Religion in Nigeria

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Religion in Nigeria

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Several religions in Nigeria exist, helping to accentuate regional and ethnic distinctions. All

religionsrepresented inNigeriawere practiced in every major city in 1990. However,Islamdominated the north and had a number of supporters in the South Western,Yorubapart of the

country.Protestantismand localsyncreticChristianityare also in evidence in Yoruba areas,

whileCatholicismdominates theIgboand closely related areas. Both Protestantism andCatholicism dominated in theIbibio,Annang, and theEfikkiosa lands. The 1963 census

indicated that 47 percent of Nigerians were Muslim, 35 percent Christian, and 18 percent

members of local indigenous congregations. If accurate, this indicated a sharp increase since

1953 in the number of Christians (up 13 percent); a slight decline among those professingindigenous beliefs, compared with 20 percent; and only a modest (4 percent) rise of Muslims.

There has been growth in theChrist Apostolic Church(the first Aladura Movement in Nigeria)and theAladura Church, an indigenous Christian sect that was especially strong in the Yorubaareas, and ofevangelicalchurches in general, spilling over into adjacent and southern areas of

the middle belt.

In general, however, the country should be seen as having a dominant Muslim north, a mixed

Christian and Muslim Southwest and Middle belt, a non-Muslim, primarily Christian South East

and South-South, with each as a minority faith in the other's region.

In terms of Nigeria's major ethnic groups religious affiliations, theHausaethnic group in the

North is 95% Muslims and 5% Christians, the West which is the Yoruba tribe is 60% Christiansand 30% Muslim with 10% going to adherents of other African religions while the Igbosin the

East and theIjawin the South are 98% Christians (Catholics) and 2% practice traditional

religions.[1]

Themiddle beltof Nigeria contains the largest number of minority ethnic groups in

Nigeria and they are mostly Christians and members of traditional religions with few Muslimconverts.[2][3

Islamis one of the religions practiced inWest Africa. Nigeria has one of the largestMuslimpopulations in West Africa, 50.4% of Nigeria's population.[4]Islam was introduced to northern

Nigeria as early as the 11th century and was well established in the major capitals of the region

by the 16th century, spreading into the countryside and toward theMiddle Beltuplands. Shehu

Usman dan Fodioestablished a government in Northern Nigeria based on Islam before theadvent of Colonialism. The British Colonial Government therefore established indirect rule in

Northern Nigeria based on the structure of this government.Islamalso came to South Western

Yoruba-speaking areas during the time ofMansa Musa'sMali Empire. The Yoruba colloquiallyreferred to Islam as "Esin-Mali" or some will say "Esin-Mole", which means religion from Mali.

Muslims in Nigerian practice theMalikischool of jurisprudence and are mostlySunniMuslims,

The Shia Muslims of Nigeria are primarily located in theSokoto State.[7][8]
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Nigerian Islam has become heterogenous with the springing up of many islamic sects.The

notable examples are theIzala movement,[9][10]

theShiite movement, and many local Islamicsects that have limited expansion.This new sects are opposed to the traditional Nigerian Islamic

teachings of the Sufi brotherhood and are gradually alienating themselves from the main Islamic

body.

[edit] New radical Islamic movements in Nigeria

Islam in Nigeria has witnessed a rise in the numbers of radical Islamic sects notably among

them, theBoko Haram,Maitatsine,Darul Islam[11][12]

among others.

These sects have sometimes resorted to the use of violence in a bid to realizing their ambitions

on the wider Islamic and Nigerian populations as a whole.[13]

The rise of this radical movements has been attributed partly to the poor socio economic

infrastructures and poor governance in Nigeria.[14]

Povertyhas been seen as the major catalyst

leading to the rapid increase in the membership of these religious extremist groups .

[15]

The rise ofthese sects has also been linked to the increase and aiding of religious extremist by politicians for

their selfish ambitions.

During the 1980s religious riots occurred in and around the five cities ofKanoin 1980,Kaduna

in 1982,Bulum-Ketuin 1982,Jimetain 1984 andGombein 1985. These riots were caused by

the migration of the rural poor into urban towns during the dry seasons. An offshoot of Islam

called the Yan Tatsine violently rebelled against the authorities and non-members. These

radical Muslims were inspired byAlhaji Mohammed Marwa Maitatsine. He was a Cameroon

preacher who slated the government, something which lead to his arrest in Nigeria in 1975, yetby 1972 many people followed him across society, ranging from the elite to Koranic students

called almajiral or gardawa and unemployed migrants. Maitatsine and his followers becameseparate from orthodox Islam, condemning the corruption of the religious and secular elites and

the wealthy upper classes consumption of Western goods during the petrol boom in 1974-81.[16]

The Boko Haram movement has been connected to the Maitatsine movement. They want to

implementsharia lawacross the whole of Nigeria.[17]

Radical Islam was propagated by extreme

leaders who were able to rally a young, educated group of individuals who were feared that thenation would not be able to protect their religious group.[18]The leaders were able to polarize

their followers through speeches and public demonstrations.[19]

The activities of some of these sects has in recent times led to the loss of lives and properties as

they move about destroying government facilities which they see as legacies or replica of

western cultures in their various communities. These religious campaigns has seen an increase ingun battles between the members of these sects and security forces with loss of lives witnessedon both sides.[20]Although direct conflicts between Christians and Muslims were rare, tensions

did flare between the two groups as each group radicalised. There were clashes in October 1982

when Muslim zealots in Kano were able to enforce their power in order to keep the AnglicanHouse Church from expanding its size and power base as they saw it as a threat to the nearby

Mosque, even though the Anglican House Church had been there forty years prior to the building

of the Mosque.[21]

Additionally, there were two student groups in Nigeria who came into
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contestation, the Fellowship of Christian Students and the Muslim Student Society. In one

instance there was an evangelical campaign organised by the FCS and brought into question whyone sect should dominate the campus of the Kafanchan college of education. This quarrel

accelerated to the point where the Muslim students organised protests around the city and

culminated in the burning of a Mosque at the college. The Christian majority at the college

retaliated on March 9th when twelve people died and several Mosques were brunt and a climateof fear brews. The retaliation was pre-planned.[22]

Exploitation of the media used to propagate the ideas of the conflict, thereby radicalising each

force even more. Media was biased on each side so while places like the federal radio

corporation discussed the idea of defending Islam during this brief moment of terror but does notreport the deaths and damaged caused by Muslims, galvanising the Muslim population.

Similarly, the Christian papers did not report the damaged caused by Christians but focused on

the Islamic terror.[23]

Other individuals leading these religious movements use the media to

spread messages which gradually became more intolerant of other religions and because of thesereligious divisions radical Islam continues to be a problem in Nigeria today.[24]

States affiliated with the activities of these militant Islamic sects.

Bauchi State Borno State Yobe State Kano State Katsina State.[25][edit] Christianity

See also:Christianity in Nigeria

National Church of Nigeria,Abuja
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TheNational Church of Nigeria

Christianityis one of the two main religions inNigeria, according to a recent Pew study

conducted in 2011, Christians now form the majority of the nation, comprising 50.8% of thepopulation[26]

. The ecclesiastical provinces of theChurch of Nigeriaare: Lagos, Ibadan, Ondo,

Bendel, The Niger, Niger Delta, Owerri, Abuja, Kaduna and Jos.[27]

Its primate isNicholasOkoh.[27]The Church of Nigeria has about 17 million members.[28]

TheNigerian Baptist Conventionhas about three million baptized members.[29]

The Archdioceses of theRoman Catholic Churchare: Abuja, Onitsha, Benin City, Calabar,Ibadan, Lagos, and Owerri.[30]It has about 39 million members in Nigeria.[31]CardinalFrancis

Arinzeis a Roman Catholic Cardinal from Nigeria.[32]

There are about 380,000New Apostolic Christians in entire Nigeria.

[edit] Roman Catholicism

Main article:Roman Catholicism in Nigeria

[edit] Church of Nigeria

See also:Church of Nigeria

Christians constitute 50.8% of the Nigerian population. Based on 2009 National Religioussurvey, Protestants make up 15% of the Nigerian population, Catholics 13.7%,and other

Christians 19.6%.[5]

[edit] Location

The majority ofChristiansare found in the South East and South-South and Middle-belt region.

An increasing number of mission stations and mission bookstores, along with churches serving

southern enclaves and northern Christians in the northern cities and larger towns, are found in theMuslim north. Christianity in Yoruba area traditionally has been Protestant andAnglican,

whereas Igboland has always been the area of greatest activity by the Roman Catholic Church.
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Other denominations abounded as well.Presbyteriansarrived in the late 17th century in the

Ibibio,AnnangandEfikland and theNiger Deltaarea and had missions in the middle belt aswell. The works of the Presbyterian Church inCalabarfrom Scotland by missionaries like Rev

Hope M. Waddell, who arrived in Calabar 10 April 1846, in the 19th century and that of Mary

Slessor of Calabar being examples. Small missionary movements were allowed to start up,

generally in the 1920s, after the middle belt was considered pacified. Each denomination set uprural networks by providing schooling and health facilities. Most such facilities remained in

1990, although in many cases schools had been taken over by the local state government in order

to standardize curricula and indigenize the teaching staff.Pentecostalsarrived mostly asindigenous workers in the postindependence period and in 1990 Pentecostalism was spreading

rapidly throughout the middle belt, having some success in Roman Catholic and Protestant towns

of the south as well. There were also breakaway, orAfricanized churchesthat blended traditionalChristian symbols with indigenous symbols. Among these was theAladuramovement that was

spreading rapidly throughout Yorubaland and into the non-Muslim middle belt areas.

[edit] Missionary work and Christianity

Apart fromBeninandWarri, which had come in contact with Christianity through thePortugueseas early as the 15th century, most missionaries arrived by sea in the 19th century. As

with other areas in Africa, Roman Catholics and Anglicans each tended to establish areas of

hegemony in southern Nigeria. AfterWorld War I, smaller denominations such as theChurch ofthe Brethren(asEkklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria),Seventh-day Adventistsand others worked in

interstitial areas, trying not to compete. Although less well-known,African-Americanchurches

entered the missionary field in the 19th century and created contacts with Nigeria that lasted wellinto the colonial period.

[edit] Offshoots of European denominations

African churches were founded by small groups breaking off from the European denominations,

especially in Yorubaland, where such independence movements started as early as the late 19thcentury. They were for the most part ritually and doctrinally identical to the parent church,

although moreAfrican music, and later dance, entered and mixed with the imported church

services. A number also used biblical references to supportpolygyny. With political

independence came African priests in both Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations,although ritual and forms of worship were strictly those of the home country of the original

missionaries. By the 1980s, however, African music and even dancing were being introduced

quietly into church services, albeit altered to fit into rituals of European origin. Southern

Christians living in the north, especially in larger cities, had congregations and churches founded

as early as the 1920s. Even medium-sized towns (20,000 persons or more) with an establishedsouthern enclave had local churches, especially in the middle belt, where both major religions

had a strong foothold. The exodus of Igbo from the north in the late 1960s left Roman Catholicchurches poorly attended, but by the 1980s adherents were back in even greater numbers, and a

number of new churches had been built.
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[edit] Combination with traditional practices

The Aladura, like several other breakaway churches, stress healing and fulfillment of life goalsfor oneself and one's family. African beliefs thatsorceryandwitchcraftare malevolent forces

against which protection is required are accepted; rituals are warm and emotional, stressing

personal involvement and acceptance of spirit possession. Theology is biblical, but some sectsadd costumed processions and some acceptpolygyny.

[edit] Social class and religion

Major congregations of the larger Anglican and Roman Catholic missions represented elite

families of their respective areas, although each of these churches had members from all levels

and many quite humble church buildings. Nevertheless, a wedding in the Anglican cathedral in

Lagoswas usually a gathering of the elite of the entire country, and of Lagos and Yorubaland inparticular. Such families had connections to their churches going back to the 19th century and

were generally not attracted to the breakaway churches. All major urban centers, all universities,

and the new capital ofAbujahad areas set aside for the major religions to build churches andmosques and for burial grounds.

[edit] Inter-ethnic conflict

Inter-ethnic conflict in Nigeria has generally had a religious element. Riots against Igbo in 1953

and in the 1960s in the north were said to be fired by religious conflict. The riots against Igbo inthe north in 1966 were said to have been inspired by radio reports of mistreatment of Muslims in

the south. In the 1980s, serious outbreaks between Christians and Muslims occurred in

Kafanchanin southernKaduna Statein a border area between the two religions.

Recently, there has been an upsurge in attacts targetting Christians in northern Nigeria,culminating in the Christmas Day massacre of Christians at a catholic church near the FederalCapital Territory. The radical islamist sect,Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the bomb

blast.

[edit] Traditional Beliefs

Alongside the main religious sect is the traditional belief system that without contradicting civil

law, manages to also govern ethics and morality amongst much of the population.
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[edit] Traditional Religion among the Yorubas

Temple ofun inOogbo, Nigeria.

Main article:Yoruba religion

In the city-states of Yorubaland and its neighbors, a more reserved way of life remains, one thatexpresses a theology that links local beliefs to a central citadel government and its sovereignty

over a hinterland of communities through the monarch. The seat of the king (oba) is responsible

for the welfare of its juriisdiction, in return for confirmation of the legitimacy of the oba's ruleover his subjects.

[edit] Practices

In addition to ensuring access to, and the continual fertility of, both land and people, seasonal

carnivals act as a spectacle for "tourism" contributing to regional productivity.

"Society in general has more gradually and selectively expanded to accommodate new

influences, it is fairly certain that they will continue to assert their distinctive cultural identity in

creative and often ingenious ways".[33]
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Documents

Religion in Nigeria