The Believer-Unbeliever Saga and Violent Religious Crises in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

No problem has threatened the corporate existence of Nigeria in the recent past as much as religious violence particularly in the northern part of the country. Within the spate of thirty years, the nation suffered from not less than fifty violent clashes mostly between adherents of Islam and Christianity in the north, with the ongoing Boko Haram insurgence as the most recent, deadliest and widespread of all. This daunting social problem has no doubt retarded the development of the nation, as she has been tagged one of the unsecured and violent nation of the continent of Africa. Using the Group Conflict theory and the Rational Choice theory as the background, this work discusses the issue of Unbeliever as critical to the persistent religious clashes in northern Nigeria, the destination of beliefs, religious practice in Nigeria, religious hypocrisy and the need for religious tolerance. The position of this work is that the country must take a rational step to overcome the problem of religious violence as fast as possible by ensuring that other geo-political zones emulate the south-western zone of Nigeria where religious tolerance has become a norm. More so, as the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of many African countries are linked to the peace and development of Nigeria as the giant of Africa.