Long before advent of Islam and Christianity, Nigerians were not unreligious. Nigerians are notoriously religious. If the word “religion” came from the Latin word “religare” which means to bind back as asserted by many anthropologists, then true religion should bind us back to humanity not separate us in demonic style. But this depends entirely on how we look at the religion from either narrow or wider points of view. Religion is a double edged sword that, in the words of Elechi Amadi, “can be used for good or ill”. But why there are many religious uprisings, carnages, mayhems and conflicts in Nigeria? How an ethnic, political or communal clash is quickly coloured with religious paintings? How can we escape from such problems and live peacefully with one another? How mutual understandings can be achieved between the two major religious groups in the country?
Depending on how we use it, religion is a sword with two edges. It can be a binding force for the people living in different environments or a weapon of mass destruction that can be manipulated to bring distortion to the peaceful ways of living. To destroy the pessimistic views of misotheists, there is no problem with religions. All religions, from pre-history to post-historic time, preach love and enjoin people to act wisely for the progress of the mankind, both here and hereafter. Life is sacred in all the religions Man practice. The problem is with the adherents of the religions who cloth hates and other vested interests with religious sentiments.
The politico-social activities of Nigerians are clothed in religious regalia. This is the reason why we cannot separate ethnic rancour and political instability from religious uprisings. The primary motives behind most of the inter-religious unrests are political and ethnic competition between Southern-Christians and Northern-Muslims. Ekoko and Amadi described the first clash between the Muslim Hausa and Christian Igbo in 1945, the first inter-ethnic clash, coloured with religious sentiments, between the two factions as chequered one. This was how ethnic conflicts evolved to religious violence between Muslims and Christians in 1953. The post-election violence of 2012 was initially political as can be vividly seen. However, some fanatics poured politico-religious sentiments to the mayhem, fuelling the crisis and using socio-religious loopholes to exploit the politico-cultural milieu of the country.
The return of politico-religious based hate speech, especially on the cyberspace, is threatening the peaceful way of living between Muslim and Christian brethren. By the close of 2016, Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), a non-governmental organisation observing the trends of hate speech in cyberspace, gathered that religious-based hate speech topped the tally of its observatory. The NGO observed that: “religious based hate speech tends to be more explosive and its propensity to catalyse violence is higher… Religious leaders now fully understand the use of [social] media in propagation of their religion. They have fully embraced it. As a consequence, a number of religious preachers openly use the media to propagate not only divisive messages but also hate speech that could incite their followers against others.”
We need to understand one another. Let’s have religious tolerance and not manipulate religion for political gain. Let no any of us be discriminated for coming from particular religious group, geographical region or ethnic background. There is over 70% positive chance of being Christian if you were born in Southern Nigeria or Muslim if you were born in the North. Why the hate then? Why not sit and understand our beliefs? If you really fear or love the God you worship, stop hating His servants or instigating violence in His name. The two religions we practice are not here to program us to be malevolents or bully. Islam is a religion of mercy and Christianity is the religion of Love. Let’s be merciful and love one another.
Mr Aliyu twitter at: @aliyussufiy
