Religion in Nigerian Political Space: Implication for Sustainable National Development

Abstract

Nigerian politics has been replete with lots of anomalies and upheavals because the country leaders past and present have dragged religion and ethnicity into politics in their quests for leadership in the country. It's a known fact that since independence, more than 2/3rd of the country's independence has been spent by military junta. It is heartwarming to also note that within these periods of military and civilian rule, most of the military heads of states are from the north and most of them are Muslims. But it is disheartening to also know that since the return of Nigeria to democratic rule in 1999, power has shifted from the southern bloc to the north and back to the south, but the recent activities of politician by employing religious violence into politics thereby causing all sorts of mayhem and violence to satisfy their selfish sinterests leave much to be desired. It has been discovered that the recent Boko Haram insurgence in the country that has claimed more than 20,000 lives of innocent citizens and the state agencies are politically motivated, if this is true then, how can these religious intolerance perpetrated and transposed into politics lead to a sustainable national development in Nigeria? This research adopted literature review and found out that both Christianity and Islam have a stint in Nigeria politics and so many people have dragged religion into politics and are also using religion as a tool for achieving political powers by using it to cause violence and destruction of properties in the country. The paper therefore recommends that religious leaders and politicians should be encouraged to preach peaceful coexistence and piety amongst their adherents, while Nigerian government should do everything within the country' powers and revenue profile to combat corruptions and provide employments for her teaming populace especially the youths. This will go a long way to reduce criminal tendencies amongst the youths who are recruited by these corrupt politicians causing bigotry to achieve their selfish aim.