Sekularyzacja i tożsamość religijna w krajobrazie religijnym Nigerii

Benson Igboin

doi:10.21697/CSP.2022.26.1.07

Published: 2022-12-28

No. 26 (2022)

Secularization and Religious Identity in Nigeria’s Religioscape

Benson Igboin

Christianity-World-Politics

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.21697/CSP.2022.26.1.07

Abstract

In this article, I argue that secularization is not a universal concept; it is a Western one whose social and existential context provided the basis for its theorizing. I contend that colonialism and missionary religions brought their kind of secular thought to Africa as African countries were under colonial rule when the debate was rife in the West. Showing this through interdisciplinary methods, the article further contends that the notion of resurgence of religion resonating after the Cold War and particularly 9/11, which is saturating Western debate, cannot also be universal, as secularization did not take place in Africa and Nigeria in particular. Using the Nigerian example, it will be shown that religion has continued to play a pivotal role in identity politics since the colonial era, and there are obviously no signs of abatement. This has however skewed identity, with its resultant effects on national unity and development. The complication of the Nigerian constitution on the secular status of the country has further provided impetus to the already volatile polity. If a reasonable national identity can be established, the present constitution should be unraveled in a manner that makes room for ambiguous secular status.

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Igboin, B. (2022). Secularization and Religious Identity in Nigeria’s Religioscape. Christianity-World-Politics, (26), 187–216. https://doi.org/10.21697/CSP.2022.26.1.07

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