Loading...
Religious Diversity and Conflict in Nigeria: Identity Formation and Economic Development
Adepeju-Fashina, Damilola
Adepeju-Fashina, Damilola
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
Some scholarly works have established a link between religious diversity and conflict, indicating that the more religiously diverse a country is, the higher the likelihood of conflict. But the case of religiously diverse Nigeria proves the contrary. Though Nigeria is religiously diverse and experiences conflict, the conflict is only restricted to one region (the north), while other parts of the country (the south) are conflict-free. What explains this variation in conflict within the same country? Previous scholarship has pointed to factors like Islam, religious conservatism, religious dominance, and socioeconomic and political factors as reasons for this variation. However, these studies are insufficient because they focus on the proximate causes of the conflict and do not provide historical analysis and nuance, which I argue is central to understanding the presence of conflict in the north and its absence in the south. Using historical and regional comparative approaches, I argue that this variation in conflict can be explained by different historical experiences tied to identity formation and unequal economic development created by colonialism, which placed northern Nigeria in an economically disadvantaged position compared to southern Nigeria, leading to extreme poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and poor infrastructure which increase grievances and explain why the north experiences violence than the rest of the country.
Description
Date
2023-05-31
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Kansas
Collections
Files
Loading...
987719_1.pdf
Adobe PDF, 869.19 KB
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Religion, History, African history, Colonialism, Conflict, Economic Development, Identity Formation, Nigeria, Religious Diversity