The Implications of Religious Fanaticism in Nigeria

Religion is the opium of the people
Karl Marx

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With a population of over 180 million people, Nigeria is unarguably the most populous black nation in the world. Formerly a British colony until 1960 when she gained her independence, Nigeria has grown to become an economic powerhouse in Africa. Nevertheless, the toga of religion hangs dangerously on the neck of an average Nigerian. In fact, a research conducted by Pew Research Center named Nigeria the 2nd most religious nation in the world.

The facts before us are very clear. There are two dominant religions in Nigeria, namely Islam and Christianity. The Pew Research Center puts the number of Christians in Nigeria at about 85 million, making Nigeria the country with the highest number of Christians in Africa. Similarly, the Pew Forum estimated the number of Muslims in Nigeria at about 80 million. Only 5% of the population of Nigeria practice traditional African religion. These figures glaringly show that Nigeria is a deeply religious country.

Permit me to say that things would have been bearable if Nigerians were only religious; unfortunately, majority of Nigerians are religious fanatics who passionately and ritually defend religious doctrines without any form of scrutiny. These actions have had severe consequences on the progress of Nigeria as a country. Briskly, here are some of the implications of religious fanaticism in Nigeria:

The Enrichment of Superstar Clerics

One of the most visible implications of a sheepish religious population in Nigeria is the enrichment of superstar clerics. A recently published report puts the annual income generated by churches (excluding mosques) in Nigeria at $18.5 billion.

And since God himself would not come down from heaven to spend money, the donations from the religious organizations have been diverted by superstar clerics to their personal use. What do we get? We get a pitiable situation where some clerics own two or more private jets. Incredibly, seven (35%) Nigerian pastors made Forbe's list of top 20 richest pastors in the world.

Miracle Madness

Additionally, religious fanaticism in Nigeria has resulted to miracle madness, the insane quest for nonexistent miracles. This, perhaps, explains why Nigeria is backward technologically. For instance, when fanatical Nigerians are confronted with existential challenges, they seek miracles through fasting and prayers. They rarely seek scientific explanations to social reality. This has given impetus to the rise of prayer cities and crusade grounds instead of laboratories and schools where scientific experiments can be performed.

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Political and Economic Oppression

Presently, Nigeria is suffering bad leadership at every level of government. Nigerians are forced to live under the weight of corruption and highhandedness. One would have expected Nigerians to protest, to demand their political rights but their docility is staggering. The great Fela Anikulapo Kuti in his famous song, Suffering and Smiling attributes religious fanaticism to Nigerians' resilience in the face of economic and political oppression. Religious organizations in Nigeria are, indeed, constantly being used as a willing tool by the government to indoctrinate members into looking up to God for the provision of essential needs. What then is the role of government? To receive jumbo pay and milk the treasury?

Religious Violence

There has been several incidents of religious violence in post colonial Nigeria, especially in the Northern part of Nigeria. A large number of these religious violence was caused by religious intolerance and rivalry between the adherents of the two dominant religions, Islam and Christianity. In present day Nigeria, religious violence is dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency which seeks to establish in northern Nigeria an Islamic caliphate governed by Sharia laws. Since 2009, reliable sources claimed that the Boko Haram insurgency has claimed the lives of over 51,000 people and internally displaced an estimated 2,400,000 people.

Infrastructural Decay

It is no surprise that Nigeria, despite being an oil rich nation, ranked 16th in the list of top 60 worst countries in the world in terms of infrastructure. As incredible as this may appear, I hold the opinion that religious fanaticism is partly responsible for why Nigeria is experiencing infrastructural decay. I hold this view because available records reveals that Nigerian churches generate a whopping $18billion per annum. If this record is accurate, then it would mean that the total annual tax revenue realized by the Federal Government of Nigeria is far lower than what the churches receive from members as donations.

And with such an inconceivable abnormality, it becomes very doubtful whether the Federal Government would ever get enough money to fix the decaying infrastructure in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the religious institutions in the country hardly provide infrastructure to their host communities.

Indeed, the consequences of religious fanaticism in Nigeria is horrible. Although religion is not in itself bad, man has twisted it into a dangerous weapon of exploitation and chaos. Therefore, I admonish every Nigerian to never get carried away by the sweet flames of religion which burns enticingly but destroys massively at the slightest opportunity.

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