THE INDISPENSABILITY OF RELIGION, PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION FOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

Paul Okwuchukwu Azuakor

Abstract


Most, if not all, religions hold peace as a very essential virtue. But the irony of it all is that most conflicts (antithesis of peace) in the world today have been shown to be connected with religion. And for any society to properly grow and develop, conflict resolution, which leads to peace, is a conditio sine qua non. Growth in this context entails positive increment of desirable enablers of life, while development connotes availability of conditions on the material, social, political, economic, educational, spiritual, and other spheres, which lead to the attainment and enjoyment of the good life. Nigeria has known several conflicts associated with religion- many religious riots in the North, Boko Haram, herdsmen attacks, Christian/Muslin/African Traditional Religion skirmishes, to mention but just these. Their social, political, spiritual and economic havocs have been monumental. It is, therefore, apropos to note that both on the global and local scenes, religion must start to play a focal role in conjunction with other organizations and agencies to mitigate conflicts through resolution principles of various kinds in order to attain peace, which will ultimately lead to integral and comprehensive growth and development in the world and Nigeria in particular. This paper employed the library research method and used the tools of deductive reasoning, critical analysis and evaluation. Recommendations include: mutual respect of all the religions, internalization of the import of an almost general belief of all religions in a Supreme Being, honesty on the part of all partners in the quest and process of resolution of conflicts, acceding to the common dignity of all humans. Keyword

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