1.1 Introduction
Religious conflict threat is an inevitable aspect of human interaction, an unavoidable concomitant of choices and decision. The challenge, then, is not to count the frustration of seeking to remove inevitability but rather of trying to keep conflicts in bounds. The Christian tradition has made significant contributions to world peace at a number of different levels (Albert, 2011). Among these are public statements by Church leaders, programs of action at local and international levels, organizations dedicated to bringing about peace, courses of study, commemorative days etc. In recent decades, Church leaders have frequently made statements in support of peace.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Religion for Nigerian people is a set of beliefs and practices based on faith, which are sacred and defy rational scrutiny. Therefore, it can quite easily trigger off emotional reactions. Religion also makes the world more predictable, the vicissitudes of life more tolerable and its complexities more understandable. It provides psychological relief and inspiration for the individual. At the social level, it provides a medium for fellowship and mutual support. Conflicts are unavoidable aspects of human interaction. They arise from the pursuit of divergent interests, goals and aspirations by individuals or groups. Changes in the socio–political environment provide fertile grounds for conflicts involving individuals and groups probably interested in using these conflicts to achieve their selfish goals. Therefore, the negative exploitation of ethnicity and religion results into ethno–religious conflicts. These often arise out of mistrust, hostility, polarization of relations among groups and at times in a competitive setting. All conflicts, according to Elaigwu (2004:4) regiment primordial identities of a group in a competitive relation with other groups are regarded as ethno–religious conflicts. The history of conflicts in the Northern part of Nigeria clearly illustrates the above point. This is because, the Kafanchan conflict of March 1987 as an example, started as religious conflict but ended up as an ethnic conflict.
The 1991 market fight between individuals in Tafawa Balewa took on religious coloring, spreading as far as Bauchi town. Similarly, the 2001 Jos fight that started as an ethnic conflict ended up as a religious conflict. The North has had a very large share of ethno– religious brand of conflicts especially since the Maitatsine conflict of 1980 to the recent times. Religious experiences are one of the most important experiences of mankind the world over, and every religion claims among other things, to be an agent of peace. Such claims seem to be true to some extent. That is why Asaju (1988:128) asserted that, “although, religious experiences differ, but one fact is that all people are affiliated to one Supreme Being, that is God who is worship under different names among different tribes of the world”. It is on these bases that the Nigerian constitution recognizes three religions. These are: Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion.
The practice of the African Traditional Religion in Nigeria before the advent of Christianity and Islam was very peaceful and accommodating because there was no any external influence or unhealthy rivalry among the Traditional Religious Cults. That is why Islam which came into Nigeria at the later part of the 14th century, and Christianity which finally settled in Nigeria in the middle of 18th century were both accommodated by the traditional religion. The toleration exhibited by the Nigerian indigenous religion was not in any way reciprocated by Islam and Christianity. The advent of the two religions rather made the indigenous religion to begin to recede to the background. As a result, most people (Nigerians) identify themselves as either Christians or Muslims. Furthermore, Kukah and Achebe cited in Achunike (2007:3) observed that “both Christianity and Islam today straddle across the Nigerian polity without apologies and are aggressively proselytized”. This has led to a serious rivalry between Christians and Muslims.
Therefore, in Kaduna State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to investigate the Religious Conflicts among the Muslims and Christians and the Role of Religion in these Conflicts.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation reveals that deadly communal conflicts often increase local residential segregation, as people who no longer feel safe living in close proximity to out-group members move into in group residential enclaves.
Like it has been rightly observed above, the increasing rate of ethno–religious conflicts in Nigeria in the past and in the recent years shows that the adherents of the two major religions (Christianity and Islam) are not in good terms. Nigeria has witnessed several ethno–religious conflicts.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to investigate the Religious Conflicts among the Muslims and Christians and the Role of Religion in these Conflicts. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To examine the role of church in reducing religious conflicts among the Muslims and Christians in the Society.
- To examine the dictates of the church as regards sustainable peace and harmony in Kaduna State.
- To identify the factors disrupting sustainable peace and harmony in Kaduna State.
- To proffer solutions to the issues of religious conflicts among the Muslims and Christians in Kaduna State.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What is the role of church in reducing religious conflicts among the Muslims and Christians in the Society?
- What are the dictates of the church as regards sustainable peace and harmony in Kaduna State?
- Are there any significant factors disrupting sustainable peace and harmony in Kaduna State?
- How can these conflicts be managed or eradicated for the purpose of peace and harmony?
- What are the possible solutions to the issues of religious conflicts among the Muslims and Christians in Kaduna State?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
- H0: There are no significant factors disrupting sustainable peace and harmony in Kaduna State
- H1: There are significant factors disrupting sustainable peace and harmony in Kaduna State
1.7 Significance of Study
The following are the relevance of this research work;
- Teachers, students and researchers of religion, economics, sociology and history in Nigerian schools will find the work benefiting to them as it furnishes them with current information on the country’s social, economic, political and religious development.
- The research shall be useful to politicians and political leaders in decision making on issues that affects religion directly in the country.
- It will help in the provision of relevant data on the genesis, effects and measures towards the control of ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria particularly the Northern part of the country.
- It will unravel the awareness of decision makers on the effects of ethno-religious conflicts on the socio-economic and political development of Nigeria as a country. This will help in the formation of favourable policies and decisions that will stimulate a conducive atmosphere for the practice of religion in the country.
- It will also serve as a means towards the development of a strategic action plan that will be a significant force in peaceful and harmonious co-existence amongst the practitioners of different religion in Nigeria.
1.8 Scope of the Study
The research focuses on the religious conflicts in Kaduna state, Muslims and Christians as case studies and the role of religion in these conflicts.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
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