One of the major ills militating against the growth and development of Nigeria is the injection of religious sentiment into politics. It  remains an uncontestable fact that religious bigots in Nigeria have over the years used religion as a tool to shape and direct how politics ought to be played in the country. A situation where political aspirants and religious leaders mobilize their followers to cast aspersions on opponents because of differences in faith, is not only absurd and outrageous but a gross and flagrant abuse of our belief system.

Nigeria is a unique country, with a large population who zealously uphold their religious/ethnic beliefs and identities, and as such it is imperative that Nigerians strive hard to bury all trivial differences to work as a people. To buttress this point, it is important to cast your minds back to an incident which happened during one of the electioneering periods in Nigeria -one of the leading presidential contenders was quoted as saying “Muslims should vote for a Muslim candidate and Christians should as well vote for their own”. The man’s position sent shock waves in the minds of great patriots and he received blatant condemnation from across the world.

One of the major ills militating against the growth and development of Nigeria is the injection of religious sentiment into politics. It  remains an uncontestable fact that religious bigots in Nigeria have over the years used religion as a tool to shape and direct how politics ought to be played in the country. A situation where political aspirants and religious leaders mobilize their followers to cast aspersions on opponents because of differences in faith, is not only absurd and outrageous but a gross and flagrant abuse of our belief system.

Nigeria is a unique country, with a large population who zealously uphold their religious/ethnic beliefs and identities, and as such it is imperative that Nigerians strive hard to bury all trivial differences in order to work as a people. To buttress this point, it is cast your minds back to the incident that happened during the last electioneering period -one of the leading presidential contenders was quoted as saying “Muslims should vote for a Muslim candidate and Christians should as well vote for their own”. The man’s position sent shock waves in the minds of great patriots and he received blatant condemnation from across the world.

That clearly shows that such political office seekers have highly bigoted and skewed intentions which have nothing to do with good governance or selfless leadership, and if such people find themselves in power they would execute a treacherous agenda which could cause enormous divisions or even lead to disintegration.

I say without equivocation, that the consequences of interplaying politics with religion are dire and catastrophic. It could make things fall apart, bring disunity or exacerbate hardship. Therefore ahead of the 2015 elections, I implore Nigerians to support the “best” candidate irrespective of religious or ethnic differences. Such a candidate must be patriotic, transparent, accountable, academically sound, industrious, honest, dedicated and responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

Having said that, we cannot shy away from the fact that there are many hurdles and obstacles in our path to attaining the lofty heights of transformation as a nation. However these hurdles are not insurmountable and I am very confident that together we can overcome them. But when these challenges are further complicated and heightened by the “religious venom” spewed by politicians and religious bigots, it makes the task even more difficult.

Nigeria cannot afford to disintegrate because of these inconsequential religious and ethic differences. And as  Dr. Aliyu Tide said and I quote “where destiny has brought us together, we must learn to live in peace and work for the overall good of our nation”.

by Dapar Satmak Alexander

Dapar Satmak is a mass communication student of the University of Jos,  he writes for ViewPointNigeria from Jos, Plateau state.

He can be reached at the following email address: daparsatmak@yahoo.com

Note: The views expressed in this article are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of ViewPointNigeria

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Religion, Politics and Under-Development by Dapar Satmak Alexander