By Femi Oyelola
Last week, millions of Nigeria’s citizens, who are of the Christian faith, joined their counterparts from across the globe to celebrate Easter which marks the arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Following closely in just about 10 days, millions of citizens who are of the Islamic faith joined their Muslim brothers and sisters from all over the world to celebrate Eid-el-Fitr which marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting popularly known as Ramadan.
These activities, like similar ones underscore the place of religion, especially Christianity and Islam in Nigeria.
There is no gainsaying that religion has a role in helping man cope with the fear of the supernatural which
man acknowledges every day. On this sphere, it can be submitted that freedom from fear is the nexus between religion and security.
Dr. Balarabe Junaid of the Department of Sociology, Bayero University Kano(BUK), while speaking to Weekend Peoples Daily opined that functionally, religion provides meaning to life in the face of frustrations, pain, loss and sickness.
According to him, religion provides security against the mystery and vicissitudes of life, saying It equally provides and ensures freedom from pain and hard experiences and in this way, it serves as a security provider in all human society.
It is against this background that he pondered why with the high number of religious followers in the country, some of the problems such as insecurity, poverty hardship and bad governance bedevilling the country still persist.
According to him, religion will continue to perform its role in the society since it is always man’s last resort when and after all other avenues for problem solving and man’s emancipation has failed.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to use the moods of Easter and Ramadan to do self examination and check if they are in line with the religions they practice.
Similarly, a security expert, Dr.Yahuza Getso Ahmed,, premised that Islam is a religion that means peace and throughout the life time of its founder, it is recorded that he went about preaching peace.
He explained that Muslims are the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) because he spent the whole of his time conducting and preaching the process of peacebuilding, asking, guiding and conducting his followers to understand what, why and the importance of peace, and he is the most peace-loving person as far as history is concerned.
Peace, according to him, is one of the attributes of Islam and worldwide, from the research conducted from the inception of Islam as well as the Christianity till date, there is nobody who has any facts, not even a priest, who can say the two religions preach violence, or anything negative.
“For this and many other reasons from the two Holy Books, the Holy Bible and the Quran, there isn’t anybody that is following the teachings being preached.
“According to the guidelines of the Christian and Muslim religions, nobody can give justification for the killing of innocents or war, and nobody for anything that is connected to violence unless those who preach contrary to the teachings, understanding, philosophy and principles to which the religions preache.
“Talking about the fasting of Ramadan which is compulsory and also one of the five pillars of Islam that include giving out to charity, conducting five daily prayers and other supplications amongst others, it is to help build and strengthen the faith of Muslims in Allah and to guide their activities here on earth.
“On the other hand, the importance of Easter is for Christians to remember Christ and his sacrifice.
“Most of the governors from almost every state have said that they hope the Christians will use the period of celebration for Good Friday and Easter to pray for peaceful co-existence among Nigerians and the same goes for the Muslims during the celebration of Eid-el-Fitr.
“The two religions provide essential tools for peaceful coexistence and Nigerians must utilize this to bring positive Change.
“It is very important that we learn to listen and understand the teachings of peace and unity taught by the two religions and apply them to our daily activities as we relate with one another,” he said.
In his reactions Deputy Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) Mr. Leo Atakpu said Nigerians are very religious people, and they belong to the two major religions in the country —Christianity and Islam
Mr Atakpu explained that on Sundays, anywhere that is predominantly a Christian community, is silent and everybody in the church worshiping God, and on Fridays during Juma’at hours, in a predominantly Muslim community, you find everybody in the mosque praying to Almighty Allah.
The Activist however said What shocked him most was that despite religious lifestyles, despite going to church, going to the mosque, so many people in high offices of governance, be they Christian or Muslims, still practice bad governance in the land which is wrecking poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment in the country.
Mr Atakpu opined that Nigeria is supposed to be the best nation in the world because of the way God Almighty endowed it with abundant natural and human resources but these resources have been plundered over the years since its creation by evil-minded people masquerading under religious bodies.
“Beginning from the white people who brought religion to Nigeria, came here and plundered Nigeria during the colonial era.
“They were packing our resources to the Western world, European land. They even came with Bibles and Quran, carrying our brothers and sisters into slavery.
“So that mentality was also bequeathed to Nigerian leaders of the past and today. So they grab power and use it to suffocate the people and religion has become the opium of Nigerians.
Everybody is shouting “Praise God, Hallelujah, Allahu Akbar,” But their hearts are black like those white men that brought religion, dark-hearted and wicked. Nigerian leaders are wicked and that is why the country is what it is today.
“People hear the message but don’t practice it, even those who mount the pulpit to preach don’t practice it. They say one thing and do the other, they listen, they hear and still harden their hearts.
“My prayer is that Nigerian leaders will put into practice, what they hear in churches and mosques.
“It is only when leaders start practising the messages they’ve been hearing since they were born, that is when we will start having good governance, when corruption will end, that is when nobody will steal from the public account, people will protect each other and that is when there will be security because when everyone has access to basic needs of life, the banditry will stop, insecurity will be over.
“There will be no almajiris on the streets of Nigeria when the poor have enough to take care of themselves. There will be no insecurity or armed robbers because we have basic needs of life.
“So we encourage our leaders at all levels to imbibe the various religious messages they’ve been listening to.”
Corroborating this the Acting Executive Director of Legal Awareness for Nigeria Women ( LAWN), Mrs Hanatu Ahuwan, said Nigerians are known to be very religious people but of a truth most times people do not see their religious tenets reflected in their behaviours.
Nigeria according to her has the most number of churches and mosques than other countries, yet it is rated as one of the most corrupt nations in the world.
Ahuwan stressed that “if we claim to be religious, it should be seen in our character. If the two major faiths can implement their values in truth and focus on nation-building, this same religion can indeed be a significant tool in addressing insecurity, and hardships, and fostering unity and development in Nigeria.
“Religion is believed to provide moral guidance in the way we live with others, especially towards achieving peaceful coexistence.
“Religious teachings, emphasize values such as compassion, empathy, forgiveness, and justice, which can help mitigate conflict and promote social harmony.
“Instead of fanning the embers of hate and causing conflict, our religious leaders and institutions can leverage their moral authority to promote dialogue, mediation, and conflict resolution processes.
“They can serve as mediators between conflicting parties and encourage forgiveness and reconciliation, thereby reducing tensions and fostering peaceful coexistence.
“By fostering dialogue and collaboration on shared concerns such as poverty, education, healthcare, and peacebuilding, religious leaders and institutions can contribute to national unity and social cohesion.
“Religious leaders can invest in education by empowering individuals, promoting critical thinking, and equipping people with the skills and knowledge needed to address social and economic challenges.
“Collaboration between religious leaders, civil society organizations, government institutions, and other stakeholders is crucial for harnessing the constructive potential of religion to addressing our challenges in Nigeria,” she said.
