is used as an excuse by politicians 10.