RELIGION AS AGENT OF CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA

In most cases, religion has been considered a trigger factor in many of the conflicts throughout the world. Rather than being as a main cause, it has been used also as a mobilizing agent in some of the conflicts in Nigeria. Although not necessarily so, there are some aspects of religion that make it susceptible to being a latent source of conflict. All religions have their accepted dogma or articles of beliefs which the followers must accept without question. This can lead to inflexibility and intolerance in the face of other beliefs. This article sets out to examine the role of religion as agent in fuelling conflict in Nigeria. The study adopted secondary data as a method drawn from an army of published and unpublished materials relevant to the study. These include books, journals, magazines, conference papers, newspapers, encyclopaedias and the internet. The result of findings revealed that the inability to recognize and accommodate views and opinions of others is therefore one of the major sources of religious violence in Nigeria. Nigerian religious adherents especially the Christians and the Muslims have demonstrated intolerant attitudes which result to violence. The paper concludes that religions traditionally have been moats of separation rather than bridges of understanding between people and In spite of peace potential of religions, organized and institutionalised religions have not been able to prevent conflicts or control religious passions once they have been aroused. The paper recommends that the stability of Nigeria will be greatly enhanced if religious influence or its use is underplayed in order to safeguard the rights and privileges of fellow Nigerians.