Religious Bigotry and Good Governance in Nigeria

Religion, ordinarily understood, provides some sense of the divine, awe, respect, justice, and peace in the society. The true meaning of religiosity is, therefore, felt in an atmosphere of decorum and equanimity. On the contrary, religion can be misused through violence, bigotry, and fanaticism. Perhaps, a negative aspect of religion and its impact on good governance is the present situation in Nigeria, manifested mainly in the upsurge of fundamentalism and reckless radicalism or fanaticism, as exhibited by the Boko Haram sect since 2009. With the current attacks on public institutions, government establishments, churches and other places of worship, even mosques, and government’s seeming inability to arrest the situation and provide adequate security, one asks the relevance of religion in the governance of a pluralistic society like Nigeria. In fact, can true religion survive in a democracy like that of Nigeria? The paper applies the method of functional analysis, which in this context, lends itself to viewing religion not only from a single faith system but from the perspectives of any number of world religions. In the case of Nigeria, three religious systems remain very vital in the consideration of the importance of religion in any important discussion for the upliftment of the society, thus: African Traditional Religion, Islam and Christianity. It is hoped that a good blending of the positive values of the aforementioned religions would go a long way towards enhancing good governance and other democratic ideals for the development of Nigeria. Keywords: Religion, Bigotry, Governance, Democracy, Nigeri