Religious Pluralism, Cultural Differences, and Social Stability in Nigeria

Religion, despite its concern with the spiritual, affects us socially, and religious rights thus remain an important topic in contemporary society. An African scholar, Simeon Onyewueke Eboh, asserts that religion "has always manifested itself as a social fact, an associative reality with a communitarian character."1 Eboh argues that religion, as a social phenomenon, "touches on, and influences decisively, other spheres of human life-cultural, economic, political, etc."2 He further argues that "although religion concerns the spiritual and other-worldly dimensions of man," it also "affects deeply the temporal dimension of man."3 Some commentators assert that manipulation of religion and the existence of multiple, doctrinally diverse religions within a single society can negatively affect social stability.4 They assert that religion fulfills its traditional role of unifying a society only if that society has but a single religion." According to Michael Haralambos and Robin M. Heald, a truly religious society has one faith and one church; but religious pluralism, where different religious faiths exist within a single society, splinters society, weakening the influence of religion and inhibiting religion from acting as a cohesive force within society.6 Haralambos and Heald argue that religion can effectively reinforce societal norms and values only when a single religion within that society has a monopoly on the truth.7 Religious pluralism does not allow religious values to represent the community's values.8 Haralambos and Heald assert that religious pluralism inhibits religion and prevents it from performing its traditional role of unifying society.9 Moreover, the emergence of multiple denominations weakens the influence of religion so that "a single 'universe of meaning'" shared by all members of the society no longer exists.10 Religious pluralism threatens Nigeria's social stability and its hard-won democracy by pitting different religious and cultural beliefs, particularly of new, radical Christian evangelical and fundamentalist Muslim sects, against one another.11 Religious pluralism is fostered by the Nigerian Constitution's promise of religious freedom, by the right to travel and reside in the country, and by Nigeria's participation in the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).12 Nigeria's prominent role in the OAU and particularly in the ECOWAS13 affects religious pluralism by facilitating interconnection in the world. Addressing these issues is important because the right to travel, the right of entry, and the right of residence are the main instruments of integration among the ECOWAS nations.14 This freedom of movement within the subregion promotes subregional cohesion, but it also threatens the Nigerian state's unity. This Article examines the problems of religious pluralism, religious and cultural differences, and social instability in Nigeria. In so doing, it analyzes the religious rights granted to every Nigerian by the Nigerian Constitution. It also discusses the religious differences militating against national integration and cohesion in Nigeria that create potent sources of danger to the hard-won democratic government.15 I. RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IN NIGERIA Indigenous African societies rarely tolerated religious pluralism, but the advent of Islam and Christianity brought religious pluralism and social upheaval to Nigeria by introducing different cultures and ideas.16 Today, Christianity, Islam, and indigenous African beliefs are the three main religions practiced in Nigeria, with Christianity and Islam being the dominant religions in the country.17 A. Cultural Conflicts Created by the Introduction of Christianity Following the European military conquest of southern Nigeria, European missionaries, starting in the seventeenth century, began introducing Christianity primarily into southern Nigeria.18 Christianity has since spread into many parts of northern Nigeria, including the northern states of Kaduna, Plateau, Gongola, Niger, Benue, Bauchi, and Borno. …