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THE NIGERIA CONSTITUTION, DEMOCRACY AND THE PRACTICE OF RELIGION IN NIGERIA

BY

AJIBOLA G. ILESANMI

DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES

FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ZARIA

Abstract

There have been much debates and controversies as to the compatibility of democracy and religion in the world polity. This paper briefly considers the weight of both side of the arguments with Nigeria in focus and proceeds to x-tray the nations’ placement of religion in the practice of democracy. The paper outlined principles through which religion may suitably function in a democratic society.

Introduction

The practice of democracy as a system of government in modern day has become widespread; in fact any nation that rejects the idea and principles of democracy is suspected in the comity of nations. Religion has also, as it has been, attained a colossal status ignorable by any responsible government. We shall in this paper look at the compatibility of both, given the Nigeria situation.

From the on set we must recall that democratic practice as we have it now owe its fundamental political principles to ancient Greece, where democracy originated. Thus, for any meaningful discussion and for us to get well focused in this presentation, there is a need to get back to the root of the word to find out what exactly is meant by democracy.

Democracy is derived from two different Greek words пЃ¤Ð¿ÐƒÒÐ¿Ðƒ­Ð¿ÐƒÐ‡Ð¿ÐƒÑ- (demos: the people) and пЃ«Ð¿ÐƒÐ†Ð¿ÐƒÐŽÐ¿ÐƒÒ'пЃҐпЃ©Ð¿Ðƒ® (kratein: to rule). A merger of these is what has evolved what Pious (2005) referred to as “the political system in which the people of a country rule through any form of government they choose to establish”, i.e. democracy. We should note that the emphasis here is on the people. It is a system where supreme authority is exercised for the most part by representatives elected by popular suffrage. In Nigeria as we experienced recently in the last polls, both the executive head of government and the legislature were elected and in principle these are responsible to the electorate. By this arrangement, a stable government is ordinarily expected.

In black and white democracy appears to mean constitutional openness to freedom of speech, apparent equal access to the ballot, indispensable requirements of self-rule and setting no limits on what the people may do in their sovereign capacity. In this understanding, there are restrictions on what private activity government may and should regulate; one of such is our interest here, namely religious behaviour i.e. What the role of religion in a democracy should be.

COMPATIBILITY OF RELIGION WITH DEMOCRACY

As pointed out above, there have been arguments as to the compatibility of religion and democracy. Scholars and people of various incline have proposed views, opinions and even constructive arguments as to their positions which vary from affirmation to total objection to the expression of religion in public affairs. Sachin Gupta (2007) said,

at the core of each religion is a fundamental belief in the presence of a 'higher power'. Different religious systems will describe this core differently, but in all cases the existence of a 'higher power' is an axiom. Around this core, is a layer of rule-systems that obtain their legitimacy from the 'higher power'. … Though these rules are understood through intermediaries claiming to have received these rules from a 'higher power', followers never believe that they have a choice in the construction or modification of these rules.

In a somewhat comparative study of the ongoing to democracy, he went further to say that democratic systems also deal with rules but established by a collection of humans. In both cases we are dealing with rules that bind individual private and public life. Loyalty to the dictates of religious rules and adherence to them as life guiding principles raises questions as to extent of religious determination of public life. In itself, that may not really be a problem, but when it becomes a base for constitutional considerations there is especially a problem of conflict of interest. Using one’s religious convictions and standards to determine what is constitutional or in running a public institution, conflict with the ideals of the Constitution of Nigeria. Although debugging oneself of such religious coloration in public relation may sometimes be an up hill task, it may not be harder than the hard time different religious systems have in getting along with each other.

Be that as it may the core feature of each religious system is the same, for instance, a belief in a higher power, value for human life, etc. The area with the greatest difference is the outermost layer consisting of communal practices. According to Gupta (2007), since most adherents of a religious system are introduced into its realm through this outer communal layer, their perceptions of other religious systems will seem to be permanently and profoundly tinted by the respective communal practices of those other religions, but that does not mean that religion and democratic system are incompatible. The rule of the people by the people in spite of religious differences may not necessarily generate tension even when informed by religious motifs if properly handled with prudence.

Consequent on the ongoing, the instances given for a total divorce of religion and public role in a democracy are often made to blackmail and castigate religion as the font for all the troubles and incessant clashes experienced in the country. According to Ajibola (2003), often these clashes tagged вЂ?religious disturbances’ are really not so. They are apparently stage-managed for selfish purposes. Arinze (1990) opined that religion is often “not the cause of faction, violence, or war”, rather it is the abuse of it especially when the motives are economic, racial, political desire for revenge or pure jealousy

OBJECTIONS TO PUBLIC ROLE OF RELIGION IN A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM

Nigeria is a diverse society with major different kinds of religions. As it is presently, there is no religion that predominates to the point where it is acceptable to impose one religious