Religion and Theology

Religious intolerance occurs when a section of people cannot put up with the religious beliefs and cultures of a certain group of people. This is usually manifested in many ways especially when this said group of people believes that their religious beliefs are superior to the other groups. The history of religious intolerance dates back in history to the time when missionaries started venturing into different places in the world in search of new believers and to spread the gospel. They ventured into areas that had a near uniform set of beliefs and thus had to introduce another aspect of religion that the natives had not been accustomed to. In one way or the other, some people got to be converted but others remained true to their religious beliefs that had been there before. The further incursion by other missionaries and other people with different beliefs led to people of different religions living in the same regions.

Nigerias population constitutes of many religions. A half of the population is Muslim and nearly 40 of the remaining is Christian. The remaining 10 percent is covered by the other religions including African traditional-based religious regimes. The division of this population is such that the Northern part of the country is mostly Islamic while the Southern part is covered by the Christians and the other religious groups. At the onset of democracy when Olusegun Obasanjo was elected democratically, there was tension amongst those who were defeated in the elections who thus decided to use religion to divide the population. The Northern states adopted the Sharia laws which are known to be less tolerant of secular lifestyles. Therefore, the first cause of religious intolerance in Nigeria was politically instigated. As at the year 2004, eleven of the states in the Northern region had adopted aspects of the Sharia laws that were used to punish wrong-doers.

Nigeria is known as one of the most endowed countries in Africa in terms of oil and natural gas. The petroleum resources are prospected by foreign countries such as Canada. The oil is mainly found in the Niger delta. The Niger Delta is located in the Southern part of the country. The resource is poorly distributed and has sparked a lot of inter-religion violence as most of the religious groups are led by their leaders to lay claim to the resource (ONeill 1) (Nigerian Oil Curse of the Black Gold). Due to the large numbers of Muslim and Christian faithful, the war has always pitted them against each other. This has usually resulted in the deaths of so many civilians and even police as the confrontations are usually very violent. The fight for resources has also been very evident in the Northern region. It is instigated by the now famous religious group going by the name Boko Haram (Isilow 1) (Religious Intolerance in Nigeria 1). The group claims to be operating for the good of Islam. Due to the largely Islamic Northern part of the country following Sharia laws, the group has appointed itself as the legitimate enforcers of this law. Its violent activities have resulted in the attacking of buildings, housing, armed forces like the police and other government installations.

There seemed to be a crisis in leadership in the country as there were too many coups mainly staged by the military. This led to the citizens having very little faith in the governments. As a result, many people were poor. To fight back, many went back to their tribal and religious enclaves as zones of comfort. The religious debacle was thus amplified by this. Every other person seemed to blame people of other faiths for the failed leadership. As a result, many violent confrontations have been witnessed (Adam and Keffi 1) (Towards Ethnic and Religious Tolerance within a United and Diverse Nigeria 1). Currently, the president who is Muslim by faith is ill, but the largely Northern region does not want him to be replaced by the vice president who is Christian. Goodluck Jonathan, the vice president, is keen on the leadership and would like to ascend to presidency.

The colonial powers that were present in Nigeria put up systems that divided the nation along religions. For instance, western education was first available to regions that were dominantly from one religion. This created a one-sided spectacle so that some Christians could not access this education. As such, the classes became breeding ground for tension and misinformation (Rosalind 1) (Conflict in the Classroom Educational Institutions as Sites of Religious ToleranceIntolerance in Nigeria 1). It is therefore prudent that we see ignorance and poverty as the main causes of the religious intolerance that has led to violence in Nigeria. Violence attributed to religion has been the cause of very many unwarranted deaths and if education was used to reduce the ignorance, the violence would not be as significant as it is now.  

To reduce the violence and create peace between the religions, peacemakers have been self-appointed. They tour the warring regions and issue teachings of peace. During the tour, they look out for the possible ways through which the people can be brought together. They then convene meetings where they admonish the crowds to use peace and unity to propagate togetherness. This has been an important method of cooling tempers and reducing retaliations especially in the Northern regions (Kuchinsky 1) (Peace from Below Recent Steps Taken along the Track-Two Diplomacy Path 45).  A means of solving the violent confrontations as put forward by the president of Libya Muammar Gaddafi was to divide the nation into a Muslim and a Christian one so that they become two separate states. He later said that it should be divided like Yugoslavia. This is not a very feasible method though as resources will still be a point that can spark violence. In as much as they will be divided into regions or countries, they might not live in peace.

Inter-religious forums have been initiated by some of those affected by the violence so that they can create awareness about the importance of peace. A case in point is that of two men from each side of the warring factions who put aside their differences to bring about peace after losing close family members in the violence (Fischer-Thompson 1) (Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum Works for Change in Nigeria. 3). Wuye and Ashafa address forums where they urge the people from both camps to dump violent methods of confrontations that result in deaths. They urge for dialogue amongst everyone so that amicable solutions can be achieved for lasting peace. The media has also been used as a means of addressing the violence. The country recognizes the power of the media and has required that as a means to end the violence, the media houses become more responsible in disseminating important reconciliatory messages to the masses. This has proved to be effective as more and more people are starting to realize the issue at hand.

In conclusion, religious tolerance is a thing that has been experienced in many countries in the world. A keen look at the causes points towards ignorance as the main cause of inability to view other peoples religious beliefs as equal or similar. It is backed up by the use of religion by politicians to incite the people when they need to. Poverty has been the influencing factor as most of those recruited to fight these wars are poor people who can be easily manipulated to believe in what they are told. The violence caused by the intolerance has been addressed through various means but top on the list is creation of awareness that has been effective in passing the message that religious beliefs held by whichever groupings are neither superior nor inferior. The end-result is that more and more people are slowly becoming tolerant to other peoples beliefs. The use of media to inform the masses has so far been very vital as it reaches more people at a go than any other means. Religious intolerance should not be encouraged as it only infringes the rights of people to worship.