Assessing the Influence of Personal Interest on Religious Values: Implication for National Development

Abstract

The claim that religion has any bearing on a country’s growth is still up for discussion. Nigeria is not exempt from the widespread underdevelopment that is currently sweeping through the African continent. Religious leaders and their followers’ personal interests affect the contributions that religion should have made to the nation’s growth and development. Religion itself is being misused for nefarious and selfish ends. The decline in the country educational, social, political, and economic conditions coupled with problem of insecurity is proof of this. The nation is witnessing high level of insecurity, kidnapping, banditry, and corruption in public sectors is getting worse. This paper aims to identify reasons why religious values are being relegated, and why religion is not doing much to counter some of the menaces retarding development. It was discovered that religious leaders and adherents had contributed negatively to the development of the nation by placing personal interest above religious values through desire for power and love for money. Karl Marx’s theory on religion is applicable to this research considering the practise of religion in our society.  The article suggests, among others, that religion must play the social role of helping to conserve the national values that can guarantee virtues of national development as against private gain.