Religious Insurgency - Pathway to Disintegration in Nigeria

Abstract

Many decades ago, Chinua Achebe (1958) wrote his epoch-making novel titled, “Things Fall Apart”, where he acknowledged that religion formed one of the major tools for the positive transformation as well as the disintegration of the traditional African – especially Igbo-socio-religio-cum cultural society. It brought western education. But its misapplication also led to the gradual disintegration of the traditional cultural values. For a long time, many schools of thought limited the blame to the European colonial and Christian influence on the African Society. Within the African ambience, many scholars also tried to absolve Islam of any wrong-doing, labeling it the peaceful religion destined for Africans. However, the reality of the burden of religious violence and fundamentalism, if not fanaticism, associated with the quest of radical Islam to conquer the whole world for Allah has left much to be desired. The whole world is experiencing the type of uncertainty it has not witnessed for more than a century because of religious violence and uprising, especially in Nigeria and Africa. From Al-Qaeda to Al-Shabab, and currently to Boko Haram, the whole world knows that religion is not always only a vehicule of peace and unity but also a heinous tool for disintegration, depending on its usage and application.

Keywords: Religion, Insurgency, Disintegration, and Nigeria.