Religion as a Vital Instrument for Repositioning Nigerian Politics

Abstract

Religion and politics are intertwined and prominent in human society. Religion interacts with politics and government consciously or unconsciously. The paper evaluates the problem of corrupt political leadership as the factor that impedes nation building in Nigeria. The study aims at demonstrating how religion could serve as a vital instrument towards restructuring Nigerian politics for nation building. Religion could act as a double-edged sword through its influence on politics, which could either enhance or impede nation building depending on its application. Using analytical and historical methods, the paper discovered that nation building could only be actualised through functional application of religion in Nigerian politics. Religion has the ability to unite and foster harmony, peaceful co-existence and effective governance that can engender nation building. The study recommends that political leaders should desist from politics of calumny, which portrays religion in bad light. In practicing politics in Nigeria, the political actors should focus on the positive aspects of religion and shun the negative features that portray it as agent of disunity. The paper concludes that God initiated politics; and it is His intention that committed religious adherents be involved in politics for good governance and nation building.