The main thrust of this paper is that religious factors in the Nigerian public sphere have not received much scholarly attention. This is the gap the paper fills as it highlights religious factors in the Nigerian public sphere, which are exemplified in the spiritualisation of politics and election, the interpretation of political manifestoes, voting patterns, the choice of candidates and party leadership, oath swearing into office; the design and execution of political policy, to mention but a few. Attention is also paid to the implications of the above variables for the promotion of political ethics and ideologies. Data obtained from interviews with randomly selected political functionaries along with political historical documents were analysed and discussed within the ambit of functional theory of religion. Having examined the burdens and prospects inherent in the discourse, the paper recommends ways of making religion a continuous veritable tool for promoting good governance in Nigeria.
Keywords
NigeriaReligionPublic SpherePoliticsGovernance
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Ayantayo, J.K. 2009. 5 - Religious Factors in the Nigerian Public Sphere: Burdens and Prospects: https://doi.org/10.4314/ad.v34i3-4.63530. Africa Development. 34, 3-4 (Jun. 2009). DOI:https://doi.org/10.4314/ad.v34i3-4.63530.
Ayantayo, Jacob Kehinde (Ph. D), is a Professor of Religious Ethics, Religion and Society, Peace and Conflict Issues in Religions. He is of the Department of Religious Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, but also an adjunct Professor (for the Peace and Conflict Studies Programme in many Nigerian Universities. He served (and still serves) in a Consultancy capacity in Curriculum development on Peace Studies and Research in Religious Studies programmes in several Nigerian Universities and Theological Institutions. Professor Ayantayo, a recipient and awardee of the MacArthur grant and Fellow of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (fSPSP) was a visiting Professor at Universitat Bayreuth, Germany, in 2006. A founder and pioneer president of the African Society for the Study of Sociology and Ethics of Religions has over 80 publications on the interface between religion and social issues generally. Two of his scholarly books, which have received tremendous market acceptability not only in the Nigerian Universities and Seminaries but also in Ghana, Cameron and Kenya are Fundamentals of Religious Ethics and Rudiments of Research and Research in Religious Studies. This same goes for his popular inaugural lecture entitled “Rescuing God from His Abductors”. Emails: ayantayokehinde@gmail.com, jk.ayantayo@mail.ui.edu.ng: Phone: 08034297780
FIVE RECENT PUBLICATIONS 1. Ayantayo, J.K. (2018) Rescuing God from His Abductors, Inaugural Lecture Published by Ibadan University Press 2. Ayantayo, J.K. and Ayantayo G.N. (2019) The Dilemma of Not Seeing Outside from Inside and the Inside from the Outside in the Nigerian Religious Mirror” in Readings in Peace and Conflict: Essay in Honour of Professor Isaac Olawale Albert, Bogoro E.S, Meyer, M and Danjibo, N.D. (Eds) Ibadan: Society for Peace Studies and Practice, pp 272-293. 3. Ayantayo, J.K (2020) “Conquering ‘Enemies Within’: A Moral Therapy for Healing Nigerian Entrepreneurship” Journal of African Society for the study of Sociology and Ethics of Religions, Vol 7, June 2020, pp 1-24 4. Ayantayo, J.K (2020) Christian Education and Church Growth in Nigeria, A Festschrift in Honour of Pastor Professor, Stephen Oluwatoyin Ajayi, Ibadan: Hope Publications. 5. Ayantayo, J.K (2021) Genderisation in Treating COVOD 19 Patients in Kano, Nigeria: A Plus or Minus for Women COVID 19; African Women and the Will to Survive, Helen A Labeodan, Rosemary Amenga-Etego, Johanna Stiebet, Mark S Aidoo, (eds) Germany: University of Bamberg Press, pp 39- 52
