...TITLE PAGE RELIGIOUS UNREST IN NIGERIA: CAUSES, EFFECTS AND SOLUTION. DEDICATION I want to dedicate this work to those prospective authors that dedicated their time to evaluate files and write about the religious situation in the country and give their general opinions on the matter. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. I want to acknowledge the lord Almighty, for the wonderful work he has done in my life and the aid he rendered me during the research of this work. PREFACE This discusses the solutions causes and effects of the ongoing religious conflict in the country. The religious conflict have taken so many loved ones and destroyed a lot of properties. The text elaborates al these and review the timeline of those events act the number of lives lost the number church and mosques destroyed all for the name of religious conflict. CHAPTER ONE 1. INTRODUCTION Nigeria is known be highly religions each of these groups has its own religious behalf and procures. Religion is the strongest element in traditional background and the greatest influence upon the thinking and living of the people concerned. According to John S. Mbiti “religion are not primarily for the individual but for his community of which he is part. Chapters of Nigerian religion are written everywhere in life of the community and in traditional society there are no irreligious people. To be human is to belong to the whole community...
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...CHAPTER ONE 1.1. INTRODUCTION The notion of religion suggests an attempt by man common thread to all the above perspectives, however, is to work out a relationship between humans and a super- that they all link religion to man’s physical and social ordinate or supernatural being. It was borne out of man’s environment. To this extent, it could be argued that, there endeavour to understand the supernatural in the context is largely an interaction between religion and the society of the world he lives in. The need for political stability in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. Indeed, all segments of the Nigerian society are interested in the political future of the nation. However, this interest is approached from various dimensions. A major interest in the Nigerian polity is the relationship between religion and politics. The Nigerian society is religiously pluralized and this significantly influences political decisions and policies of the nation. On the other hand, there are people who hold the strong opinion that this relationship should not be stressed and that religion and politics should be allowed to operate separately without one interfering with the other. Those who hold this view argued essentially from the position that religion mixed politics is mostly like to imbibe various vices associated with politics. Also that politics may not be properly and dispassionately played if mixed with religion. 1.2. DEFINITION OF TERMS For a better appreciation of the...
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...to Nations across the globe. Nigeria is a democratic country in West Africa, with a population of over 140 million people (2006 census). Since Nigeria was officially declared an independent state and gained freedom from their British colonial masters on 1st October 1960, three major ethnic and religious groups has remained unified despite the challenges of civil war that lasted for three years (1967 – 1970), ethnic and religious crisis, that has ravaged the nation since independence till date and recently; terrorism and post electoral violence – the later having gained ground since 1999 when Nigerian transited to democratic governance. It is a truism that no nation on earth can achieve the dreams of her founding fathers if characterized by electoral violence, crisis and terrorism. Terrorism is a devastating trend that our contemporary world has had to grapple with in recent times. In this contest, it is defined as the premeditated use of violence by an individual or group to cause fear, destruction or death, especially against unarmed targets, properties or infrastructure within a state, with the intentions to compel those in authority to respond to the demands and expectations of individuals or group behind such violent act. The devastating effects of terrorism have been witnessed in the United States of America, especially in September 11, 2001. In Kenya, the United States Embassy was targeted in August, 7 1998, and most recently Nigeria has suffered the effects severally...
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...origin. Scholars have been trying to develop a theoretical approach to ethnicity and ethnic conflict for a long time. Some, like Donald Horowitz, Ted Gurr, Donald Rothschild and Edward Azar, agree that the ethnic conflicts experienced today-- especially in Africa -- are deep rooted. These conflicts over race, religion, language and identity have become so complex that they are difficult to resolve or manage. Ethnicity has a strong influence on one's status in a community. Ethnic conflicts are therefore often caused by an attempt to secure more power or access more resources. The opinion of this study is that conflict in Africa is synonymous with inequality . Using Nigeria and South Africa as case studies, it compares the management of ethnic conflicts in both countries and shows the difficulties in managing deep-rooted and complex conflicts. The governments of Nigeria and South Africa have taken bold constitutional steps to reduce tension, but the continuing ethnic and religious conflicts raise questions about the effectiveness of these mechanisms. This study proposes, among other things, that ethnic conflict has been at the heart of both countries' development problems. Politicized ethnicity has been detrimental to national unity and socio-economic well-being. It is important to note that most of these ethnic conflicts were caused by colonialism, which compounded inter-ethnic conflict by capitalizing on the isolation of ethnic groups. The...
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...COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOUTH AFICA AND NIGERIA Africa is the second largest continent with vast resources and inhabits more than 12 percent of the world’s population. Although we know that the continent has plenty of resources, Africa remains the world’s poorest and most undeveloped continent. [1]Poverty is widespread, there is a great threat of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Politically, I would say that the country is unstable as there were civil and liberation wars. The lack of development in africa is closely linked to the phenomenon of state weakness which underlines the need for improvement governance as prerequisite for development in Africa. And so corruption is widespread and human rights abuses are a norm among many governments in Africa. When we read about these two nations we see that, South Africa and Nigeria have a lot of influence on African Affairs. Nigeria and South Africa both are blessed their ethnicities and races, an asset to national and economic development. Nigeria and South Africa are both stratified societies. Both the countries were shaped by assumptions and definitions imposed by the British rulers. British imperial rule in both countries provided identities, languages and symbols for ethnic and racial groups. [2]In South Africa, for example, the colonists' policies deepened the differences between Zulus and Xhosas, Ndebele and Vendas, Tswana and Qwaqwa, etc. Also, those of mixed race were segregated from...
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...The Democratic Transition in Nigeria Challenges of Democratization The election of Olusegun Obasanjo to the presidency of Nigeria in 1999 effectively brought an end to 16 years of military rule. Obasanjo became only the third head of government to be elected by the people (not counting the election of 1993, won by Chief Moshood Abiola but later annulled). Nigerians greeted the transition from military to civilian rule with widespread jubilation as they looked forward to a new era of stability, peace, and prosperity. Nigerians had good reason to be optimistic about the future. After all, Obasanjo assumed the presidency with an avowed commitment to combating many of the ills that plagued the country. His pronouncements before and after his election suggested that he intended to follow through on this platform, bridging the cleavages between ethnic and religious groups, and guiding the country through the process of democratization. The general public's expectation was that the country's return to democratic governance would lead to the restoration of freedoms lost under the previous regimes. Nearly seven years later, it is worth examining Obasanjo's efforts to establish a new order. A reflection of sorts took place when 40 Nigerians and other experts on the country attended a conference at the Kennedy School at Harvard in December 2002. They expressed their profound distress at the parlous state of Nigeria's democracy. Conference participants identified and suggested...
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...Curbing Youth Restiveness in Nigeria: Implications for Counselling Happiness Ihuoma Igbo1* Innocent Ikpa2 1. Department of Educational Foundations, Benue State University Makurdi, Km 1, Gboko Road, PMB 102119, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. 2. Department of Educational Foundations, Benue State University Makurdi, Km 1, Gboko Road, PMB 102119, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. * E-mail of the corresponding author: hapigbo@yahoo.com Abstract The study was a survey designed to investigate causes, effects and ways of curbing youth restiveness in Nigeria. Three research questions were formulated. A total of 200 National Youth Service Corps members were sampled from 1200 Batch B 2012 Benue State. An instrument titled “Causes, Effects and Ways of Curbing Youth Restiveness Inventory” (CEWYI) was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The result revealed that youth restiveness is mostly caused by illiteracy, unequal distribution of national resources, poor child upbringing among others. The effects include upsurge of social vices and destruction of lives and properties while the result also revealed that it can be curbed through skill acquisition programmes and enlightenment against the phenomenon. The paper concluded that counselling could be an effective way of curbing youth restiveness in Nigeria. Keywords: Youth Restiveness, Causes, Effects, Curbing, Counselling 1. Introduction Restiveness among youths globally and those in Nigeria has become a behaviour...
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...oduction The Nigerian Civil War, 1967 – 1970, was an ethnic and political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the South-eastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed republic of Biafra. The war became notorious for the starvation in some of the besieged war-bound regions, and the consequent claims of genocide made by the largely Igbo people of those regions. Causes of the Conflict The conflict was the result of serious tensions, both ethnic and religious, between the different peoples of Nigeria. Like most modern African nations, Nigeria was an artificial construct, put together by agreement between European powers, paying little regard to historical African boundaries or population groups. The Nigeria which received independence from Britain in 1960 had a population of 60 million people of nearly 300 differing ethnic and tribal groups. Of the ethnic groups that made up Nigeria, the largest were the largely Muslim Hausa in the north, the Yoruba in the half-Christian, half-Muslim south-west, and the Igbo in the predominantly Christian south-east. At independence a conservative political alliance had been made between the leading Hausa and Igbo political parties, which ruled Nigeria from 1960 to 1966. This alliance excluded the western Yoruba people. The well-educated Igbo people were considered by many to be the main beneficiaries of this alliance, taking most of the top jobs and leading business opportunities in the Nigerian federation. The Yoruba westerners...
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...INTRODUCTION Restiveness among youths globally and those in Nigeria has become a behaviour pattern which has degenerated into a topical global issue. Youth restiveness portrays man’s negative side of social development. This negative development is rather unfortunate and has become one of the many security challenges facing man in the contemporary society. In many occasions, lives and properties worth millions of naira have been lost or vandalized and some razed down by restive youths. As observed by Chukwuemeka and Agbara (2010), human society and in fact the entire universe is simply and squarely a complex entity. In view of this, individuals and groups have their complexities, needs, aspirations, hopes, goals, opinions, views and values which could be social, economic, religious, psychological or political. Consequently, there is bound to be restiveness among different groups of people especially youths who are at their prime age. The term youth has been variously defined. Ndu (2000) and Yusuf (2001) saw youths as neither adolescents nor children characterized by excessive energy that needs to be exerted, which if not guarded, is channeled into negative tendencies. The United Nations General Assembly and World Bank cited in Adewuyi (2008) defined the youth as people between ages 15 to 24 years. In Nigeria, the people within the age limit of 30 years are considered as youths hence they are allowed to participate in the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC). For this paper...
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...Introduction The Nigerian Civil War, 1967 – 1970, was an ethnic and political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the South-eastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed republic of Biafra. The war became notorious for the starvation in some of the besieged war-bound regions, and the consequent claims of genocide made by the largely Igbo people of those regions. Causes of the Conflict The conflict was the result of serious tensions, both ethnic and religious, between the different peoples of Nigeria. Like most modern African nations, Nigeria was an artificial construct, put together by agreement between European powers, paying little regard to historical African boundaries or population groups. The Nigeria which received independence from Britain in 1960 had a population of 60 million people of nearly 300 differing ethnic and tribal groups. Of the ethnic groups that made up Nigeria, the largest were the largely Muslim Hausa in the north, the Yoruba in the half-Christian, half-Muslim south-west, and the Igbo in the predominantly Christian south-east. At independence a conservative political alliance had been made between the leading Hausa and Igbo political parties, which ruled Nigeria from 1960 to 1966. This alliance excluded the western Yoruba people. The well-educated Igbo people were considered by many to be the main beneficiaries of this alliance, taking most of the top jobs and leading business opportunities in the Nigerian federation. The Yoruba westerners...
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...1 Violence Free Elections: Perspectives on the Peace Initiatives on the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria Warisu O. Alli Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution Plot 496 Abogo Largema Street, CBD, Abuja Email: alliwo@yahoo.co.uk; Mobile: 08035991377 ABSTRACT Elections are essential in a democracy and are fundamental features of representative democracy.. When free, fair and transparent, they confer credibility and legitimacy on the outcome. However, Nigeria's electoral history has always been marred by various levels of violence with grave implications for the polity. Since return of democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria, has conducted elections in 2003, 2007, 2011 but with an ever increasing rise in electoral violence. The April 2011 elections, which benefitted from the electoral reform efforts of President Yar ‗Adua, and was considered the most credible since the return to democracy also turned out to be the most violent as the country witnessed an orgy of bloodshed after the elections. The 2015 elections were to be held against the background of a prediction about the disintegration of Nigeria against the background of several socio-economic, political and security challenges, including insurgency in the nation‘s North East. The emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a formidable opposition to the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) fifteen year rule also added more tension to the charged atmosphere of the elections. The Peace Initiatives which started immediately...
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...SOCIO-POLITICAL INSTABILITY AND ETHNIC/RELIGIOUS CRISES IN NIGERIA BY: IRABOR PETER ODION 07037830536 DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, IGUEBEN, EDO STATE BEING A PAPER PRESENTED AT THE COUNSELLING ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (CASSON) HELD AT SCHOOL HALL, NATIONAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL, NIKE ENUGU, ENUGU STATE FROM 16TH TO 17TH OF APRIL, 2012 ABSTRACT Counselling-which that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action is inevitable in any organisation, institutions or society. More importantly, the roles of counselling in a country like Nigeria made up of diverse ethnic groups and often confronted with socio-political menace that threatens her existence cannot be over emphasized. This study therefore investigates the roles and important of counselling towards the sustainability of Nigeria socio-political development and ethnic/religious unity. Finally, the study examined and recommended how Nigeria can equally experience stable socio-political and ethnic/religious unity with the counsellors playing divergence role in the society. INTRODUCTION Nigeria is a country of extraordinary diversity and as such has extraordinary complexities (Irabor, 2011). Indeed, Nigeria adventure into pluralism of religions and ethnic diversities owns its origin to colonial conquest which permeated the entire continent of Africa beginning from the early 19th century. In the case of Nigeria, the amalgamation of the Northern...
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...Contemporary Issues in Western Religions Nerkeda Bulter, Regina Edwards Lakisha Lewis Sinceria Lewis Religion/134 October 11, 2012 Stephanie Cripps Contemporary Issues in Western Religions This paper will reflect research on contemporary issues in Western Religions. The main objective is to elaborate on Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The other key focus is to uncover the struggles within its historical and modern times. Islam is an interesting subject because it has plenty history surrounding Islamic cultures, and the contrast between Judaism, and Christianity. Nevertheless, revealing how time has change from than to now also captivate some attention. Exploring the foundation surrounding Islam such as Abraham, and the other forefathers is rewarding when searching the history of these three religions. Historical connections Islam and Judaism share connections starting very early in history with the patriarch Abraham. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael, and Isaac, who eventually went on to lead two different groups of people. Ishmael led the Arabs who later became known as the Muslims and Isaac led the Israelites who later became Jews. These two different groups of religions grew and traditions known today in modern religion. Each religion shares a monotheistic belief and has similar...
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...com/we-wont-negotiate-under-boko-harams-conditions-presidency/ Euronews, “Nigeria: Boko Haram call for peace with conditions”, council on foreign relations, 04/11 11:03 CET, http://www.euronews.com/2012/11/04/nigeria-boko-haram-call-for-peace-with-conditions/ Campbell , John. ” Boko Haram Offers Cease Fire Opportunity?” November 2, 2012 http://blogs.cfr.org/campbell/2012/11/02/boko-haram-offers-cease-fire-opportunity/ This day live(No author). “FG/Boko Haram: A New Peace Deal?” Nov, 11, 12 http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-boko-haram-a-new-peace-deal-/130283/ Walker, Andrew. “What Is Boko Haram?” May 2012, United States Institute of Peace, http://www.usip.org/publications/what-boko-haram ATTAH , GODWIN. GAMBRELL , JON. “7 killed, 100 wounded in Nigeria church bombing“ Seattle Times, Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 5:28 AM , http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019543375_apafnigeriaviolence.html Wikipedia, ” Religion in Nigeria”, 20 September 2012 at 01:10, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Nigeria Smock , David. Hayward , Susan. Huda, Qamar-ul. ” Religion and Peacebuilding” 2012 http://www.buildingpeace.org/think-global-conflict/issues/religion-and-peacebuilding Agande, Ben. Binniyat, Luka. Ovuakporie, Emma. And Akinboade, Laide. “Nigeria: Suicide Bomber Hits Another Kaduna Church” http://allafrica.com/stories/201210290553.html?viewall=1 ALABI, CHRISTIANA T. “Nigeria: Kaduna Begins Inter-Religious Exchange Program for Schools” 13 JULY 2012 http://allafrica...
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...Government is a set of people governing a community by laying down some customs and laws, thereby streamlining and ensuring its smooth functioning. In the world today, there are various types of governments in different regions of the world that govern their country and their citizens differently. For instance Nigeria, which has a presidential system of government and runs according to a constitution , which makes an elected executive the head of state. On the other hand, China has a Totalitarian form of government which is completely on the far side of the spectrum where the ultimate power lies within one political party. Such diverse systems of government result in different opinions regarding decsion making which affect its citizens.It can...
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