tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50627733415684983052023-11-15T07:41:16.289-08:00African Mission ReportsMissions and Scholarship on PapersAfrican Missiologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00590929811217302148noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5062773341568498305.post-57693413848602467282016-09-28T12:56:00.002-07:002016-09-28T13:12:22.074-07:00MY COUNTRY, NIGERIA, IN THE HAND OF GOD<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 15.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">INTERCESSORY
PRAYER FOR NIGERIA 2016</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Psalm
122; Matthew 18:18<br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">INTRODUCTION</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The Federal
Republic of Nigeria is a country in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. It has a
diverse topography, with arid savanna, rainforest, mountains, mangrove swamps,
and the wide delta of the Niger River. Nigeria became independent from Britain
in 1960 and is now divided into 36 states to accelerate development and to
minimize the impact of ethnic loyalties on national politics. Ethnicity is a
sensitive issue, as Nigeria has 426 ethnic groups. The economy is oil driven.
Nigeria is a wealthy nation but mismanagement abounds, leading to abject
poverty. Nigeria is blessed with intelligent men and women, natural resources,
good weather and great future in the Africa soil and beyond. Nigeria has great
heroes in all fields of life across the world. God loves Nigeria. We are the
contemporary Israel of Africa, the Zion of God. <br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">STATE OF NIGERIA</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Nigeria is blessed
with all things but the selfish cabal disallows equity of the resources. Nigeria
is now experiencing what is called padding of budget, diversion of fund for
personal use and mismanagement of funds. The security threat is maiming the
unity of the country as Boko Haram fight for Islamic State through insurgency,
Niger/Delta Avengers and other militant groups fight for independence because
of poverty level in the region through bombing of oil pipelines, and Fulani
Armed Herdsmen through maiming and killing in the grassroots. The economy
policy has not been favourable to our system and we are now in economic
recession. Political leaders are not totally truthful to their promises. In
fact, they have failed us. Education system is also in recession because each
state is battling with unpaid salary issues whereby the students suffer the
consequence. Health of citizens is less than anticipated average of life
expectancy due to frequent doctors’ strikes, inadequate and old facilities and presence
of few health workers in the hospitals. Our problem is now getting to the state
of selling our national assets to survive the recession. People of God, we need
to pray to our God to intervene fast and now is the time.<br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">SEVEN REASONS WHY WE MUST PRAY FOR NIGERIA:</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The country is in total darkness and confusion. APC government
is struggling to handle the country’s challenge. The strength of the expert is
not feasible again.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The judiciary and legislatures are not only impotent
but corrupt. Padding is their logo.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The police and other security agencies are experts in
corruption. They are still unable to pull down the wall of militancy and
insurgency in Nigeria.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The youths are revolting over the nonchalant,
incompetent, unpatriotic, unwillingness and indifferent response of the
Nigerian government to their plight.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The value of human life in Nigeria is belittled. Blood
of innocents ones cry for vengeance. The tears of the displaced people call for
judgment.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Human strength has failed. Church has relaxed.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">We are the ones to bridge the gap for the country.
This is our country.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">LET
US PRAY:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">That God will
remove every wicked cabal that is in authority. Every ungodly ruler and those
that do not stand up for righteousness and integrity shall be removed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">That God will
separate the dead flies that putrefy the ointment of Nigeria (Eccl. 10:1).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">That God will
arise and scatter the enemies of progress in Nigeria (Psalm 2:1-4; Acts 12:21-23).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">That God will
give us a complete end to the cycle of religious violence in Nigeria especially
in the North (Psalm 46:9).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">That God will
plant peace, tolerance and forgiveness in the heart of the aggrieved citizens. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">That God will
bless and protect all the believers from every attack of the enemy in the North
East and Niger/Delta areas. Let us use Isaiah 54:17 that “No weapon that is
formed against us shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against us in
judgment shall be condemned…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Pray for peace.
Ask the Almighty God to comfort, heal and provide for those who have lost
loved ones and /or properties and businesses during the religious and tribal
violence.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Pray against all
hidden agendas, and that any attempts to deliberately orchestrate violence
between the religious communities of Nigeria would come to nothing. Pray that
every evil counsel shall be destroyed (Job 5:12-14).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Pray for wisdom
in the utilization of the national resources especially the oil. Let us pray
that every corruption, injustice and wickedness in high places be brought down
and totally destroyed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Pray for mercy
for the weak, the poor and the orphans who cry for help because our Lord is the
Help of the helpless (Psalms 68:5).</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Pray for revival
and restoration of our economy. That dollar rate will fall and wealth of
Nigeria be restored anew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Pray for
inclusion of men and women like Joseph who solved the famine situation of Egypt
with integrity of heart to be chosen and allowed in the cabinet of our
president.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Pray that God
will strengthen the heart of President Mohammadu Buhari with courage and
wisdom. That his advisers will fear God and serve the nation.<br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">BEGIN TO
DECLARE</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">There shall be
total destruction of all false altars and establishment of the Altar of the
Almighty God in politics, government, education, health and economy of our
nation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">There shall be blessings
of peace all over the Land. From the east to the west, from the north to the
south.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Healing over the
economy, restoration of agriculture, and godly leadership. I declare ‘time out’
for economic recession in the name of Jesus Christ. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Nigeria, arise
and be great again. No more insurgency. No more tribal war. No more religious
war. No more strikes. No more recession in the name of Jesus Christ.<br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">PRAY FOR YOUR FAMILY</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Remember to cover yourself, your family, your loved
ones, your ministry, and your work, with the blood of Jesus. </span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Ask God to be your rear-guard as you battle in
intercession for Nigeria. I refuse to be the sacrifice for this nation. I shall
live to enjoy the good days of this country. </span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Pray for the church to remain active in the place of
prayer for the nation. Pray that Church of God will not fail God.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Thank God for answered prayers.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Written By</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Allen Olatunde </span></div>
African Missiologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00590929811217302148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5062773341568498305.post-28346644701287215662016-08-08T16:30:00.001-07:002016-08-08T16:31:32.360-07:00A VALEDICTORY MESSAGE DELIVERED AT PATTERSON MEMORIAL BAPTIST GRAMMAR SCHOOL, ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE ON 21ST JULY, 2015 BY PASTOR ALLEN OLATUNDE<br />
<br />
TITLE: IN THE DAYS OF YOUR STRENGTH<br />
TEXT: JUDGES 16:15-17; ECCLESIASTES 12:1<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
Like every other man, so also a young man called Samson. He had tremendous potential as you do. Not many people have started life with credentials like his. He was born as a result of God’s plan to deliver Israel from the threat of the enemy. The Bible says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). Also in Jer. 31:17, God declares concerning you that, “So there is hope for your future,” declares the LORD. You are not born by mistake or biological discharge. No! Whether from a broken home or abandoned parents, you are a complete creature whom God formed for a purpose. Samson was born to do a great work for God - to rescue Israel from the Philistines. To help him accomplish God’s plan, he was given enormous physical strength as you are also endowed. However, Samson wasted his strength on practical jokes and on the lap of Delilah. Delilah kept asking Samson for the secret of his strength until he finally grew tired of hearing nagging and he gave in. Samson, the mighty warrior, became a slave that spent his life in humiliation. He lost all potential of his days because of short term gratification and later spent his last days grinding grain in an enemy prison as a blind man. What a wasted potential!<br />
YOUNG ONES, LISTEN TO ME<br />
God has never given anyone potential for meaningless display. He gave to make eternal profit. “To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability” (Matthew 25:15). Your ability is put together as your potential in the days of your strength. Your time, opportunities, age, physique, skills, appearance, spiritual virtue and character shall determine your longevity of your strength.<br />
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GREAT EXPECTATIONS WITH DEADLINES<br />
In the days of your strength, there are great expectations from the past heroes, this generation and the coming age groups. All eyes are on you today. We believe and equally anticipate that success shall crown your labour of this six (6) years of learning in this school in the name of Jesus Christ. However, some people had earlier passed through this great school and their success is crystal-bright because they managed their days and strength well. The strength you have today, I mean, your teen age, muscular physique, beautiful outlook, brilliant performance, ready-to-support parents, good results, affection for technology, ability to think well, competitive drive, and passion to achieve. All these are actually attached with time-bomb of lifespan.<br />
The days of your strength is in the mid of your life when all you think are mentally possible; when success dreams fly round your mind’s conference table. Actually, success in career and life is possible with God and your timely perspiration. It should begin with you at this moment. Graduating from college is like waking up from the bed for the day’s work. All strength is set to take off. All dream is perfectly clear. All potency of intuition is sparkling bright. Then success is sure with God in you and by your side. <br />
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DAYS OF YOUR STRENGTH<br />
Before you begin climbing up the ladder of success, make sure the ladder is leaning against the right building to avoid sudden fall. I have these instructions for you. One of the very worst uses of time, I mean lifetime, is to do something very well that need not to be done at all. This is purely abuse of lifetime. The days used for wrong assignment cannot be regained even after doing the right. And taking actions without thinking through is a prime source of these pitfalls. To avoid these pitfalls, planning is incontrovertible and indispensable, i.e. planning of your strength within the days when strength is potent. Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now. Your future starts now. The strength you have has already started countdown. <br />
SHORT TERM FOR LONG TERM<br />
20% of your activities – educative learning or acquiring skill – will account for 80% of your results. Your schooling effort at teen and youthful age will determine your lifetime remuneration, career success and old age survival. If you are to live 80 years, 20% of your life is 16 years and if 100 years it is 20 years. Whatever you are able to acquire within age range of 15 years to 40 years of your life will equal to delicacies on your table, comfortable shelter for your body, contribution to the society, service to God and benefit for old age. The time is short but meaningful things can be done. Orison Swett Marden says and I quote that, “Every great man has become great, every successful man has succeeded in proportion as he has confined his powers to one particular channel.” Jack of all trade will never achieve anything. Doing ‘this’ and doing ‘that’ only sap strength to achieve zero. <br />
SACRIFICE FOR THE FUTURE <br />
Future intent influences and often determines present actions. Successful people are those who are willing to delay gratification and sacrifices in the short term so that they can enjoy greater rewards in the long term. Bible says, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again” (Eccl. 11:1). The unsuccessful people, on the other hand, think more about short term pleasure and immediate enjoyment while giving little though to the long term future. Do not assume bigness as from today. Diligently grow in hardworking, learning, apprenticeship, studying and researching from the “Big Ones” – your teachers, parents, lecturers, senior ones, boss, and instructors without counting the pain, shame, humiliation and denials. They are short time sacrifices for big time and lasting enjoyment.<br />
NO ENOUGH TIME<br />
There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do. Age and time fly with no remorse to what you should have achieved or not. Life is packaged with priorities. To manage your days correctly, you must set posterities as well. A priority is something that you do more of (all the time) and sooner while posterity is something that you do less of (seldom) and later, if at all. The Bible says, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12). Birthday celebration is good time to remember that some days have been used up. Day and night run to meet each other and the weeks roll on steadily. What you achieve within the month tags the month. Therefore, learn to say “NO” to consumers of time and lifetime. Say “NO” to anything that does not add high-value to your time and life. Youthfulness is not long as you think.<br />
LAWS OF SUCCESS IN THE DAYS OF YOUR STRENGTH<br />
The first law of success is concentration. To bend all the energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left. This was the law that God gave to Joshua after Moses death, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-7). Paul also obeyed the law – “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). Pressing, straining, and focusing on ONE THING enhances concentration that distraction cannot withstand. What to do: Do things that are very important, something that you must do – like reading and studying. Delegate what others can do for you. Delete what you know are not necessary for your life and delay what is important but not urgent till another day.<br />
The second law of success is sincere self-grading. Give yourself a grade. Isaiah once did it, ““Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips...” (Isaiah 6:6). You know your strength and weakness better than anyone does. Your strength preserves time while weakness consumes time. Use all available opportunities to identify your weakness to improve on it positively. Here is one of the greatest questions you will ever ask and answer. “What one skill will have the greatest positive impact in my life and career, if I develop and do it in an excellent way?” As from now and henceforth, do what you can, and what you should with what you have where you are. <br />
The third law of success is immediate action. Learn to take immediate action that will transform your life, for procrastination steals time and opportunities. In colleges, teachers instruct you for immediate action but in tertiary institutions, it depends on you alone - no close and persuasive instructors. Assignment will be given without thinking about your convenience or schedule for domestic works. Start to do right things at the right time with immediate effort. Success calls for single step action. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Therefore, no matter the level of your ability, you have more potential than you can ever develop in a lifetime. <br />
The fourth law of success is learning. You aim higher to be great in your career and life, then learn what you need to learn so that you can be what you dream of. For continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field. There is one thing that everyone needs to possess to change himself, environment, choice, beliefs, value system and actions. This is KNOWLEDGE. Knowledge is known as information. And information is formed by the numbers of data we get from reliable sources. Knowledge can save 40 years of your life from stress and struggle with 4 hours of privilege information. Knowledge can be sourced for through LEARNING. There are seven (7) ways of learning; they are observation: When you keenly and purposefully watch a thing without questioning or participation, observation has occurred. Interrogation: When you are inquisitive about something in form of questioning, then interrogation is in process. Research: This is a bit close to interrogation but farther in time and results. Research for information may last many years, just to formulate data to solve problems. The researcher will go extra mile to expose WHAT, WHERE, WHY and HOW of a thing. Apprenticeship: It is the act of bending or bowing low to learn under a person for a duration agreed by the parties. Participation: When there is collective effort in discovering data with the expert. The novice will be allowed to do the miniature work while watching the professional doing the core ones. Meditation: The act of ruminating on what has been observed, questioned, researched, participated and read in calm and solitude mood. Lastly, Reading: This is an act of gleaning data and information from written books. When you sit back to learn from others that are dead or alive, far or near, in a solitude and readiness to change, you learn more. Learning by reading should be at least one hour every day.<br />
The more you learn, the more you can learn. A professor will die a professional with his/her work impacting after while an illiterate will reduce to ashes of nothingness, i.e. he/she cannot add any value to his/her world and such lives on suggested influence of the society. Just as you can build your physical muscles through physical exercises, so also you can build your mental muscles with mental exercises. There is no limit to how far or how fast you can advance except for the limits you place on your own imaginations. The Bible says. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13). <br />
PUT PRESSURE ON YOUR STRENGTH AND SET DEADLINES ON YOUR DAYS<br />
For this one life that you have, decide for yourself what you really love to do and then to throw your whole heart into doing that special thing very, very well. For Bible says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” (Eccl. 9:10). Concentrate all your thought on the task at hand now, for the sun’s rays do not burn hard until it is brought to a focus. Put pressure on yourself now before society, parents, families, religion, friends, marriage, age put pressure on you. Create imaginary deadlines for yourself and strive hard to achieve them before age and time knock you down. Youthful age has deadlines. Passion to be (exuberance) and drive to imagine (intuition) is for a while. Whatever you achieve with them is what will be in your archives for life.<br />
OPPORTUNITY IS NEITHER FRIEND NOR FOE<br />
Opportunity comes down like simple, gentle bubbles which will later grow wild and soaring wings like eagle and it disappears into the thin air of no return. Opportunity of parents; I mean, good, reliable and responsible parents, opportunity of good education, opportunity of good learning materials are not forever. Opportunity comes with distractions and fallacy. Technology is your friend but can also be a distractor if not managed. Addiction to food, lust, romantic novels, music, fashion, friendship, sporting, betting, partying and so on can speedily become catalyst hormones that will develop wings for your opportunities to fly away. <br />
Life and opportunity are not permanent friends. In few minutes, let’s look into the consequences of wasted opportunity which is equal to waste life. Opportunity of life comes in mask and does not look attractive. Consequently, many have ignore its lovely appealing. A lost opportunity is lost forever – bitter truth. The consequences are future regret, horror and pain of waiting for another opportunities, shame and contempt in the neigbourhood. Whenever another opportunity surfaces, there may be no more equal strength, support, structure, satisfaction, and interest to use as they were.<br />
YOU ARE A COMPLETE INVESTMENT OF GOD<br />
Your age is a rare blessing from God. Your body is a complete investment of God. You are expected to honour God by fleeing from every evil vice, lust, tattoos, truancy, cultism, alcoholism, addiction, gambling, crazy fashion trend, prostitution, etc. Your opportunities should be able to earn you bonus for old age. Whatever you sow now, you will reap. God gave you parents and guardians to protect your life from falling. Do not reject the counsel of your parents as uncivilized. Learn from their past errors and flaws. Their twenty (20) years journey can be travelled together within the moment of counseling. Their used or wasted opportunities should guide you when you get to such bridge. And if there are failures, do not be another poor specimen for coming generations.<br />
KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS<br />
BEAUTY<br />
Strength can come as physical beauty. Watch out for pluckers and suckers of beautiful, juicy and ripe fruits. They lack conscience. Any plucked fruit will be sapped of her juicy and her remains will be thrown off by the roadside. Remember there is no permanent, ever-beautiful Miss World. Age and time deform the contours without your consent. Manage your body very well. Eat well. A good opportunity of life without good body is a waste already. Avoid cancerous make-ups and skin-bleaching substances. All these will shorten your years of usefulness. <br />
BRAIN AND HEART<br />
Your strength of vibrant brain and healthy heart cannot be underemphasized. It is really on your side now. You have opportunity to think wide, store up information, criticize constructively, review and diagnose issues, decide and judge with your potential cerebrums. Your heart is healthy to run up and down. You achieve whatever you dream. Your heart pumps blood accurately and adequately into the body without any tension. It is an opportunity indeed. The Bible says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23). Avoid evil thoughts, oriental meditation, impossibilities, unforgiveness, malice, revenge and corrupt practices. Think right. Your brain has the capacity. The research shows that only 15% of the brain is used by a genius when new thing is discovered. And till now what have you discovered? You can use your brain to solve societal challenges through your profession. I challenge you to be the first in Africa to discover anti-Ebola vaccine, anti-corruption formula, sixth sense technology, solar energy in the dark, new mathematical theory after your name, new device and system for electricity power supply, anti-cyber detector without internet, creation of new vocabularies, think-tank of the nation policy formulation, etc. <br />
WHAT I SEE<br />
To this point, I want to say what I see in you. The graduating students of Patterson Memorial Baptist Grammar School, I see a great strength in you that produces the newest African neurosurgeon. I see profound, eloquent and fearless lawyer. I see amiable, diplomatic and classic ambassadors of Nigeria. I see the next peace and Nobel laureate. I see the philanthropist, excelling and international Business tycoon. I see the youngest space engineer. I see international economist and World Bank president. Sky is not your limit. God is your limit.<br />
WARNING ON YOUR STRENGTH<br />
Now from the preacher to boys and girls, in the book of Ecclesiastes 11:9, it states that, “Be happy, young man and lady, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.” “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; …when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets. Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:1-7).<br />
Strength ends in old age when there is recounting of dreams and chanting of unfilled aspirations. It is a must for all. A time when regrets fill the air and pleasures disappear. A time when teen ages and youthful ages shall become a movie clip in the abstract, ever watched but cannot be edited. However, you are better than the old ones now. My brothers and sisters, remember your Creator now as you aspire to get to the top of your dreams. <br />
FOR THE PARENTS<br />
Before I conclude, I have these words for the parents:<br />
1. Believe your children’s dream and passion. Support them with seasoned counsel.<br />
2. Do not mismanage their strength for your foolish gains e.g. prostitution, beer parlor attendants, gains from friends of your children, etc.<br />
3. Create environment for their passion through your blissful relationship with your spouse. Your marital inconsistency blows away their dreams like whirlwind. Settle your differences in time.<br />
4. Join hands together to build pillars that your children can lean on. Support them financially. Do not pamper.<br />
5. Watch your actions, for your children playback what they see you doing.<br />
6. Pray for them always and be a parent of “do what I do” not “do what I say”.<br />
CONCLUSION<br />
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Eccl. 12:13-14). To escape the judgment, and to spend your time meaningfully, there is a man called Jesus Christ. He has lived on this earth with perfect record. He has power to see you through your journey. If you can submit your life, career and plans to Him, He will give you life here and thereafter.<br />
Written and delivered by<br />
Pastor Allen Olatunde (The Chaplain)<br />
08032346674allen.olatunde@gmail.com<br />
Reference: Brian Tracy. Eat That Frog. Benin City: Joint Heirs Publications, 2007.African Missiologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00590929811217302148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5062773341568498305.post-25641520355061431552015-03-17T06:00:00.002-07:002015-03-17T06:00:18.587-07:00CROSS CULTURAL MISSIONS
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross Cultural Missions is the bane
and spiral connector of the scripture from Genesis to Revelation. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For
God is not colour blind but colourful</i></b>. He created us with diverse
abilities that make us need one another; no one is self-sufficient. God gave us
gospel to reach the reached and the unreached without discrimination but with
love and wisdom. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Biblical background</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">God chose for Himself a nation of Israel, as a
treasure to be priests to other nations (Exodus 19:3-6).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jesus gave us the mandate to go to the world of
nations (Matthew 24:4; 28:19-20).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the opening of early church, the command was given
again with direction (Acts 1:8).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">God manifested to the world, His intention to win
every tribe, language and culture back to Himself as the disciples spoke in
their language (Acts 2:5:21) to fulfill the prophecy of end time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Paul was making some assertions on
the peculiarity of Cross Cultural Missions in context of simplicity and
application. He said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“And unto the Jews
I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law,
as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that
are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the
law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became
I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I
might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might
be partaker thereof with you."</i> (1 Cor. 9:20).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Definition of Cross Cultural
Missions<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross
Cultural Missions is an apostleship call.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross
Cultural Missions also means taking gospel of Christ from one tribe, language,
ethnic, culture, community, nation across a border of another.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross
cultural missions can be geographical (travelling to another land) or
residential (living among different tribe in a locality).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross
Cultural Missions involves a deliberate and conscious effort to break loosed barriers
placed by men – tradition, culture, language, norms, ethnicity, remoteness,
exposure – with sacrificial and humble approach of coming low to the level of obscure
people in order to win them for Christ over a period of time. It is tasking,
humiliating, risky and enduring. Only the called endures the scourge of fierce
culture, unfriendliness, poverty, harsh climatic differences and tense isolation
from social amenities, just for the sake of the Gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Purpose of Cross Cultural Missions<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">God created
us with different opportunities, strengths, abilities, influences and knowledge
purposely to reach, affect and sustain other nations far away from the
privilege.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross
Cultural Missions is the flow of world missions. From Near East to Rome,
Europe, America and now in Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross
Cultural Missions is the secret of world civilization and development. Missions
open up a hidden nations to discover their worth and resources for development.
Cross Cultural Missions goes with enlightenment and education.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross
Cultural Missions is the connecting link of God’s power to other nations. We
are given the shoe of readiness of the Gospel as armour. God touches and
rescues lives through Cross Cultural Missions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Practicing Cross Cultural Missions<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Apostleship: An itinerant missionary with a message
from God to a particular people in a particular location per time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Full-time Missionary: A person who has accepted God’s
call to leave his/her comfort zone across the border to live, learn and
influence a community for a long time with the gospel of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tentmaker (Bi-vocational Missionary): A person who has
passion for missions among some people where he/she works to sustain living.
Such person uses carrier as a tool to enter a community with a purpose of
financing missions with his/her work and winning souls to Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Social Ministry Missionary: This person has passion
for missions as he/she rises to the pressing needs of a group of people
(missionaries, converts, children, aged, prostitute, uneducated, women,
leaders, youths, etc.) with a physical relief aid to solve their physiological
needs with the purpose of reaching and winning them to Christ. It can be done
through medical, educational, materials, entrepreneurship or communal project
outreach.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Modern Media Missionary: a person who uses every
modern medium of technology to defeat barriers of entering restricted and free
access nations with Gospel of Christ through internet opportunities, social
network, technological devices, visuals and audio clips, and graphical
resources.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Missionary opportunities can be practiced within a
local community, state (domestic) and across national or continental borders
(international). A Yoruba man in France may minister to fellow Yoruba in the
land alone. This is an international mission that is not cross cultural.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Preparation for Cross Cultural
Missions<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ready to
learn new ideology, culture, norms, values, language, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ready to
adjust what you know, have and survive on to what is obtainable in the
environment. For example: perception about primitive and rural dweller, eating
and dressing culture, climatic preference, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Analyze and
evaluate yourself based on SWOT to fit in to the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Endeavour
to learn the language of the people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Do not
shift ground on your conviction of faith, despite your respect for their
culture. Christ is above culture.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Design a
way to educate them in what you know. It is the extension of your knowledge,
skill and ability that can develop their capacity for further development
without your physical presence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Develop
friendship atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">8.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Always
conduct continuous spiritual survey quietly and wisely.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Be fast in
interpreting anything with the sensitivity of Holy Spirit and be systematic in
response as God leads you. Everything is NOT always normal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">10.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Share your
discovery with a Christian friend around you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">11.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Use every
interaction as an opportunity to share simple gospel – Jesus loves you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What to do on the field<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have a target – e.g. wanting to win ten or more souls
(children, youth, uneducated, aged, women, teen, etc.) to Christ before the end
of the year. Be specific.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pray for your target – depend on God for wisdom, pace,
and opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Develop interest in your target – build passion around
the target. Be creative in what to do. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Systematically hit the target – do not waste
opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Say or do what you have
developed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Evaluate your target based on the measure you choose
to use.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Quote from Patrick Johnstone<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Scripture, theology, the Church
and even Christian would not exist without Mission. Therefore, a theology
without Mission is not a Biblical theology, a Church without Mission is no
longer truly the Church, and a Christian without Mission is no true disciple.
For a Christian mission is not an optional extra for the fanatical few or for
the specially anointed; it is a fundamental definitive of who we are in Christ.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Prepared by Allen Olatunde (www.africaglow.org)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
African Missiologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00590929811217302148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5062773341568498305.post-1520841381192299212015-03-17T05:57:00.000-07:002015-03-17T05:57:10.934-07:00THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM ON NIGERIAN POLITICS<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">INTRODUCTION<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">By
“influence” is meant ability to get others to act, think, or feel as one
intends.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
However, influence as a word in this context carries weight than its vocabulary
strength when it comes to politics. Everyone has influence in way or the other.
This influence is equally seen in religion as the use of power of influence to remain
at the top of governance in Nigerian politics. Influence can be synonymous to forceful
domination, lobbying, and consistent control, having increase in promotion of
ideology without intrusion and also ruling out conscience effects. Nigeria has
been on the influence roll of religion from womb, to the delivery and also as
she grows in all structures. Before, during and post-colonial rules, Nigeria
suffers the negative effects of religions influence and also enjoys the good
impact of the influence. However, politics in Nigeria still sails on the boat
of religion due to her diversity in ethnics, landmass and religious ideology.
To really know the level of influence, there is need to know some facts about
Nigeria and her religious diversities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">THE
STRUCTURE OF RELIGION IN NIGERIA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Religion
has always been important in Nigeria and in Nigerian politics.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
“The intensity of religious identity in Nigeria is regarded as one of the
highest in the world”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a> This
claim is supported by the fact that Nigerians are more likely to define
themselves in terms of religion than any other identity. Indeed, according to
the authoritative May-June 2006 survey on Religion and Public Life conducted by
the Pew Forum on “Religion and Public Life”, 76% of Christians say that
religion is more important to them than their identity as Africans, Nigerians
or members of an ethnic group. Among Muslims, the number naming religion as the
most important factor is even higher (91%). In effect, Christian and Muslim
identities have been the mainstay of religious differentiation and conflict,
with Nigerian Muslims much more likely to evince or articulate a religious
identity than Christians.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a> The
CIA Factbook lists Nigeria as 50% Muslim, 40% Christian, and 10% indigenous
beliefs. The intensity of religious identity in Nigeria is regarded as one of
the highest in the world.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Relations between Muslims and Christians exhibit some tension to national
politics which remain extraordinarily complex, with the country divided
regionally, ethnically, and religiously. The Igbo people make up 18% of the
population, live in the eastern region, and are predominantly Christian. The
Yoruba people comprise 21% of the population, live in the southwestern region,
and are half Muslim and half Christian. The Hausa-Fulani account for 29% of the
population, live in the north, and practice Islam.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Nigeria
contains both zones, so religion is often intertwined with regional (three
northern and three southern regions) and federal-state (36 states) issues. In
the 2007 presidential elections, all three major parties nominated a northern
Muslim for president and a southern Christian for vice-president. When the
southern Christian president unsuccessfully sought to change the constitution
so he could serve a third term, it caused great tension within the system.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">According
to a Pew Survey, most of the country’s Christians (62%) say they trust people
from other religions only a little or not at all. A similar percentage of
Nigeria’s Muslims (61%) say they trust people of other religions little or not
at all.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Nigeria
is usually characterized as a deeply divided state in which major political
issues are vigorously and or violently contested along the lines of the complex
ethnic, religious, and regional divisions in the country.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
From its inception as a colonial state, Nigeria has faced a perennial crisis of
territorial or state legitimacy, which has often challenged its efforts at
national cohesion, democratization, stability and economic transformation.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
The high point of the crisis seems to have been the civil war in the late
1960s, which ensued shortly after independence in 1960. Since Nigeria’s
transition to civilian rule in 1999 there has been a rapid increase of
conflicts in the country.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Since
2009 to date, seeking for religion autonomy has now caused the highest woeful
identity for Nigeria on the note of influencing politics to her ideology.
Bombing and killing are result of religious imposition on politics on Nigeria. It
is this unique religious divide that prompted Archbishop Onaiyekan to describe
the country as “the greatest Islamo-Christian nation in the world”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
by which he meant that Nigeria is the largest country in the world with an
evenly split population of Muslims and Christians, and “really the test case of
the ‘clash of civilizations,’”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[13]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">However,
the diversity of religion with political influence could be traced to
amalgamation period. It will not be correct to say that Nigeria was created
with a faulty foundation. The interest of its creators was not to build a
nation, but to find an area for exploration. The administrative, political,
social and economic system they adopted and employed was to facilitate this one
goal. Nigeria was born as a result of the scramble and partition for Africa by
imperial Europe. In 1884, leading European nations net in Berlin and divided
Africa into nations to end terrestrial struggle among them. Unfortunately,
there was no African represented. From here they proceeded with the conquest of
Southern and Northern territories, When the conquest was completed in 1903 they
divided the nation into North and South Protectorates and the Colony of Lagos.
In 1906 the Lagos colony was amalgamated with the Southern Protectorate to
become the Southern Protectorate. Nigeria evolved as a nation when the Southern
and Northern Protectorates were amalgamated in 1914 by Lord Frederick Lugard
who also became the first Governor General of Nigeria. The North was dominated
by the Hausa-Fulani ethnic group while the West was dominated the Yoruba and
the East by the Ibos. The amalgamation really caused the problems of religion
in Nigeria.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[14]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
This is the beginning of influence of religion in Nigeria.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">CONSTITUTIONAL
STRUCTURE THAT GUIDES RELIGION <br />
INFLUENCE IN NIGERIA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">According
to Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, it is stated that
state religion is prohibited. Part II - Powers of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria – Article 10: Prohibition of State Religion – “The Government of the
Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion”. Also,
Chapter IV - Fundamental Rights – Article 38: Right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion – “(1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or
belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or
in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship,
teaching, practice and observance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2)
No person attending any place of education shall be required to receive
religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or
observance if such instruction ceremony or observance relates to a religion
other than his own, or religion not approved by his parent or guardian. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3) No religious community or denomination
shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that
community or denomination in any place of education maintained wholly by that
community or denomination.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[15]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">POLITICAL
STRUCTURE AND CONSTITUTION OF NIGERIA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Politically,
Nigeria is a federal republic modeled after the United States, with executive
power exercised by the president. The government of Nigeria is also influenced
by the Westminster System model in the composition and management of the upper
and lower houses of a bicameral legislature. The president, however, is the
head of state, the head of government, and the head of a multi-party system. Nigerian
politics takes place within a framework of a federal, presidential,
representative democratic republic, in which executive power is exercised by
the government.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[16]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
The presidential system in democracy allows both religions to nominate either
Christian for the presidency and Muslim for running mate or vice versa.
However, some sharia states have violated the procedures when Muslims co-run
the post at state level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">THE
BRIEF HISTORICAL GROWTH AND INFLUENCE OF EACH<br />
RELIGION IN NIGERIAN POLITICS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ISLAM
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
British colonization of Nigeria both ended the dominance of the Islamic Sokoto
Empire and legitimized Muslim cultural, religious, and governance systems.
British support for preexisting Islamic leadership, educational, and judicial
systems thus created a unified, if less economically developed, northern
Islamic political bloc. Muslim traders (wangawara) had first brought Islam to
northern Nigerian urban centers in the tenth and eleventh centuries. In the
middle of the eighteenth century, Muslim missionaries began to convert the
rural and common people to their blend of traditional tribal practices and
Qur’an-based teachings. But Sunni purists saw this blend as “impure,” and
between 1804-12, the jihad of the Fulani cleric, Shehu Usman dan Fodio, replaced
Hausa leaders with a new caliphate. This Sokoto Empire controlled northern
Nigeria until 1903 when the British invaded and joined these northern lands to
Bornu lands on the southern border. The British then protected Muslim areas
from Christian missionaries since they believed the latter would destabilize
colonial rule.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[17]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the North, the British made use of Muslim emirs. Their
centralized administrative system gave them this advantage. The Northern emirs
based their administrative system on Islamic religion. The British used them as
agents of colonialism not just over Muslims but non-Muslims as well. The emirs
were charged with collecting taxes, local administration, and justice. For
effective administration, the North was divided into emirates, and not just the
Muslims areas. This whole system can be best described as joint
British-Hausa/Fulani rule and political control over the North.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: blue;">[18]</span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Another
way that Islam influences politics in the midst of Non-Muslims in the South is
noted when Afonja, the powerful leader in Ilorin sought for assistance. To
strengthen Ilorin's position, Afonja called on the support of Muslim elements
in the kingdom. He was not a Muslim himself, and it appears to have been a
piece of political opportunism, to harness forces which were proving to be
invincible in the states to the north. He enlisted the help of an itinerant
Fulani scholar, Alim al-Salih, better known as Mallam Alimi, who declared a
jihad at Ilorin. Other support came from Yoruba Muslims led by a man called
Solagberu, from pastoral Fulani, and from Muslim slaves who deserted their
owners and fled to Ilorin from the adjacent towns. From these, mainly northern,
elements, a military force was created which started to lay waste large areas
of the Oyo kingdom. Alimi's influence among these troops grew stronger, and
Afonja belatedly realised that he was no longer in control. His attempts to
disband them led to a civil war, and he was killed in the fighting, probably
about 1823.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[19]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Solagberu was also eliminated. On Alimi's death, control of Ilorin passed to
his son Abudusalami. He declared his allegiance to the Sokoto Empire and was
recognized as Emir. The Fulani dynasty in Ilorin has survived to the present.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[20]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">After
independence, the Muslim north dominated politics. Even in the north, however,
Muslim leaders split into the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), backed by
Qadiriyya Sufi sect, and the Northern Elements Progressive Party Union (NEPU),
backed by the more popular Tijaniyya. The Constitution divided the country into
three regions: Northern, Western, and Eastern. Muslims became the Federal,
Northern, and Western Prime Ministers.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[21]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">CHRISTIANITY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Nigerian Christian community is one of the major institutions in Nigeria. In
numerical terms, it is bigger than any political party, trade union, or the
rank and file of the Nigerian Army.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[22]</span></span></span></span></span></a> From
the 1990s to the 2000s, there was significant growth in Protestant churches in
Nigeria.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[23]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
The Yoruba area contains a large Anglican population, while Igboland is
predominantly Catholic and the Edo area is predominantly Assemblies of God.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[24]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Christian
missions also carried out their mission work within these two broad societies
in the North. The Church in Northern Nigeria was born within three powerful
contexts: (1) the traditional context, mainly in the Middle Belt areas; (2) the
Islamic context, mainly in the Far North; and (3) the colonial context of
British rule over the whole of Nigeria. This northern context had been
transformed by the Colonial Administration and Christian missions. The consequences
of this transformation in post-colonial Nigeria have influenced greatly the
nature of politics and religious conflict in Nigeria.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[25]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
growth of Christianity depends on the denominational strength, unlike Islam. Christianity
has less involvement in power tussle on the nation. They were mostly after the
propagation of the Gospel. Though the spread was hindered by the war lord and
religious leaders, and war at the inception of pioneering work of missions, yet
there was diversion to where it was accepted. During that time Baptist
missionary W. H. Clarke explored up to Ilorin in 1857 but was equally
disallowed by the Emir from settling in the city. European missionaries of the
CMS Yoruba Mission also entertained serious plans to expand their area of
activities further north up to Ilorin, but two visits, one by Reverend A. Mann
in 1855 and another by Reverend H. Townsend in 1858, could not persuade the
Emir to open his Muslim country to Christian missionaries. Their encounter with
Islam was thus restricted to engaging with Muslims in Yoruba-land.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[26]</span></span></span></span></span></a> And
the presence of Church affected health sector, education and civilization of
the area than others that disallowed.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[27]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Nevertheless
a few of the leaders allowed Christianity for personal gain. During time of Bowen
of Baptist Mission as a case study, Kurumi received him very cordially and told
him to select any place he wished in the town on which to erect his house. That
personage evidently thought the missionary was a trader, and, when he saw there
were no goods for slave, and the missionary did nothing but talk to the people,
he called him to task, rebuking him as a lazy person who did nothing but sit in
his pizza and talk. The interest of Kurunmi who invited Bowen to Ijaiye seemed
to lie in the prestige and political advantage that his town would derive from
the presence of a white resident.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[28]</span></span></span></span></span></a> In
Abeokuta, he was on the side of those who did not want the slave trade. Other
missionaries from different denominations (e.g. Rev. Henry Townsend, of the
Church Missionary Society) were also in the same town as Bowen.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[29]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Christianity
has distinguished itself in the areas of health care, education, the
development and inspiration of African nationalism, and social relationships.
What was not explicitly encouraged was active Christian participation in
partisan politics. However, the missionaries laid the foundation for the church
to oppose governmental policies that deprived citizens of their rights. The
intimate relationship that missionaries had with the colonial masters did not
stop them from opposing inhumane policies. In some ways, the lack of explicit
Christian interest in politics was alleviated by its focus on the implicit
socio-political emphasis in the Gospel.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[30]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Today,
Christianity has grown beyond the wall of the Church into politics as she
formed a formidable body, CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) to speak for
the Christians in government policy. Though CAN is not directly governmental
body but she has impact in influencing the politics of the nation through
special advice to the presidency on religious affairs, through her members in legislature,
judicial and executive arm of the government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">THE
ROOT OF INFLUENCE ON NIGERIAN POLITICS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">ISLAM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Ideology
of Sharia for good governance <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In
all but a handful of the 39 countries surveyed, a majority of Muslims say that
Islam is the one true faith leading to eternal life in heaven and that belief
in God is necessary to be a moral person. Many also think that their religious
leaders should have at least some influence over political matters. And many
express a desire for sharia – traditional Islamic law – to be recognized as the
official law of their country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Solid
majorities in most of the countries surveyed across the Middle East and North
Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia favor the
establishment of sharia, including 71% of Muslims in Nigeria, 72% in Indonesia,
74% in Egypt and 89% in the Palestinian territories.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[31]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Before colonization and subsequent annexation into the British Empire in 1900 as
Colonial Nigeria, the Bornu Empire ruled the territory where Boko Haram, a
terrorist group, is currently active. It was a sovereign sultanate run
according to the principles of the Constitution of Medina, with a majority
Kanuri Muslim population. In 1903, both the Bornu Sultanate and Sokoto
Caliphate came under the control of the British, who used educational
institutions to help spread Christianity in the region.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[32]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Now
in Nigeria, Boko Haram was founded as a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist sect
advocating a strict form of sharia law. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn33;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[33]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn34;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[34]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn35;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[35]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Eventually,
the sharia law was imposed by local authorities, beginning with Zamfara in
January 2000 and covering twelve northern states by late 2002.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn36;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[36]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn37;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[37]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
This is the ideology of Islam; to impose her law as the law of the nation. This
actually has influenced the political structure of Nigeria. Islam jihadists use
every means to appropriate their ideology into the system of the nation. From
the inception, Boko Haram started good and kind just to enter the heart of the
country. Mohammed Yusuf founded the sect that became known as Boko Haram in
2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of the north-eastern state of Borno. He
established a religious complex and school that attracted poor Muslim families
from across Nigeria and neighbouring countries. The center had the political
goal of creating an Islamic state, and became a recruiting ground for jihadis.
Yusuf attracted followers from unemployed youths.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn38" name="_ftnref38" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn38;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[38]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn39" name="_ftnref39" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn39;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[39]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn40" name="_ftnref40" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn40;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[40]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
He used the existing infrastructure in Borno of the Izala Society (Jama'at
Izalatil Bidiawa Iqamatus Sunnah), a popular conservative Islamic sect, to
recruit members, before breaking away to form his own faction. The Izala were
originally welcomed into government, along with people sympathetic to Yusuf.
The Council of Ulama advised the government and the Nigerian Television
Authority not to broadcast Yusuf's preaching, but their warnings were ignored.
Yusuf's arrest elevated him to hero status.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn41" name="_ftnref41" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn41;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[41]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
question of using Shari’a Islamic law has generated additional public
controversy since the 1970s. In the writing and ratification of the
constitutions of the Second and Third Republics, the demand for a Federal
Shari’a Court of Appeals created political crisis, requiring the intervention
of the military. In both instances, the South interpreted the debates on
Shari’a as an attempt to impose Islam on the country. There has always been a
political side to the demand for the Shari’a.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Its most forceful advocates are not religious preachers or scholars, but
a new breed of politicians. The demand for Shari’a enables these ambitious
politicians to always seek an ideology to unite the North, to halt the inroad
of southern competitors to the north, and to even discredit established
northern politicians who are regarded as too soft in advancing the agenda of
the North.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn42" name="_ftnref42" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn42;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[42]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Religious
tensions between Evangelical Christians and Islamic groups have long existed,
but the anticipated extension of sharia law in a number of northern states has
caused increased religious tension since December 1999. For example, in Ilorin,
Kwara State, fourteen churches were burnt to the ground by suspected Islamic
fundamentalists. News of the introduction of sharia law on 1 January 2000 in
Zamfara State led to widespread violence in February/March 2000 in which
property was destroyed and more than 1,000 people were killed. A second state,
Kano State, adopted Islamic law in June 2001 and in 2002, a further ten
northern states followed suit. Though the Nigerian central government has
openly recognized the incompatibility of sharia law with the federal
constitution of the nation, President Olusegun Obasanjo has avoided intervening
in decisions taken by states that apply Islamic law, merely calling for
moderation. As an outspoken born-again Christian, he knows that vigorous
condemnation of strict Islamic law will only inflame passions further and at
the same time he fears that the spread of sharia law will increase religious
tension and undermine Nigerian unity.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn43" name="_ftnref43" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn43;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[43]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Correcting
injustice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Nigerian
was rated high in corruption in the world. Therefore, Islam came on board on
the basis of healing the nation from the malady of injustice. The leader of the
terrorist group, Shehu, is quoted:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"We are doing what we are doing to fight injustice, if they stop
their satanic ways of doing things and the injustices, we would stop what we
are doing” <a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn44" name="_ftnref44" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn44;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[44]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn45" name="_ftnref45" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn45;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[45]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
This was one of several political and religious assassinations Boko Haram
carried out in 2001, with the presumed intention of correcting injustices in the
group's home state of Borno.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn46" name="_ftnref46" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn46;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[46]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Islam adherents believe that their religion
brings absolute sanity over the decadent land<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn47" name="_ftnref47" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn47;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[47]</span></span></span></span></span></a> and
the stability of this nation.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn48" name="_ftnref48" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn48;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[48]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Indifference
to Western culture in governance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In
the decades since the end of British occupation, politicians and academics from
the mainly Islamic North have expressed their fundamental opposition to Western
education.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn49" name="_ftnref49" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn49;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[49]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Western culture is the product of America
such as democracy in government, scientific advancement, academic and
educational development, English legal system, American dressing culture, etc.
Most Muslims do not necessarily agree upon a number of these major issues: the
secular, or otherwise, nature of the Nigerian foundation; the distribution of
federal positions to ambitious members of the political class; the continuation
or not of the English legal system; the retention of Nigeria as a federal
structure; and the distribution of power between the federal and states; the
place of women in society and politics; the number of Nigerians and their
regional distributions; the number of states and local governments in the
federation, etc. The access to and manipulation of Western education has long
been a source of tension. The South had an early advantage, as Christian
missionaries came via the Atlantic Ocean to evangelize and promote formal
Western education. When Independence came in 1960, the South had more educated
elite than the North. To the North, this was a source of domination. This
disparity fueled regionalism and attacks on Southerners. As the North
established more Western-style schools, so too did the South, with the result
that to date, that the South continue to have more educated people than the
North. As economic opportunities shrink, the Southern educated people,
especially the middle class and fresh graduates, have resorted to migrations to
all parts of the world. To these migrants and to the jobless in the South,
Muslims and the North have held the nation back and must be blamed for their
predicament. As many Yoruba and Igbo in the South have said, their “nations”
would have developed but for the inclusion of the North in Nigeria.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn50" name="_ftnref50" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn50;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[50]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Ethnicity
and Religious domination by region and population<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">It
is generally believed that Northern part of Nigeria is mainly religiously
dominated by Islam adherents, while South has the majority of Christians. In
reality, the South is more afraid of the North. For most of the years since
independence, the North has produced the majority of the country’s leaders,
leading to the political concept of “northern primacy”. The British bequeathed
a northern region bigger than the South combined. After independence, the
northern political class used the army to control power and distribute
resources to themselves. In the 1990s, a number of politicians were developing
a political theory of domination: the East should control trade, the West the
civil service, and the North political power. The Northerner believes that
governance belongs to them as inheritance. However, the fear of this domination
gave rise to suggestions on zoning, an arrangement whereby each region, a
cluster of six states, would produce the country’s president in a rotational
arrangement. The fear of domination is unlikely to disappear as long as
religion is part of the definition of community and ethnicity in most parts of
the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the North, minority
elements define themselves as Christians, and they have actually resorted to
Christianity to solidify their identity, as in the case of the Kataf of
Zangon-Kataf. At the national level, the North-South divide is treated both as
ethnic and religious fault lines. Nigeria is a multi-plural society, with many
ethnicities and languages. Religious pluralism and ethnic differences do
undermine the process of building a Nigerian nation-state. But the divisions
prevent or undermine equally the attempts by one group or religion to impose
itself on the country. For instance, Muslims have been accused of wanting to
impose Islam on Nigeria, but mobilization by southern Christians has suggested
that there would be secession or warfare. The use of Islam to promote the
politics of “One North” began after 1945. Both Islam and Christianity compete
for space, converts and political domination. Leaders of religious
organizations use the style and language of politics, in their quest for propaganda,
control of converts, and the prevention of one another from dominating the
political environment.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn51" name="_ftnref51" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn51;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[51]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Hiding
under Political propaganda <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Everyone
that uses Islam as a tool has a mission under veil as a propaganda; to extend
domination and control over the people. Muslims tolerated, temporarily, a king
accepting Islam and at the same time continuing to practice the traditional
religion. The king would want to straddle the fence this way because he was
expected to be the father and high-priest for all his people. If a significant
number of them or even a few prominent citizens adopted a particular religion
that did not threaten his power, he would be expected to lead them in their
religious practice, thus providing religious leadership to all groups, and not
allowing it to go into political opposition. The kings found Islam a convenient
support to their imperial authority, since it was a unifying ideology bridging
the many tribes and presenting them with a wider brotherhood, citizenship or
nationality. This produced the phenomenon of "state Islam", whereby
Islam was controlled and used to promote the interests of the rulers.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn52" name="_ftnref52" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn52;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[52]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
In history of propaganda with Islam influence, a new impetus to the spread of
Islam was provided by Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of the Northern Region after
Nigerian independence in 1960, with his Islamization programme that led to the
conversion of over 100,000 people in the provinces of Zaria and Niger. The
military coup in 1966, which claimed the lives of many politicians including
Ahmadu Bello, brought his Islamization programme to an abrupt end but the 1970s
saw continued government policy favouring the dominance of Islam. History has
shown that Islamization was easier under military dictatorship and Islam spread
quickly under Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn53" name="_ftnref53" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn53;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[53]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">A
combination of factors has made religion a powerful factor in Nigerian
politics. First is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">failure of
political leadership</i>. To many Muslims, Mhumar Gadaffi of Libya and Ayathola
Khomeini of Iran provide alternative models to emulate. Second, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">failure of institutions and structures of
governance</i> have been interpreted as the failure of the state itself. To
many Muslims, the failure represents the limitations of secular
institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Third, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Structural Adjustment Program and its
failures in the 1990s</i> instigated tensions expressed as religious conflicts.
As the economy declines, more and more people see in religion an escape or a
source of opposition to the state. For instance in Kano, the country’s
political decay and economic problems have not only drawn more people to Islam,
it has also radicalized them. Fourth, religion, like ethnicity, is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">source of mobilization for political actors</i>.
Once a political candidate defines himself as a Muslim and his rival happens to
be Christian, politics can acquire the coloration of religious conflict. In the
North, many politicians have turned to Islam for power legitimization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There have been power rivalries with Christians
and bids to impose the Shari’a over a larger region. These attempts have
radicalized the Christian Association of Nigeria to contest all religious
symbols and what it perceives as efforts to use Islam to dominate politics.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn54" name="_ftnref54" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn54;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[54]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
By and large, Northern politicians have continued to profit from Islam, using
its symbols as political ideology and propaganda in order to unite the region
against the South and to mobilize their different constituencies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">CHRISTIANITY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Christendom<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Why
does church need to influence government? From the church history, Christianity
had strived highly as the center of dominion and authority fir the state. Christendom
from the word ‘Christian dominion’ filled the air during the early church and Roman
Empire and that was the basis for some denominational root in their nations.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn55" name="_ftnref55" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn55;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[55]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
There was no separation of state and church. Church was powerful with all
domination. In Nigeria, this foundational strength of the church (Roman
Catholic Church) has influenced the government in some decisions. The
presidency and some state government houses also have Christian worship center
as chapel in which the presence of church is identified in governance. Church
of God cannot divorce herself from history. Influencing Nigeria politics is
inheritance passed on from history. This can also be expressed as the body that
cares for the Christians in Nigeria against aggression. However, CAN has been
accused of excessively occupying itself with Muslim aggression. At the top of
CAN’s is reducing the frequency of religious violence, establishing a more
cordial relationship with Islam and weakening the political influence of
Muslims.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn56" name="_ftnref56" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn56;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[56]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
The average member of CAN would say that Muslim aggression towards Christians
is the sole reason for the birth of CAN. Many believe that this is the one thing
that has melded the Nigerian Christian churches together and gives CAN its
strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incidentally, CAN has been the
best known channel through which Christians affected by religious violence can
voice their complaints and seek compensation from the government.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn57" name="_ftnref57" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn57;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[57]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Expansion
and extension of Gospel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Another
root of influence that engages Christianity in politics is to join and make
policies that will expand and extend Gospel of Christ. Islam’s mission is to islamize
the whole nation and block the extension of Christianity by all means. The influence
will be justified when the majority of Christians stand to enact laws that
allow freedom of religion and execute fairness in worship in Nigeria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christianity became an alternative religion to “a people
looking desperately for something to counter the dominance of Islam”, which
they associated with Fulani political domination.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn58" name="_ftnref58" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn58;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: blue;">[58]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Also, the advent of Christianity in the Middle Belt gave the people access to
western education, which was crucial in elite formation and political
mobilization. This was more so as the Christian missionaries who were
restricted from operating in the Islamic emirates by the colonial
administration were welcomed into the “pagan” areas.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn59" name="_ftnref59" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn59;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: blue;">[59]</span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Strengthening
of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fundamental Human Rights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">From
online archive, Nigerian Fundamental Human Rights are stated. What are Human
Rights? These are rights naturally accruable to every person by virtue of
his/her existence as a human being. The Nigerian Constitution under Chapter IV
enumerates the following as fundamental rights: Right to life; Right to dignity
of human persons; Right to personal liberty; Right to fair hearing; Right to
compensation for property compulsorily acquired; Right to private and family
life; Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right to freedom of expression; Right to
peaceful assembly and association; Right to freedom of movement and Right to
freedom from discrimination on the grounds of ethnic group, place of origin,
circumstance of birth, sex, religion or political opinion.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn60" name="_ftnref60" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn60;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[60]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Christianity
flags up influence to stand to protect national human right which Islam in some
states has been violating. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">THE
FOUNDATIONAL STRENGTH OF ISLAMIC INFLUENCE IN NIGERIA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Islam
had enjoyed some levels immunity and licentious right during and after colonial
rules. In the colonial period of Nigeria Islam was favoured by several factors:<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn61" name="_ftnref61" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn61;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[61]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Pax
Britannica <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Pax
Brittanica permitted Muslims and everyone to move freely throughout the country
in pursuit of trade or livelihood. Muslims were thus able to build mosques and
interact with local people throughout the country, even though the system of
sabon gari isolated them somewhat from the local culture. This was not the same
for Christians, who were free to move around the country, but was restricted in
building churches in Muslim areas and their priests were forbidden to
evangelize Muslims. The colonial conquest established a rule that active
Christian preaching could not occur in the northern Muslim region, although in
1990 the two religions continued to compete for converts in the middle belt,
where ethnic groups and even families had adherents of each persuasion.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn62" name="_ftnref62" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn62;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[62]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
increase of power during system of indirect rule <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The system of
indirect rule for the north of Nigeria (the former Sokoto and Borno Empires)
strived during colonial era. The closure of the Atlantic slave market explains
the relative atrophy of the Sokoto caliphate in the second part of the 19th
century, so that it had little power to resist a British take-over. Instead of
sweeping away these Islamic governmental systems, as the French did in their
territories, the British propped them up and increased their authority. This
was notable especially in areas, such as the Middle Belt, where most of the
rural people were not Muslims. Outside the caliphate, Islam already had a
foothold in Etsako and the Niger-Benue confluence area because of Nupe raiding,
and was present in the Yoruba towns along the route to Lagos, such as Ogbomoso,
Oyo, Ibadan, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode and Abeokua. Hausa slaves in these towns became
integrated in the social and political life of these towns, and many of the
chiefs declared themselves Muslims, although they continued to be actively
involved in the traditional religion. In these areas Islam came to symbolize
the preservation of Yoruba identity against the intrusion of British culture.
For the same reason, many Yoruba Muslims resisted Western education and this
left the Muslim community at a disadvantage compared with Christians who were
more progressive and successful in areas where education counts.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn63" name="_ftnref63" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn63;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[63]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Ruling
the economy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Nigeria’s
denominations have been scripted with Arabic words from the inception and are
meaningful only to the Muslims as a symbol of domination on the means of
economy. This has great influence on the nation. The then opportune leaders
were Muslims and it is to their good record that Naira still maintains the
Arabic words when Nigeria is not an Arabic country. The contention on the words
has gradually been removed because non-Muslims are in power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Population
increase strategy and Brotherhood Tactics <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Islam
allows polygamy and polygamy gives chances of increase in childbirth.
Tactically, population increase favours Muslims. Islam encourages brotherhood.
Even when your brother is not qualified or inappropriate for a position, it
pays them to handover to Muslim than to non-Muslim. Islam has great influence
on a nation because of numbers of people who vote and be voted for. They
involve themselves so much in politics than other religion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">THE
FOUNDATIONAL STRENGTH OF CHRISTIANITY INFLUENCE IN NIGERIA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -4.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 22.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Rapid
Conversion via Formal Education<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Christianity
always attracts education and education attracts conversion. There is little
information about religious change during the colonial period, but it is a fact
that Christian schools attracted many conversions of Muslim students in the
south of Nigeria. The only requisite in these schools was for all the students
to take classes in religious instruction and to attend opening school prayers.
Conversions occurred where parents had no objection or even encouraged their
children. The influence of Christianity began with education in which the
Muslims stood against because of the rapid conversion of their children.
Christians, however, founded their influence on education. Though, some states
in Nigeria war against that by paying West African Examination Council (WAEC)
fees for only Muslim students; discriminatory school fees against
non-indigenous Christian students.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn64" name="_ftnref64" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn64;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[64]</span></span></span></span></span></a> The
missionaries’ formal education was a means to an end. Through a sustained
education programme both religious evangelization and social transformation
might be realized. For, as Father Shanahan suggested, 'Those who hold the
school, hold the country, hold its religion, and hold its future.' For the
Africans, too, the acquisition of Western education was a means to an end; education
would provide the weapon with which to fight colonialism. Stewart, Dianne notes
that embracing Christianity provided African captives with opportunities for
leadership, education, travel, and social mobility, which were unviable to them
as adherents of African religious traditions. Becoming a Christian meant having
the opportunity to learn how to read and write along with opportunity to
receive standard theological training. This offered converts more potential for
upward mobility than ancestral religions of Africa.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn65" name="_ftnref65" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn65;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[65]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Ekechi adds that the writers of the era had tended to stress the utilitarian
aspect of Western education as a means to higher jobs and overall economic
improvement to the neglect of its ideological aspect. From 1901 both the C.M.S.
and the R. C. Missions were intent on expanding their education programme.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn66" name="_ftnref66" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn66;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[66]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Relief
and Health Programme Developments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Health
facilities were in place during the colonial era through the missionaries. It
was a great impact to affects the lives of people that were neglected by the
government of the day. Babajide notes the benefits that were in place when the
missionaries entered Nigeria, especially Yoruba Land. He observes that
Christianity became so successful in Abeokuta such that the town was described
by Miss Tucker as “the sunrise within the tropics.” Also, the various
denominations that arrived in Abeokuta were able to translate into three fold
programmes of the missionaries: Christianity, commerce and civilization
(western education). Although, a fourth dimension was later introduced by the
Baptist Mission, which is Healthcare.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn67" name="_ftnref67" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn67;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[67]</span></span></span></span></span></a> All
these mark the point of influence that Christianity strikes as she raises
leaders in government to enforce her agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Commercialization
and Modernization<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">From
the outset, the Christianity was seen as ideal vehicles for gaining the trust
and confidence of the tribal leaders, before the real money interest moved in.
It could be argued that the Christianity was one part of the wheel of business
and economics that starting to turn in Nigeria, while a substitute for slaves
was sought. The humanitarian touch they seemed to bring disguised these motives
behind a facade of peaceful and beneficent civilization. In the
predominantly-Christian and indigenous south, however, British administrators
developed a more specifically Western political system. Christianity,
modernization, and Westernization eventually formed a competing cultural blend.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn68" name="_ftnref68" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn68;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[68]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These influences really hallmark newness in
business approach and economic growth. With these, Christianity still strives
to rise to the political ladder to influence further for development at all
levels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Freedom
from slavery<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">British
Imperialism in Africa provided missionaries the opportunity to spread
Christianity and the word of the Lord in aims that the people would see the
evils in slave trading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result,
Nigeria became an attractive spot for Christian missionaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only did British missionaries help foster
the spread of Christianity in some part of Nigeria, but also freed slaves from
British Colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When slavery was
abolished in the British Empire many freed slaves returned to Africa.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn69" name="_ftnref69" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn69;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[69]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Back
to history, slave trade ended as Christianity in treaty endorsed with Queen of England
the abolishment of slave trade. In the Abeokuta Treaty of 1852 when an
agreement between Her Majesty, the Queen of England and the chiefs of the Egba
nation, for the abolition of the traffic in slaves was signed at Abeokuta on
the 5th of January 1852, Rev. T. J. Bowen was among the witness to the treaty
that stated that: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(Article 1) The export of slaves
to foreign countries is forever abolished in the territories of the chiefs of
the Egba nation… (Article 2) No Europeans or any other persons whatever shall
be permitted to reside within the territory of the Egba nation for the purpose
of carrying on in any way the traffic of slaves… (Article 5) Europeans or any
other person now engaged in the slave trade are to be expelled from the
country… (Article 7) The chiefs of the Egba nation declare that no human beings
shall at any time be sacrificed within their territories on account of
religious or other ceremonies, and that they will prevent the barbarous
practices of murdering prisoners captured in war. (Article 8) Complete
protection shall be afforded to missionaries or ministers of the Gospel, of
whatever nation or country, following their vocation of spreading the knowledge
and doctrines of Christianity, and extending the benefits of civilization,
which the territories of the chiefs of the Egba nation. Encouragement shall be
given to such missionaries or minsters in pursuit of industry, in building
houses for their residence, and schools and chapels. They shall be hindered or
molested in their endeavours to teach the doctrine of Christianity to all
person willing and desirous to be taught; nor who may embrace the Christian
faith be on that account, or on the teaching or exercise thereof, molested or
trouble in any manner whatever… witnesses: Henry Townsend, C.M.S.; Isaac Smith,
C.M.S.; Thomas J. Bowen, Am. B. M.; F. E. Forbes, Commander R. N.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn70" name="_ftnref70" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn70;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[70]</span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Christianity
influences Nigerian politics to restore freedom and peace in the land. There is
enlightenment and civilization from those who take opportunity of ignorance to
rule. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">THE
BAD EFFECT OF CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM ON NIGERIAN POLITICS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Even
though Christianity and Islam have contributed positively to the growth of the
country; they have also created a history of conflict and or violence.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn71" name="_ftnref71" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn71;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[71]</span></span></span></span></span></a> This
includes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a war of words</i> motivated by
conflicting beliefs: A good Muslim is one who is able to withstand Christian
conversion tactics and campaigns. A good Christian is also one who is able to
confront Islam and challenge the Quran’s authority.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn72" name="_ftnref72" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn72;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[72]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
These beliefs sanction symbolic violence, and Muslims and Christians use each
other’s sacred writings to perpetuate stereotypes that “express fear and anxiety
about the domination of other..., reflect a narrow extremist subculture of
either their community or their religious group”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn73" name="_ftnref73" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn73;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[73]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Violence begins with the differentiation, dehumanization, stigmatization, and
demonization of others. It takes place in cleavages, which Falola describes as
marginalized and defensive groups - Christian minorities, the Islamic majority,
Southern Christian Intelligentsia, Northern Moslem Intelligentsia,
Intra-Religious groups, Reformist groups, and State establishments. These
cleavages are “fairly permanent,” and their violence could be a quest for
freedom from domination, or perceived threat to their socio-political position.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn74" name="_ftnref74" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn74;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[74]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Similarly,
there has been a corresponding upsurge in Christian extremism expressed in the
rise of revival and Pentecostal movements in the 1970s.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn75" name="_ftnref75" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn75;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[75]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Christian fundamentalists regard themselves as engaged in a three-pronged
conflict: with Muslims, with mainstream Christians whom they accuse of
abandoning the basics of their faith, and followers of traditional religion.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn76" name="_ftnref76" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn76;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[76]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Just like the Muslim fundamentalists, they also seek to expand their support
base, hence conversion and poaching of followers of other religions through
stereotypes, hate preaching, distortion, misrepresentation and
misinterpretation of the various religious texts in such manners that promoted
prejudice and intolerance in both camps. Such intolerance could be deciphered
form the following exhortations attributed to the Pentecostal community: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When a non-believer in Christ
strikes a Christian, the latter (Christian) should stand up erect and look at
the former direct in the face. A look can many times transform the
non-believer, can pierce and melt the heart.... But there are moments when the
Christian like the master should take up his whip and flog sense into people.
Moments of open and direct confrontation may sometimes be called for. On no
account should a Christian take himself as the one who always has to bear the
stroke of the other. There are moments when he has to stand up on his two feet
and say like the fly, ‘No’ to the huge cow! We Christians in Nigeria want peace
and unity of the nation. But on no account shall we compromise our religion for
any or both of them.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn77" name="_ftnref77" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn77;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[77]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">To
be sure, Muslim-Christian conflict could be part of the dynamics of identity
politics, and may not be dysfunctional as long as the rights of other Nigerians
are respected. Rather, as Amadi noted, Nigerian politics is built on the
appeasement of religion. Religion then becomes a deity that proves difficult to
be overpowered and equally incapable of decisively breaking out of the
constraints of liberal legality.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn78" name="_ftnref78" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn78;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[78]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
In the elite’s intense struggle for access to power and state resources,
“patterns of political domination are constantly being transformed. It is this
constantly changing pattern of domination that has produced the fears and
anxieties that underlie increasing conflict and intolerance”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn79" name="_ftnref79" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn79;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[79]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Since the return to democratic rule in 1999 after almost three decades of
military rule, ethno-religious conflicts have been a recurring decimal in
Nigeria. Religious strife between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria
and its ripples in other parts of the country has left thousands dead, wounded,
and rendered many homeless over the years. For instance, as claimed by the US
Commission on International Religious Freedom, at least 12, 000 people have
been killed in sectarian and communal attacks and reprisal between Muslims and
Christians (US Commission on International Religious Freedom, 2009).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn80" name="_ftnref80" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn80;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[80]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Despite
the National interfaith dialogue that takes place between the establishment
national religious organizations, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
and the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), the act of
violence reprisal never ceased. Local Christian-Muslim clashes, therefore,
often embody national political, ethnic, regional, and economic tensions
despite the fact that there are no religious or ethnic parties, and neither
religious nor ethnic questions are allowed on the national census.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn81" name="_ftnref81" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn81;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[81]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Religion
becomes a very powerful force during adverse conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the economic crisis in Nigeria, the
people segregated themselves by their religions, and the elites took
advantage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Political actors have turned
religious terrain into battle ground for contesting perceived marginalization
and to gain political recognition and support from their communities
(172).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The enemy called ‘religion
influence’ has negatively wasted many lives in Nigeria and still ready to fight
on. Who will occupy the throne of Nigerian politics? Only peaceful coherence
with one another will save Nigeria, looking forward again for another election
of 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">MALICIOUS
INFLUENCE OF ISLAM ON NIGERIAN POLITICS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Attempt
of extermination of Christianity<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
influence of Islam on Nigeria and her politics is gradually becoming cold war
against other religion, especially Christianity. A plea of a noble Nigerian is
quoted: "We are also worried that the Christians are been systematically
eliminated by members of the Boko Haram Islamic extremists. We are forced to
believe that the whole attack is a deliberate plan to exterminate Christians
living in the affected areas." The church leaders urged the government not
to downplay the events that have been taking place including killings and
kidnappings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The leaders believe, “the
whole onslaught is a deliberate attempt to exterminate Christians in the
captured region.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn82" name="_ftnref82" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn82;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[82]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Though the Muslims gain power to dominate, the excess of power now launches
threat against the survival of Christians. Islam had gained ground earlier
enough to hinder Christianity who was the threat to her to dominate the
country. In 1842 Thomas Freeman founded the first Methodist Church in Abeokuta
a village in southern Nigeria, and in 1844 the CMS (Church Missionary Society)
arrived in the same village.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn83" name="_ftnref83" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn83;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[83]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, Christianity was not as attractive as
Islam was in the North.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hard to
convince many Nigerians to follow “the white man’s Lord.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Islamic faith had such a strong impact on
many northern cities, and missionaries found it impossible to convince people
outside of southern Nigeria the benefits of Christianity, even till date.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn84" name="_ftnref84" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn84;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[84]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
As part of extermination which was seen as a step toward “improving” the
standards of the Nigerian education system, General Mohammed ordered the
takeover of mission schools in the northern states with “immediate effect” (his
trademark). What made his actions suspicious was the changing of the mission
schools’ names to Islamic instead of neutral names. It was alleged that the
Queen of Apostles school in Kaduna was renamed the Queen Amina College. Queen
Amina was a Muslim warrior who led men ¡n her conquest of the Zazzau emirate.
St. John’s College, in Kaduna, was renamed Rimi College. The Sardauna Memorial
College, taken over from Islam, was left as it was. Christian chapels were
converted to assembly halls, and mosques were raised in the schools at
government expense.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn85" name="_ftnref85" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn85;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[85]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
All these are malicious influence on Nigerian politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Danger
of Islamization of Nigeria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Muslims’ call for autonomy flies in the face of Nigeria’s secular tradition.
The constitution does not allow elevating any religion to a state religion. Yet
this principle is violated when governors in the North use state authority to islamize
public life. In Zamfara, the first state to introduce a strict form of Sharia,
the government claimed that its religious reform was bringing about major
changes: all spheres of public life are being transformed into Islamic oriented
institutions.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn86" name="_ftnref86" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn86;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[86]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
This state-sponsored Islamization affected non-Muslims as well, as they were
subjected to some Sharia proscriptions like the ban on alcohol and the gender
separation in hotels and restaurants, in buses and taxis. In Zamfara’s state
schools, boys and girls were separated without regard to their faith. In
addition, all girls and young women were forced to conform to the Islamic dress
code. By declaring the Will of God the highest authority, Sharia politicians
have given believers permission to disregard all man-made laws and agreements
that are at variance with Islam. This undermined the legitimacy of the
Christian President, and it also threatens the authority of the emirs and other
representatives of the Islamic establishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The call to shape state and society by the rules of Islam has increased
antagonism between Muslims and members of other faiths. Christians and
Traditionalists are worried that Islamic law may spread to other parts of
Nigeria and that it may pervade more spheres of social life. Where Sharia
becomes dominant, non-Muslims are excluded, to a large extent, from political
participation, and their social environment is determined by the laws of an
alien religion.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn87" name="_ftnref87" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn87;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[87]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Weakening
the educational system and Marginalization of Christians<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Islam
influence is relatively bias. Some sects do want to promote western education
while some still want to maintain Islam ideology and still enjoy benefit of
western culture. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
is the Ansarud-deen which is also conservative, but promotes Western education.
And there are branches of the Muslim Students Society and various other youth
groups influenced by Saudi Wahhabi ideas calling for a reformed purist Islam.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn88" name="_ftnref88" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn88;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: blue;">[88]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
ignorant ones will end up illiterate and be useless to them mainly to be
adherents to Islam alone. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
opposing the ideology of Sharia, Christians had based their arguments not only
on their conviction that Islamic values will be imposed more rigorously on
Christian’s everyday life, but also the fact that the extant marginalization
that Christians suffer in the state will be intensified. Such cases of
marginalization, according to them, include the non-appointment of Christians
to political offices, especially the executive council ; the payment of
the WAEC fees for only Muslim students; discriminatory school fees against non-indigenous
Christian students; the conscripted space for Christian evangelism, a point
underscored by inability of Christians to get land to build churches,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn89" name="_ftnref89" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn89;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: blue;">[89]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
and the stoppage of a film on Jesus in November 2000, a month to the formal
adoption of Sharia in Kebbi.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn90" name="_ftnref90" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn90;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: blue;">[90]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Where
there is extensive poverty and political mismanagement, Islamic radicalism is
unstoppable.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn91" name="_ftnref91" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn91;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[91]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Forceful
imposition of ideology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">For
almost 40 years, the Islamic elite of Northern Nigeria had dominated the
political scene, without a government making efforts to introduce an Islamic
penal code. The former president Shehu Shagari, for example, who suddenly
emerged as a champion of Sharia, had never tried to pass new criminal laws
while he was in office. Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator, took a
similar stance.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn92" name="_ftnref92" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn92;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[92]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
With the dawn of democracy, he joined the Sharia activists and assured his
coreligionists: “I can die for the cause of Islam”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn93" name="_ftnref93" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn93;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[93]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Boko Haram as the major impostor of Islamic ideology seeks to establish an
Islamic state in Nigeria, and opposes the Westernizing of Nigerian society that
has concentrated the wealth of the country among small political elite, mainly
in the Christian south of the country.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn94" name="_ftnref94" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn94;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[94]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn95" name="_ftnref95" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn95;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[95]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Growing distrust in political leadership, a lack of government presence and
chronic underdevelopment created the perfect context for radical groups to take
root and flourish in northern Nigeria.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn96" name="_ftnref96" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn96;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[96]</span></span></span></span></span></a> To
enforce the ideology, in April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from
Chibok, Borno. More than 50 of them soon escaped, but the remainder has not
been released. Instead, Shekau, who has a reward of $7 million offered by the
US DOS since June 2013 for information leading to his capture, announced his
intention of selling them into slavery. The attack on Gwoza signaled a change
in strategy for Boko Haram, as the group continued to capture territory in
north-eastern and eastern areas of Borno, as well as in Adamawa and Yobe.
Attacks across the border were repelled by the Cameroon military.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn97" name="_ftnref97" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn97;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[97]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
In a video obtained by the news agency AGF (<span class="citation">Agence France-Presse)
</span>on 24 August 2014, Shekau announced that Gwoza was now part of an
Islamic caliphate.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn98" name="_ftnref98" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn98;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[98]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
The town of Bama, 45 miles from the state capital Maiduguri, was reported to
have been captured at the beginning of September, resulting in thousands of
residents fleeing to Maiduguri, even as residents there were themselves
attempting to flee.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn99" name="_ftnref99" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn99;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[99]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
The militants were reportedly killing men and teenage boys in the town of over
250,000 inhabitants.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn100" name="_ftnref100" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn100;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[100]</span></span></span></span></span></a> This
imposition has really caused conflict that made many of children displaced;
they were not able to attend school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Furthermore, many of the individuals involved in these conflicts acquire
severe injuries that ultimately handicap them. Therefore it limits the economic
activities the handicapped can engage in thus making them economically
dependent, and in most cases leading many to the streets begging and increasing
homeless refugee<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn101" name="_ftnref101" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn101;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[101]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in a country with sovereignty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">EVIL
OF CHRISTIANITY INFLUENCE IN NIGERIAN POLITICS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Hypocrisy,
Corruption and Loss of ethics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Christian
influence would have become great and continuous-impacting but the sorrow of
corruption has bitten the veins of Christian leaders who have selfish ambition
in the name of God and still influence politics to themselves. Boer identifies
the problem of Christian influence in politics as he notes that "the first
is the corruption that has penetrated every level of society”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn102" name="_ftnref102" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn102;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[102]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
The church is still guilty of many types of corruption that characterize the
society as a whole. Many church members have failed in displaying their
Christian ethics in nation building. Jude Arogundade, a catholic priest laments
on the issue that, despite the fact that some Christians are in power,
corruption still thrives in the country. There are many Christians in politics
that are good and ready to do the right thing as well as very dedicated and
selfless. We also have many of them too who are just out there to cause
problems, make money and loot the treasury. He notes further that still on
corruption, some of the indicted politicians still come to church immediately
after serving their jail terms. Don’t you think the church should enforce some
punitive measures on them as deterrence to others? To some extent, the church
had been complacent in standing its ground against some (Christian) politicians
who are corrupt, dishonest and indicted.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn103" name="_ftnref103" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn103;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[103]</span></span></span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Iheanyi
Enwerem in his book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dangerous Awakening:
The Politicization of Religion in Nigeria </i>laments on the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>political activities of CAN and how politicians
have always used religion for their advantage.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn104" name="_ftnref104" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn104;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[104]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Idowu
Samuel, an online news writer, quoted Justice Ayoola, the Chairman Independent
Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), saying that the
leader of churches in Nigeria should start by preaching the value of integrity,
which according to him had initially formed the cultural value of the citizens
of the country, as he urged church leaders to begin the process by reflecting
the value of integrity in their own conduct. However, church is corrupted by
its fruits and the leaders. We have lost our responsibility by be charged again
from political end reminding church its glorious duty to implant Christian
ethics in its members as an ambassador of God and the church at large.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn105" name="_ftnref105" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn105;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[105]</span></span></span></span></span></a> The
influence of Christianity is gradually affecting other religions to be corrupt.
No one can trust a Christian in power because of history of propaganda
perpetrated. Corruption in the church and Christian bodies need check and
balance to save the future of Nigerian politics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo5; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Adverse
effect of neglect of church from state<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Christianity
was after slave freedom, commerce and evangelism and not to dominate.
Evangelism, commerce and the abolition of the slave trade came together in the
Niger expedition of 1841. The aims of this were to explore the interior, to
make treaties with the local peoples, to evangelize, and to establish a model
farm at Lokoja.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn106" name="_ftnref106" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn106;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[106]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
Firstly, Christianity only then intensified the study of the Yoruba language
and its reduction to Roman script. The Bible was translated by Crowther and
others, and both Crowther and Bowen produced important Yoruba grammars and
dictionaries. Townsend was producing a newspaper in Yoruba in Abeokuta by 1859.
Secondly, extensive first-hand information on the interior began to appear,
both in the mission reports and in published memoirs. A further effect was to
influence British policy towards the area, and especially towards Lagos.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn107" name="_ftnref107" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn107;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[107]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
All these were done as a church on missions but separated from ruling system of
the land. Everyone was busy preaching but politics was far from the church.
That is why the gap is still wide to fill. Muslims join politics to make policy
that will affect Christianity. The influence level of Islam is very huge and
deep to Christianity. Christians only endure what is done on their behalf
without options because they ignored state affairs from the church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">FEW
SUGGESTED CONTROL MEASURE ON RELIGIOUS <br />
INFLUENCE IN NIGERIAN POLITICS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo7; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Separation
of state and religion<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Various
governments in Nigeria have not stood very clear on the relationship between
state and religion. The Nigerian constitution is not very clear either. Its
provisions for religions matters are almost contradictory. On the one hand, it
says that Nigeria is a secular state and that the federal or state government
shall not adopt any religion as state religion, but on the other hand, it has
provision for the establishment of the sharia court of appeal which gives room
for the establishment of the Sharia law. Because the government and the
constitution have failed to clearly separate religion from the state or
politics it is difficult for religions to make the separation.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn108" name="_ftnref108" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn108;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[108]</span></span></span></span></span></a> The
religious influence should be made clear in constitution and also be followed.
The adherence to constitution without lobbying by religion sentiment will
actually move Nigeria forward and be free of religious violence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo7; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Interfaith
approaches<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Religious
beliefs and values are expressed within the faith community and in society. In
a peace-building process, religious actors are important agents who collaborate
with others to resolve conflict and effect transformation within society. It is
hence more advantageous if, for example, religious actors are formally trained
to become advocates, mediators, and apostles of peace. Such people make a
valuable contribution to religious education, mobilization for peace, and
advocacy and network building for sustained dialogue in moving society towards
greater integration.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn109" name="_ftnref109" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn109;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[109]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Whenever
the issue of influence is treated with oneness as a body, not as separated
religion, there will be peaceful growth and stability in the nation. However, National
interfaith dialogue takes place between the establishment national religious
organizations, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian
Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). The Sultan of Sokoto, since March
2007 Alhaji Muhanmmad Sa'ad Abubakar, is the formal head of Nigeria's Muslims.
The National Interreligious Council (NIREC), which consists of twenty-five
Muslim and twenty-five Christian leaders, was revived in fall 2007, partly
through the influence of the new sultan, who serves as co-chair, along with the
president of CAN.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn110" name="_ftnref110" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn110;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[110]</span></span></span></span></span></a>
This can further strengthen the relationship to jointly influence the politics
aright.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">CONCLUSION<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Consequently
the effects of this religious influence and its crisis has thwarted the
development of the body polity and has given the impression that the problem
has nothing useful to offer to the progress of Nigeria as a growing nation.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn111" name="_ftnref111" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn111;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[111]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, it has affected the “democratic
norms and values and has consistently presented Nigeria as one big disunited
and largely polarized”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn112" name="_ftnref112" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn112;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[112]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Having
a nation of many diverse religions and ethnicities has caused many problems,
and instead of being a strong point of Nigeria it has become a weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, rather than being one nation it
has become many nations within one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These religious crises have more often than not resulted in loss of
lives and violation of human freedoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In order for Nigeria to move in a productive path in the 21st century, there
is need to understand unity in diversity in religion, and also to forget the
erroneous game of regional partition of colonial masters to favour a religion
to other. New approaches of interfaith be introduced and religious orientation
on good governance be preached by the religious leaders. However, Nigeria had
been for over 100years, and religion has held loosed occasionally because of
selfishness of some leaders, there is need to hold her again with common
interest of influencing politics with selfless motive and unity of the nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">BIBLIOGRAPHY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Edward C.
Banfield. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Political Influence</i>. New
York: The Free Press, 1961, p3.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Iheanyi M.
Enwerem. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Dangerous Awakening: The
Politicization of Religion in Nigeria.</i> Ibadan: IFRA, 1995.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> J. Paden. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Faith and Politics in Nigeria: Nigeria As a
Pivotal State in the Muslim World.</i> Washington D.C.: United States Institute
of Peace Press, 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> P. Lewis and
Bratton, M.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Attitudes Towards Democracy and Markets in Nigeria</i>. Afrobarometer
Paper No. 3. April, 2000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CIA The World Factbook.</i>
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/world-affairs/politics/By_Countries_Regions/Nigeria.cfm"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/world-affairs/politics/By_Countries_Regions/Nigeria.cfm</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Nigeria#mw-head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> R. Ruby and
Shah, T. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nigeria’s Presidential Election:
The Christian-Muslim Divide. </i>March 22. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/435/nig....
2007.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> M. Smyth and
Robinson, G. eds. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Researching Violently
Divided Societies: Ethical and Methodological Issues</i>. Tokyo: United Nations
University Press, 2001.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> K. Maier. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis</i>.
London: Penguin, 2002.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Eyene Okpanachi.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ethno-religious Identity and Conflict in
Northern Nigeria part. </i>10 Javier, 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[13]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> J. Paden. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comments at the Symposium on Religious
Conflict Religious Conflict in Nigeria: Contemporary Religious Dynamics in
Nigeria - Session 2.</i> New York: Council on Foreign Relations.
http://www.cfr.org/project/1312/religion, 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[14]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Abraham Terumbur
Mbachirin. T<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he Responses of the Church in
Nigeria to Socio-Economic, Political, and Religious Problem in Nigeria: A Case
Study of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unpublished PhD Dissertation paper, 2006, p
29-30.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[15]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[16]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Politics_in_Nigeria&redirect=no"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Politics_in_Nigeria&redirect=no</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[17]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/world-affairs/politics/By_Countries_Regions/Nigeria.cfm"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/world-affairs/politics/By_Countries_Regions/Nigeria.cfm</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn18" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[18]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Abraham Terumbur
Mbachirin. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Responses of the Church in
Nigeria to Socio-Economic, Political, and Religious Problem in Nigeria: A Case
Study of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unpublished PhD Dissertation paper, 2006, p
36.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn19" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[19]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Johnson, 1921:
193-200; cf. Law, 1977: 255-60<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn20" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[20]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><a href="http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/yorubat/yt2.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/yorubat/yt2.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn21" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[21]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/world-affairs/politics/By_Countries_Regions/Nigeria.cfm"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/world-affairs/politics/By_Countries_Regions/Nigeria.cfm</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn22" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[22]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Abraham Terumbur
Mbachirin. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Responses of the Church in
Nigeria to Socio-Economic, Political, and Religious Problem in Nigeria: A Case
Study of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unpublished PhD Dissertation paper, 2006, p
6.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn23" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[23]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Academic Study of Religion in Nigeria.</i>
doi:10.1016/S0048-721X(88)80017-4. Retrieved 15 April 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn24" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[24]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Nigeria#mw-head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn25" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[25]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Yusufu. Turaki. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The British Colonial Legacy in Northern
Nigeria: A Social Ethical Analysis of the Colonial and Post-Colonial Society
and Politics of Nigeria.</i> Jos: Challenge Press, 1993. p 91.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn26" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[26]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Chima J. Korieh
and G. Ugo Nwokeji. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Religion, History and
Politics in Nigeria: Essay in Honour of Ogbu U. Kalu</i>. Forbes Boulevard:
University Press of America, 2005, p 31.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn27" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[27]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> T. J. Bowen. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Central Africa: Adventures and Missionary
Labors in Several Countries in the Interior of Africa from 1849 to 1856.</i>
Charleston: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1857, p 156.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn28" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[28]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Ibid., p
162-172.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn29" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[29]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Conteúdo,
http://www.nosrevla.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn30" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[30]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Abraham Terumbur
Mbachirin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Responses of the Church in Nigeria to Socio-Economic, Political,
and Religious Problem in Nigeria: A Case Study of the Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN).</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unpublished PhD
Dissertation paper, 2006, p 4.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn31" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[31]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.pewresearch.org</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn32" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[32]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Helen Chapin
Metz, ed. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Influence of Christian
Missions, Nigeria: A Country Study.</i> Washington: GPO for the Library of
Congress, 1991, accessed 18 April 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref33" name="_ftn33" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn33;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[33]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Lauren Ploch
Blanchard. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nigeria's Boko Haram:
Frequently Asked Questions.</i> Congressional Research Service (June 10, 2014).
Retrieved 3 August 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref34" name="_ftn34" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn34;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[34]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Toni Johnson. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Backgrounder - Boko Haram.</i> www.cfr.org.
Council of Foreign Relations (2011-12-27). Retrieved March 12, 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn35" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref35" name="_ftn35" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn35;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[35]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> David Cook. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rise of Boko Haram in Nigeria.</i>
Combating Terrorism Centre (26 September 2011). Retrieved 2012-01-12.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn36" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref36" name="_ftn36" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn36;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[36]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Abimbola
Adesoji. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boko Haram Uprising and
Islamic Revivalism in Nigeria</i>. Africa Spectrum (2010). Retrieved August
2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref37" name="_ftn37" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn37;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[37]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Barnaby
Phillips. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islamic law raises tension in
Nigeria</i>. BBC (20 January 2000). Retrieved 7 August 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref38" name="_ftn38" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn38;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[38]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Toni Johnson,
2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn39" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref39" name="_ftn39" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn39;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[39]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Farouk Chothia. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists?</i>
BBC News (11 January 2012). Retrieved 25th January, 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="ftn40" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref40" name="_ftn40" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn40;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[40]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Analysis: Understanding Nigeria's Boko Haram
radicals.</i> www.irinnews.org. IRIN. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="ftn41" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref41" name="_ftn41" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn41;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[41]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Wikileaks. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nigeria: Borno State Residents Not Yet
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref42" name="_ftn42" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn42;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[42]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Toyin Falola. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islam and politics In Nigeria.</i> Jul 29
2009. Dr. Toyin Falola is the Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor
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<div id="ftn43" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref43" name="_ftn43" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn43;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[43]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://www.ascleiden.nl/ African studies center, leiden <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islam in Nigeria.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn44" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref44" name="_ftn44" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn44;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[44]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boko Haram claims responsibility for bomb
blasts in Bauchi, Maiduguri.</i> Vanguard News. June 1, 2011. Retrieved 31 July
2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn45" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref45" name="_ftn45" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn45;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[45]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Olalekan
Adetayo. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boko Haram Has Infiltrated My
Govt –Jonathan</i>. Punch (January 9, 2012). Retrieved 6 August, 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref46" name="_ftn46" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn46;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[46]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> http://wikipedia.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn47" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref47" name="_ftn47" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn47;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[47]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Hotline,19 March
2000, p. 25<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn48" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref48" name="_ftn48" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn48;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[48]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Ahmed Sani,
Governor of Zamfara State, in Tell, 8 September 2003.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn49" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref49" name="_ftn49" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn49;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[49]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Analysis: Understanding Nigeria's Boko Haram
radicals.</i> www.irinnews.org. IRIN. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref50" name="_ftn50" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn50;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[50]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">Toyin Falola. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islam and politics In Nigeria.</i> Jul 29
2009. http://www.e-ir.info/ e-international relation publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref51" name="_ftn51" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn51;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[51]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Toyin Falola. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islam and politics In Nigeria.</i> Jul 29
2009. http://www.e-ir.info/ e-international relation publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref52" name="_ftn52" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn52;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[52]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://www.dhspriory.org/kenny/NWAfr/a07.htm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn53" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref53" name="_ftn53" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn53;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[53]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://www.ascleiden.nl/ African studies center, leiden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islam
in Nigeria.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn54" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref54" name="_ftn54" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn54;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[54]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Toyin Falola. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islam and politics In Nigeria.</i> Jul 29
2009. http://www.e-ir.info/ e-international relation publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref55" name="_ftn55" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn55;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[55]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> The
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn56" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref56" name="_ftn56" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn56;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[56]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Matthew Kukah. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christians and Nigeria’s Aborted Transition,
in The Christian Church and the Democratization of Africa. </i>ed. Paul
Gifford. New York: E. J. Brill,1995, 225.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref57" name="_ftn57" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn57;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[57]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> John Orkar.
Director Christian Reformed World Relief for West Africa in Jos, June 16, 2005.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref58" name="_ftn58" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn58;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[58]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> International
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref59" name="_ftn59" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn59;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[59]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Eyene Okpanachi,
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</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref60" name="_ftn60" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn60;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[60]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://www.nigeriarights.gov.ng<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Religious Functions</em>. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ibadan, 1999.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref66" name="_ftn66" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn66;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[66]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> F. K. Ekechi. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colonialism and Christianity in West Africa:
The Igbo Case, 1900-1915</i>. The Journal of African History, Vol. 12, No. 1,
Cambridge University Press Stable, http://www.jstor.org/stable/180569, 1971.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn67" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref67" name="_ftn67" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn67;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[67]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Femi Babajide<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. The Beginning of Christianity in Nigeria.</i>
The Marks, Aflame Discipleship Labour Magazine, Volume 4 No 1, 2010, Ilorin,
Nigeria, 2010, p 5.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn68" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref68" name="_ftn68" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn68;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[68]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/world-affairs/politics/By_Countries_Regions/Nigeria.cfm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn69" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref69" name="_ftn69" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn69;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[69]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Etanibi Alemika
and Festus Okoye. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ethono-Religious
Conflicts and Democracy in Nigeria: Challenges</i>. Kaduna, Nigeria: Human
Rights Monitor, 2002.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn70" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref70" name="_ftn70" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn70;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[70]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> T. J. Bowen. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Central Africa: Adventures and Missionary
Labors in Several Countries in the Interior of Africa from 1849 to 1856.</i>
Charleston: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1857, p 153.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn71" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref71" name="_ftn71" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn71;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[71]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> T. Falola. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious
Politics and Secular Ideologies</i>. Rochester. NY: University of Rochester
Press, 1998.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn72" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref72" name="_ftn72" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn72;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[72]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> T. Falola. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Violence in Nigeria: The Crises of Religious
Politics and Secular Ideologies</i>. Canadian Journal of African Studies. 35
(3): 2001, p 601-603. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn73" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref73" name="_ftn73" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn73;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[73]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn74" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref74" name="_ftn74" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn74;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[74]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn75" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref75" name="_ftn75" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn75;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[75]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> R.
Marshall-Fratani. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mediating the Global
and Local in Nigerian Pentecostalism</i>. Journal of Religion in Africa. 28(3):
1998, p 278-315.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn76" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref76" name="_ftn76" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn76;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[76]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Jibrin Ibrahim. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Religion and Political Turbulence in
Nigeria.” The Journal of Modern African Studies.</i> 29, (1): 1991, p 115-136.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn77" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref77" name="_ftn77" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn77;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[77]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> R.
Marshall-Fratani. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mediating the Global
and Local in Nigerian Pentecostalism</i>. Journal of Religion in Africa. 28(3):
1998, p 278-315.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn78" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref78" name="_ftn78" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn78;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[78]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> S. Amadi. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Religion and Secular Constitution: Human
Rights and the Challenge of Sharia.</i> 2003. www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/pd<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn79" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref79" name="_ftn79" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn79;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[79]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> J. Ibrahim and Kazah-Toure, T. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ethno-Religious Identities in Northern Nigeria.</i> Nordic Africa
Institute. http://ww.nai.uu.se/publications/ne, 2003.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn80" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref80" name="_ftn80" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn80;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[80]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Eyene Okpanachi,
2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn81" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref81" name="_ftn81" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn81;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[81]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://www.scu.edu/ethics-center/world-affairs/politics/By_Countries_Regions/Nigeria.cfm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn82" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref82" name="_ftn82" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn82;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[82]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">
http://www.christianheadlines.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn83" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref83" name="_ftn83" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn83;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[83]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Etanibi Alemika
and Festus Okoye, p 143.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn84" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref84" name="_ftn84" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn84;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[84]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn85" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref85" name="_ftn85" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn85;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[85]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Report of the
Constituent Assembly 1988-89, p 13.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn86" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref86" name="_ftn86" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn86;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[86]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Hotline. From a
government press statement, 4 June 2000, p. 24.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn87" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref87" name="_ftn87" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn87;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[87]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><a href="http://carefronting.org/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;">http://carefronting.org/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn88" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corruption: Yes, The Church Has Failed</i>.
Catholic Bishop Written by Furtune News Feb 4, 2011 February 04, 2011
http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/blog/?p=77222.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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written on 24 January 2010.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref106" name="_ftn106" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn106;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[106]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Crowder. The
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</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
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</div>
<div id="ftn108" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
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</div>
<div id="ftn109" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref109" name="_ftn109" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn109;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[109]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Thaddeus Byimui
Umaru. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christian-Muslim Dialogue in
Northern Nigeria: A Socio-Political and Theological Consideration.</i> USA:
Xlibris Publishing, 2013, P 138.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn110" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref110" name="_ftn110" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn110;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[110]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> http://www.scu.edu.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Religion
and Politics in Nigeria</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn111" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; text-indent: -9pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref111" name="_ftn111" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn111;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[111]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Etanibi Alemika
and Festus Okoye, 2002.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="ftn112" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftnref112" name="_ftn112" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn112;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[112]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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African Missiologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00590929811217302148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5062773341568498305.post-43277981830826490492011-05-18T10:00:00.003-07:002013-12-26T11:55:12.452-08:00RELIGIOUS SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONALLEN T. OLATUNDE<br />
<br />
<br />
Religion is human beings' relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine. Religion is commonly regarded as consisting of a person's relation to God or to gods or spirits. All religions are system of cult institutions, sets of rituals all having same general goal, all explicitly rationalized by a set of similar or related beliefs and all supported by the same social group. The various relationships that is possible within a religion, between a certain number of set factors that, in more or less differentiated state, one encounters in most religion: cultic practices, myths, beliefs, dogma, symbols etc makes internal relationship of a religion an organization.<br />
<br />
Characteristics of Religious Social Organization<br />
1. Cult institutions<br />
2. Sets of rituals<br />
3. Same general goal<br />
4. Similar or related beliefs<br />
5. Same supportive social group<br />
<br />
Cult: Formal religious veneration: worship; a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also: its body of devotee; and a religion regarded as unorthodox (unconventional) or false.<br />
Rituals: The established form for a ceremony; the order of words prescribed for a religious ceremony.<br />
Sects: A dissenting or schismatic religious body; esp: one regarded as extreme or heretical.<br />
<br />
The four kinds of cult institutions are:<br />
<br />
• Individual<br />
• Shamanic<br />
• Communal<br />
• Ecclesiastical <br />
<br />
<br />
Individual Cult Institution<br />
Sorcerers and witches are classified into this institution. They perform magical rituals.<br />
<br />
Shamanic Cult Institutions<br />
Shamanism was the oldest and simplest of religions. Shaman is part time religious practitioner, religious innovator and specialist. Religious phenomenon centered on the shaman, a person believed to achieve various powers through trance or ecstatic (blissful) religious experience. Although shamans' repertoires vary from one culture to the next, they are typically thought to have the ability to heal the sick, to communicate with the otherworld, and often to escort the souls of the dead to that otherworld. Shamans are said to be born to their role, as is evident in certain marks distinguishing them from ordinary people. For instance, a shaman may be born with more bones in his body—e.g., teeth or fingers—than other people. He does not become a shaman simply by willing it, for it is not the shaman who summons up the spirits but they, the supernatural beings, who choose him. The classical form was characterized by the following traits:<br />
1. A society accepts that there are specialists who are able to communicate directly with the transcendent world and who are thereby also possessed of the ability to heal and to divine; such individuals, or shamans, are held to be of great use to society in dealing with the spirit world. <br />
2. A given shaman is usually known for certain mental characteristics, such as an intuitive, sensitive, mercurial, or eccentric personality, which may be accompanied by some physical defect, such as lameness, an extra finger or toe, or more than the normal complement of teeth. <br />
3. Shamans are believed to be assisted by an active spirit-being or group thereof; they may also have a passive guardian spirit present in the form of an animal or a person of another sex—possibly as a sexual partner. <br />
4. The exceptional abilities and the consequent social role of the shaman are believed to result from a choice made by one or more supernatural beings. The one who is chosen—often an adolescent—may resist this calling, sometimes for years. Torture by the spirits, appearing in the form of physical or mental illness, breaks the resistance of the shaman candidate and he (or she) has to accept the vocation. <br />
5. The initiation of the shaman, depending on the belief system, may happen on a transcendent level or on a realistic level—or sometimes on both, one after the other. While the candidate lies as if dead, in a trance state, the body is cut into pieces by the spirits of the Yonder World or is submitted to a similar trial. The spirits' reason for cutting up the shaman's body is to see whether it has more bones than the average person. After awakening, a rite of symbolic initiation, such as climbing the World Tree, is occasionally performed. <br />
6. By attaining a trance state at will, the shaman is believed to be able to communicate directly with the spirits. This is accomplished by allowing the soul to leave the body to enter the spirit realm or by acting as a mouthpiece for the spirit-being, somewhat like a medium. <br />
7. One of the distinguishing traits of shamanism is the combat of two shamans in the form of animals, often reindeer or horned cattle. The combat rarely has a stated purpose but is a deed the shaman is compelled to do. The outcome of the combat means well-being for the victor and destruction for the loser. <br />
8. In going into trance, as well as in mystical combat and healing ceremonies, the shaman uses certain objects such as a drum, drumstick, headgear, gown, metal rattler, mirror, and staff. The specific materials and shapes of these instruments are useful for identifying the types and species of shamanism and following their development.<br />
9. Characteristic folklore (oral and textual) and shaman songs have come into being as improvisations on traditional formulas used to lure or imitate animals.<br />
<br />
Communal Cult Institutions<br />
It can be individual or shamanic<br />
<br />
Ecclesiastical Cult Institutions<br />
Priests are the religious specialists who perform ecclesiastical rituals. The religious functions of priests are quite varied. In his specific role as the officiant of the rites that unite the sacred and the profane realms, celebrates or administers at the rituals of initiation into the cult or church, presides over ritual reenactments of creative, redemptive, or salvatory (salvation-working) events, and offers sacrifices to the gods or to one God. He also functions as a perpetuator of the sacred traditions, practices, and beliefs and as a teacher, healer, counselor, and diviner The function of the priest as the mediator and maintainer of the equilibrium between the sacred and the profane in human society, and as the stabilizer of the social structures and the cultic organizations, determines the various criteria for holding the priestly office. The priests perform rituals on behalf of entire congregation. He is the religious conservator and authority is by office.<br />
<br />
Prophets differs from other religious functionaries and representatives of religious authority in that he claims no personal part in his utterance. He speaks not his own mind but a revelation “from without.” The prophetic or charismatic state may occur spontaneously, or it may be induced by a variety of techniques: by meditation, by mystico-magical formulas and gestures, by music, by drumming, dancing, or the ingestion of intoxicants or narcotics. He claims on personal revelation from supernatural, not studying of theology. Prophet is charismatic innovator that modifies existing rituals to meet needs of clients specifically.<br />
<br />
Religions are system of two or more cult institutions<br />
• Communal cult institutions can have: Individualistic and Shamanic<br />
• Ecclesiastical cult institutions can have: Individualistic, Shamanic, Communal, and Ecclesiastical.<br />
<br />
Sects and Cult – are in small group and in odds with values and beliefs of society while Churches are in larger congregation, supportive to the mainstream of value of society.<br />
<br />
Works Cited<br />
Mehl, Roger. The Sociology of Protestantism. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1970<br />
Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010.<br />
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visit: www.africaglow.orgAfrican Missiologyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00590929811217302148noreply@blogger.com0