DIALOGUE AND RELIGIOUS HARMONY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Today, religion is seriously under attack from within and from without, therefore, anybody who believes in God and professes faith in any particular religion is already challenged not to make religion an object of ridicule. It follows that the ministerial priesthood, the common priesthood and the Church is crying for protection and sustenance. We are living in an era of anticlericalism which is partly caused by the sacred ministers in words and actions. Even the Nigerian government believes that dialogue today is indispensable in a situation where some political and religious leaders use religion to perpetuate their selfish ambition in God's name. On the 20th of October, 2011, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, called an extra ordinary meeting of the Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC) at Abuja to appeal to religious leaders to seek ways of using religion to restore peace and promote peaceful coexistence in Nigeria. This meeting explored the relationship between religion and politics. While religion is presumed to create peace and harmony, it can also be used as a deadly tool in the hands of those who want to cause chaos. In a similar way, politics which should be used to create peace and order through governance can also be used for selfish reasons to cause conflict. Provocative statements of politicians or religious preachers can send hearts and a nation ablaze. In times like these, all who care about life and the attendant human dignity stand a better chance to bring sanity and peace to the society by prevailing on everybody to promote peace in place of anarchy. Fethullah Gûlen, a Turkish Islamic scholar teaches that, “Religion focuses primarily on the immutable aspects of life and existence.†Consequently the dignity of life and the joy of heaven should be the focus of every religion. All these call for internal cleansing of religion whereby the religious leaders must transform themselves and then clearly see it as an obligation to call to order, their followers who preach and promote violence. We are more than ever before seriously in need of all forms of dialogue, namely, dialogue of life, dialogue of religious experience, dialogue of social engagement and dialogue of theological exchange. Before we can even approach these four forms of dialogue we may need to critically examine the various forms of conflicts that immediately call for resolutions, management and transformation.