The God Phenomenon in Nigeria: The Logic, the Religion and the Politics of Tolerance

The Nigerian society of today is torn between the jealousies of Christianity and Islam, and to a little extent, the distinct, but more accommodating values and customs of the indigenous religions of the well over 250 ethnic nationalities. As it were, Nigerians still find themselves involved together in social, economic and political relationships. However, there is the crisis identity and the rights of these different cultural groups, and or orientations, of preserving their distinct ways of life, and yet working together in jointly constructing a society that enhances their self-worth, self-esteem and self-realization at their deepest level of existence. Our paper acknowledges the spate of global interaction in this new world in the making which spirit has forced or fused the coexistence of individuals of different ideological political, religious and moral persuasions. The paper argues on this score that the resultant agitations of these religious groups are what counts as the tensions of the present polity. that, the manipulation of religion or religious practices as a form of discrimination as is evident in the prosecution of the Sharia project violates the rights of other citizens. The paper argues on a second count that, religious pluralism is not contrary to the values and customs of the Nigerian social system, and that, the different religious persuasions, which outlook and practices sometimes contradicts each other; apparently diverse and opposed, are simply expressions from different viewpoints and by different method of one ultimate truth which has the capacity for national integration, social harmony and sustainable human development. The paper advances a philosophy of religious tolerance as an institutional frame and atmosphere in which humanity shares in the richness of its different traditions for a better and more humanized world.