ABSTRACT
Nigeria as a nation is plaque
with several socio-political and economic problems and challenges. However, the
major challenges facing the country since 2007 that tend to defy all logic and
solution is that of insecurity posed by the Boko Haram insurgency. Boko Haram,
which literarily means “Western Education is sin”, according to the local
parlance, is deeply rooted in religious intolerance. Historically, religious
intolerance dates back to the 1980s when the Maitasine sect emerged. The
government managed to contend the sect somehow, but the “mustard seed” of that
religious crisis was deeply planted and watered, so, the seed has been
germinating with diverse botanical names. A deep reflection on religious
intolerance in Nigeria will reveal that the
problem is deeply rooted in the north. And this is the part of the country
where the illiteracy rate is the highest. Again, the north, which is
predominantly Muslim see everything with the spectacle of religion. The north
as a people does not have a culture that is different from religion. Indeed,
everything to an average northerner who is a Muslim is viewed from Islamic
religion. So, to them, there are no differences between culture, politics and
religion. This knitted relationship between these basic social elements in the
north makes it difficult to establish a distinction between the three. So, a
disagreement in any aspect of these social elements is viewed as a disagreement
of religious view or belief. This usually and perennially creates tension in the
country especially in the north. To solve this problem therefore, there is the
need for education to illuminate and liberate the minds of the masses in the
north.
INTRODUCTION
Religion could serve as an instrument of social harmony, and
paradoxically, it could also serve as a motivation for violence hence, it has
been viewed by scholars as a “double-edged sword” (Maregere 2011:17-23; Obasi
2009). Religious bigots’ right from the ancient epoch attempted to legitimize
violence in the name of God. It is on the basis of this that present acts of
extreme violence such as terrorist attacks as typified by Boko Haram in Nigeria are usually justified
as “holy wars”. In the last two decades, Nigeria had experienced events
of tensions violence and killing between Christians and Muslims. These violent
conflicts are not unconnected with the complex nature of inter religious and
intercultural relationship that exists in the country, which have been that of
religious fundamentalism and riots.
The major reason for the violent conflict is largely due for
either lack of understanding and misinterpretation of the various religious
faiths. Added to this is the fact that the dominant model of religious learning
ordered by major Nigerian regions has been faiths oriented and anchored on
religious indoctrination and dogma.
1.0 DEFINITION
OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE
Religious intolerance is when a group (e.g., a
society, religious group, non-religious group) specifically refuses to tolerate
practices, persons or beliefs on religious grounds (i.e., intolerance in
practice).
The mere statement on the part of a religion
that its own beliefs and practices are correct and any contrary beliefs are
incorrect does not in itself constitute intolerance (i.e., ideological intolerance).
Religious and social conservatives often
interpret the phrase as related to a person’s belief about other
people's different religious beliefs. It means that, to be tolerant, one must
accept all religions as equally valid and true.
This is close to a religious concept called
"pluralism" which
states that all religions are true and valid within their own cultures."
One problem is that if diverse beliefs are all true, then absolute
truth does not exist. These conservatives generally find unacceptable.
Also, taken to a logical extreme, this definition of tolerance would require
people to accept the existence of Yahweh, Allah, the Wiccan Goddess, Thor, Re,
Jupiter, Venus, Diana, Fergus, etc. as real Gods and Goddesses.
Among other individuals and groups,
"religious tolerance" is related to a person's actions in
response to other people's different religious beliefs and practices. It means
that one must avoid oppressing or discriminating against persons whose
religious beliefs happens to be different from yours.
Webster’s
new world dictionary (1995)
Defines
intolerant as:
|
“Not tolerant; unwilling to tolerate other’s opinions,
beliefs, etc.”
|
Webster’s defines tolerate in part
as:
|
“to recognize and respect others’ beliefs, practices etc.
without sharing them”
|
Then
in my own understanding, “religious intolerance” is a combination of the
above:
|
“not respecting the fundamental human right of other
people to hold religious beliefs that are different from your own
|
In simple terms, religious intolerance or fanaticism is the
inability of an adherent of a particular religion to acknowledge, accommodate
and accept the right of others to live by another faith different from his own.
1.01 ESCALATION OF
RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE
The followers of most religions (and of no
organized religion) feel that their beliefs are true and that the beliefs of
other groups are, at least to some degree, false. By itself, this stance is not
dangerous to public order. However, profound evil can result when
they also oppress other religious groups, discriminate against them, or
disseminate hatred against them.
If they go to the next step and believe that
followers of other faith groups are sub-human, then all the prerequisites are
in place for mass crimes against humanity, genocide, and still
another Holocaust. We have seen such criminal acts in recent decades in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Cyprus, Nigeria, Sudan, Middle East, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, East Timor, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, etc.
1.02 FORMS
OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE
Religious intolerance can be divided into four forms,
depending upon the perpetrator and the intended target:
1. Inter-faith
intolerance (e.g. a Muslim - Christian conflict)
2. Intra-faith
intolerance (e.g. Christian beliefs vs. Muslims beliefs)
3. Intolerance by
from a faith group against a secular group (e.g. Christian fundamentalists
vs. Agnostics,
Atheists, Humanists, Homosexuals, Transsexuals, loving,
committed same-sex couples
who wish to marry, etc.)
4. Intolerance by a
secular group against a religious group. (e.g. feminists vs. some organized
religions)
2.0 RELIGION IN NIGERIA
There are several religions in Nigeria and this assist in the
accentuation of regional and ethnic distinctions. As at 1990, all religions
represented in Nigeria, were actually practiced
in major cities. The northern part of the country is dominated by Islam and
there are some followers in the south west that constitute the Yoruba. Also, in
the Yoruba axis there exist Protestantism and local syncretic Christianity.
Among the Igbos of the South East and other closely related areas are dominated
by Catholicism. Both Catholicism and Protestantism dominate the Ibibios,
Annangs, and the Efiks of south-south Nigeria.
The 1963 census according to Wikipedia showed
that 47 percent of Nigerians were Muslim, 35 percent Christian and 18 percent
belong to other local indigenous congregations. However, a 2003 report
portrayed 50.4% of Nigerian as Muslims, 48.2% as Christian, while 1.4% are
members of other religions. Among the Christians, we have catholic as 27.8%,
protestant 31.5%, while other recent statistics give up to 55% of the Nigerian
population to Muslim while Christians are 40%.
This statistics cannot be relied upon wholly
here for the reason being that the Nigerian population has been manipulated for
political, economic and other reason. Also, the Purdah system cannot help to
provide an accurate census of the Muslim population in Nigeria.
In relation to the major ethnic groups and religious
affiliations, the Hausas’ in the North is 95% Muslim and 5%Christianity, the
Yoruba tribe in the west have60% Christians, 30% Muslims and 10% belonging to
other African religions. The Igbos in the East and the Ijaw in the south are
98% Christians (Catholics), while 2% practice other African religions. The
middle belt of Nigeria is the largest
minority group and they are Christians mostly with traditional religions and
very few Muslim converts.
Basically, the major problems of Nigeria have been religion and
ethnicity. These twin problems have been perennial and tend to defy all logic.
This made it possible for religious intolerance to persist despite the
pluralistic nature of the Nigerian state. Historically, the western experience
is to move from the exclusivity of “eiuscuiusreligio” and try to create a
secular state where politics and religion are kept apart.
Nigeria typified an example of
two major religious communities inhabiting two different religions. The goal of
this is to secure each community the freedom to practice their religion and
educate their young ones in the practice of such religion.
This can be seen in the Nigerian constitution
where it is expressed that the state “shall not adopt any religion as state
religion” and that “every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion, or belief,
and freedom… to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship”.
This clearly shows that the balance of power
between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria is such that it is
difficult if not impossible to realize the dream of becoming dominant. The
option here is the cultivation of tolerance and cooperation, which is necessary
to secure freedom of worship that will promote peaceful co-existence. However,
in practice, this balance of power tends to provoke an intensification of
confrontation, which has led to the religious conflicts, violence and now
terrorism. This indeed is a serious challenge to the Nigerian state. The
present situation is capable of derailing the democratic structure and it posed
a mortal danger to the unity of the country. The solution to this danger lies
in Education and a philosophy of education that will recover the very head, the
heart and hand of the very people that champion this conflict and redirect them
toward reinventing their understanding and conception of religion, while
locating the role of man in natural design.
This approach will move the diagnosis of
religious conflicts in Nigeria from the underlying
socio-political, economic and governance factors and focus to a more holistic
and practical means of providing a lasting solution to this problem.
3.0 RELIGIOUS
INTOLERANCE AND EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
Several causes of religious violence have been
identified in some literature such as (Agwu 2009; Gofwen2004; Salawu 2010,
Iwara 2006, Kwaja 2009; Omotosho 2003, Sanusi 2009). The causes in this
literature anchored on socio-political, economic and governance factors that
gestate not only religious conflicts, but also violent conflicts in Nigeria as a whole. However,
Sampson (2012) showed that government neglect, oppression, domination,
exploitation, victimization, discrimination, marginalization, nepotism and
bigotry are equally factors that can trigger off religious violence. Kwaja
(2009:107) also in his treatise identifies the fragile nature of state
institutions in relation to their ability and capacity to manage effectively
diversity, corruption, rising inequality between the rich and the poor, gross
violation of human rights, environmental degradation, contestation over land,
among others as the reasons for violent conflicts in Nigeria. Indeed, several
others reasons such as disparaging publications by both Christian and Muslim
elites (Omotosho 2003), wrong perception of other people’s religion or faith,
wrong religious orientation, the low literacy level of religious adherents,
selfishness on the part of religious personalities, pervasive poverty,
government involvement in religious matters (Acgumike 2008:287) as factor
responsible for inter religious conflicts in Nigeria.
A cursory look at all these factors reveals
religious intolerance, fundamentalism and extremism. Indeed, this tripod is
what carried the pot of religious conflicts in Nigeria. This tripod is
however fuelled by lack of education that is on a sound philosophic foundation.
This assertion tallies with the view of (Achunik, 2008), when he opines that
low illiteracy level of religious adherents accounts for religious violence in Nigeria. Lack of proper
education is the major reason for religious conflicts and violence in Nigeria. This is because
proper education will equip religious adherents with better understanding of
the dynamics of religion. Education helps to liberate the minds of religious
adherents of all dogmas that tend to generate and create intolerance, fundamentalism
and extremism. It places the adherents in a position to question certain
religious views and dogmas that will be against the views of others. For
instance, as a Christian, I am not convinced that it is only Christians that
will make heaven. I am not also in agreement with the notion of “hell” as
preached by Christianity. There are several reasons that informed this position
and no preacher or gospel has been able to change it. This conviction or knowledge
is not a product of dogma but rational deduction from Biblical, religious and
philosophical views. It is a product of deep reflection nourished by
intellectual fruits that emphasis that the medieval humanism and the
renaissance view of man derived more from the Bible than from Greek philosophy,
and that the Biblical view of man is not only compatible with freedom but has
tended to be most effective guarantee of freedom in human society.
Education could to a great extent, aid
Christians and even Muslim to compromise or give up some religious or doctrinal
rights for the sake of social change, but the question is; how liberal or
dogmatic could they be? For Christianity, the scriptures as can be seen in
Roman 13:1-2, where Paul said:
Let every soul be subjects unto the higher powers. For there is
no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever
therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that
resist receive to themselves damnation.
Also, 1 Peter 2:13-14, Peter urged Christians
to “Be subject to every kind of human order, whether it be to the King as the
foremost, or governors as sent by him, as a vengeance on the wicked and a
reward to the just”.
Here, liberal leaning towards authority in the
Christendom will therefore make it possible for a Christian to respect the
privacy of others. This is due to the realization of the fact that these
aspects of other people’s lives do not in any way fall under his jurisdiction.
This belief nourished with education will make it impossible for a Christian to
attempt to take over power of the state to sanction deviant behaviour, or would
a Christian attempt to abate certain conduct that offends Christian doctrine.
This is clearly within the regulatory purview of temporal authority. This
virtue of compliance to temporal authority makes it possible for Christianity
to endorse and comply with economic, political and social order as sanctioned
by temporal authority as far as these do not interfere with its worship.
Islam, on the other hand is different. It is
not just a religion but also a way of life that encompasses the whole gamut of
economic, judicial, political and cultural lives of its Umma (faithful or
adherent), and as such it is viewed as “total submission to the will of Allah
(God) as revealed through the prophetic message of Mohammed” (Danjibo). The
totality of Islamic regulation of the lives of Muslims is graphically captured by
Olayiwola (1988:227), when he writes:-
Islam does not admit a
narrow view of religions by restricting it within the limits of worship,
specific rituals and spiritual beliefs. In its precise meaning, Islam is not
only a religion; it is also a way of lifer that regulates all the aspects of
life on the scale of the individual and the nation. Islam is a social order,
philosophy of life, a system of economic rules and government. Islam clearly
establishes man’s duties and rights in all relationship- a clear system of
worship, civil rights, laws of marriage and divorce, inheritance, code of
behaviour, laws of economy, laws of governance, laws of war and peace, of
buying and selling and laws of relations and co-existence with one another,
parents, children, relatives neighbours, guests, Muslims, non-Muslims and
brethren.
This explanation tilts Islam towards intolerance,
fundamentalism and extremism. It paints a picture of rigidity of Islam as a
comprehensive tool for the regulation of the entire lifestyle of its faithful,
where there exists no room for any separation between spiritual and temporal
affairs especially for those that chose to be pious Muslims. This highlights
absolution in the characterization of Islam as it is held by adherents of the Wahhabi
Islam, who see jihad as a portent tool for the purging of Islam of
modernization since it is seen as adulteration of orthodox principles. This
offer succinct explanation to the predominance of religious violence in the
Muslim dominated northern Nigeria where liberal attitude
to Islamic orthodox or Wahhabism has given birth to Boko Haram and terrorism.
Boko Haram is a product of the rigidity and inflexibility of Islamic
fundamentalism of the Wahhabi extraction as they continue to react violently to
any act or omission viewed as a violation of Sharia or Islamic tenets. This
attitude ignores the fact that other religious sects have a corresponding legal
right to the same act(s). So, the fundamentalists’ effort to maintain a strict
and pure Islamic state in a secular country is overtly and covertly a violation
of the rights of other people and as such is ignition to religious violence
(Achunike 2008:288)
The several religious disturbances ranging from
the1980 Maitasine and the present Boko Haram sectarian violence are all
products of dogmatic adherence to Sharia jurisprudence that inspires Islamic
Jihad and Obliteration of Western civilization (Ekanem 2011, Onuoha 2012).
Also, the 1991 religious crisis that engulfed Tafawa Balawa in Bauchi state was
ignited by Muslims dreams to maintain religious purity in multi-cultural and
multi-religious environment.
It is clear from the above analysis that
dogmatism is one basic element of religious violence. Dogmatism as a product of
indoctrination can be cured through education that seeks to liberate the minds
and remove all forms of mental cobwebs gathered through cultural and religious
activities and beliefs. Through education the perception of religious adherents
could be altered positively. This can be seen in the Platonic “Allegory of the
Cave” where education is portrayed as a light that liberate men from the chain
of dogmas.
A deep reflection on the history of the
northern part of Nigeria reveals very high
level of illiteracy. This illiteracy of the majority of the northern masses
exposed them to the manipulation of the few elites that employed religion and
ethnicity as a tool for socio-political, economic and governance advantage. The
northern masses have been deprived of education by the ruling elites.
This deprivation brought about government
neglect, oppression, domination, exploitation, marginalization, nepotism and
bigotry, poverty, inequality, gross violation of human rights, environmental
degradation and subjugation. This is coupled with selfishness of the elites,
corruption and weak institutions that are incapable of managing diversity and
pluralism in the country.
All these are issues created due to lack of
education especially in the northern state of Nigeria. This lack of
education in northern Nigeria dates back to era of
colonialism. This can be seen in the analysis of Lemu (2012) when he explained
that the pattern of education in the south and the north has been different. In
the south, Christian missionaries established schools freely but this was not
the case in the north. This created educational disparities between the south
and north.
This disparity in a way has entrenched
marginalization in terms of national development in the country.
However, the few northern elites capitalized on these emingly
high illiteracy rate in the north to subject the masses to adverse poverty and
subjugation. This lack of education in the north left the masses with nothing
to occupy their minds. The options left for the teeming masses are to recourse
to religion for scour and as Karl Marx puts it, religion becomes an “opium of
the poor (masses)”. With the exclusivity nature of Islamic religion and its
indoctrination and comprehensiveness as both a religion and way of life, this
become a basic political and ethnic tool in the hand of the elitist cabal who
inspire and indoctrinate them to take to violence as a means to combat
un-Islamic activities.
From our analysis, it is evident that with
education the human mind could be more liberally and positively engaged. Also,
with education the level of rationality and analytic skill of the human person
could be enhanced and this could have the potential to drastically reduce the
high incidence of violence inspired by religion. This assertion is anchored on
the fact that education sharpens the human intellect and equips man with the
inquisitiveness that enables man to raise certain fundamental question. With
education, I am sure most people with moderate and control their instinct for
violence due to religion. For instance, it will take only an educated mind to
raise the question of God existence. We are not to accept everything that religion
preaches or propagates, and to be able to free ourselves from religious
indoctrination we need education as a veritable tool towards achieving this
goal.
It is only an effectively manipulated mind
through indoctrination that can decide to fight for God or gods.
If God or god(s) is or are what He (he) is or
are projected to be, then no man have the power or might to fight for God or
gods. Vengeance we are told, belongs to God or gods, so why should a rational
being wants to fight for the “Almighty God” and “gods” that have the power to
destroy both the “body and the soul”.
The Boko Haram insurgency and other related
religious crisis in Nigeria that emanate from the
northern part of the country is a clear confirmation of lack of education
properly so called. What have been taken as a philosophy of education in the
country are policy statements and objectives of education. Also, in the entire
northern region there exits no department of philosophy in all the Universities
established by the federal and states governments, except the recent ones by
University of Abuja(the department lack the requisite man power for a fruitful
academic activity to be regarded as philosophical) and Benue State University,
which is ill equipped by qualified academic staff.
The lack of philosophy departments in the
northern universities is not an oversight but a deliberate design to keep this
portent and rigorous cognitive activity out of the northern region and
therefore deprive the masses of the region the monumental benefits and
illuminative potentials of such intellectual activity that philosophy can
provide. It is the potency of philosophy to raise fundamental issues and
question certain beliefs and thoughts. It is indeed the fear for the liberation
of the masses from religious fundamentalism and bigotry that could be achieved
through philosophy that made it difficult if not impossible for philosophy to
penetrate the north. This singular act has left the north in the platonic cave
without illumination. It becomes therefore an imperative for Nigeria to evolve a philosophy
of education that will address this sordid and moral issue of religious
intolerance.
4.0 THE NEED FOR
ESSENCISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
Essencism as a philosophy according to Ekanem
(2005) is coined from the word “essence”, which is what makes a thing what it
is (Hornby 2004:392). Historically therefore, Essencism as a philosophy seeks
to highlight the essence of man on planet earth. The reason for this unique
philosophy, which is wholly Nigerian, is because most of the foreign
philosophies tend to diminish the importance and value of the essence and life
of man as the controller of the habitable earth. Also, some of these
philosophies attempt to disconnect man from his creator and nature, while trying
to dehumanize and alienate man. So, essencism is that philosophy that sees man
as the centrality of all the happenings on earth. This position is anchored and
traceable to the Biblical era, where man was given that divine authority to
inherit the earth and dominate it. The book of Genesis made us to understand
that God created man in his own image, to have both physical and spiritual
dominion over all things.
As the last thing that God created before his
rest, man truly represents the divine authority of God. Man accordingly is God’s ambassador and as an
ambassador he is divinely immuned from harm or being harm by any thing on
earth. Furthermore, the creation as we have it in the book of Genesis shows
that man was put in the “Garden of Eden” to tend it. Also, it was man that
provided names for virtually everything both in the garden and on earth. This
is because, the Garden of Eden by design, is a microcosm of our earth that we
live.
We can glean from this that man is imbued with
divine intelligence and knowledge to fulfill God’s purpose on earth. It follows
then that the education of man must necessarily seek to establish this essence,
that is, those important qualities that make man who he is by God. These
qualities of man can be seen in the dual nature of man as both physical and
spiritual being. This duality is what constitutes the essence of man. Hence,
any philosophy or idea that diminishes or tends to de-emphasize that dualism
must be rejected. Man indeed was created for a divine purpose. Man was created
for the purpose of dominating his environment as established by God. So, man’s
stay at the Garden of Eden was to equip him with divine education that will aid
him to cope and dominate his environment outside the garden.
This portrays that historically, man’s
education was divinely designed to reflect his techno-nature. This can be seen
in man’s divine ability to give names to all things created by God without
duplication. From this, it can be said that the education of man is divinely
inspired. Based on this inspirational dimension, education seeks to satisfy the
spiritual essence of man while the applied science-technology actualized the
physical manifestation of man’s spiritual development.
Viewed from the essencist perspective,
education of man is divinely ordained to satisfy the dual nature of man. So,
any education that does not seek to achieve these two basic objectives is not a
sound education. It is on the basis of this that we stand to condemn any
education that only strives to justify the spiritual aspect of man while
ignoring the physical aspect. This is where Boko Haram and other fundamentalist
group lost the moral tonic and justification for their war against western
education that strive to bring up a balanced man through a kind of education
that cater for the spiritual and physical needs of man. Ekanem (2005:220),
captures this aptly when he argues that
…any educational
philosophy that seeks to promote technological advancement must first and
foremost, lay a spiritual foundation for its education. It is this spiritual
development that can lead to inspirational advancement of knowledge, which
practical applicability will lead effortlessly to technological development.
This then satisfies the physical essence of man since it is through technological
advancement that man is provided with his physical comfort. But for the
physical comfort to be attained there must be a corresponding spiritual level
of development. Also inclusive in this spiritual aspect of man’s essence is the
ethical value for all that is good. It provides man with a sound knowledge of
what is good and bad.
The knowledge that essencism will provide will
lay bare to all Nigerian citizens and make it possible as a socio-cultural
practice that honesty pays and that intolerance of one another is a vice. It
will also help to wipe off the culture and practice of killing in the name of
religion. Essencism will bring to the fore the sanctity of human life. It will
help change the culture and practice of looting the national treasury through
public office. Also, it will instill in every Nigerian a nationalistic spirit
of oneness thereby eradicating tribalism, religious bigotry, corruption and
other socio-political vices that retard national development. The attainment of
these socio-cultural reforms through essencism is because the dual aspect of
every citizen will be developed through this educational philosophy. This is
because as a spirit being, man is directly linked with God from where the
source of his intellectual inspiration is derived.
The spiritual development of man (Nigerians)
through essencism will re-establish a direct link with God. And when God is
involved in every affairs of man, we can be sure that harmony will be
established and development is bound to occur with so much ease. This is
because; Nigerians will have one source of intellectual inspiration, which is
God. This will let Muslims, Christians, traditionalists, Eckists, humanists and
others to see man as man and humanity will be better understood while our
“Nigerianness” will emerge from this. This way, the act of violence against one
another will be eliminated from our national life. This is because fighting
against any Nigerian will be seen or interpreted as fighting against oneself.
Philosophy of essencism seeks to develop a
complete human personality. This is because no aspect of the human nature is
ignored. Man (Nigeria) is totally developed
as a physical and spiritual being through essencism.
It is when the human personality is completely
developed that one can begin to talk of other aspects of development. This is
because; the development of any nation is dependent upon the development of
human person. Omoregbe (1990:147) supports this view when he asserts that:
The most important
aspect of the development of any country is indisputably the development of
human personality. It is, in other words, the moral development of the citizens
that constitute the country. To be sure, there are other aspects of
development, for a country is a living organism with many parts, each of which
needs to be developed….
This is a sound logic and a fact that cannot be
faulted or disputed. The development of a country is entirely dependent on the
development of the people that make up such a country. This is in conformity with
the platonic notion that the state is “man-writ-large”. Also, if any part of the human person remains
undeveloped, there is bound to be problem with the developmental process of
such a country.
Nigeria as a nation needs essencism as a
philosophy since it is the combination of the physical and spiritual dimensions
of man into a whole that will create a unique system, character and culture for
the Nigerian state through education. This combination will help the country to
check and eradicate those vices that tend to retard and inhibit the development
of the country.
5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
Essencism as a philosophy of education in Nigeria can help promote
development in the country and assist in curbing the menace of religious
intolerance if the following are systematically carried out by the government.
• Promotion of religious understanding among youth aged 8 to 18
to form the backbone of diverse communities across Nigeria. This will serve as
critical social cohesion.
• Enacting of legislation that will ban the receiving of
religious education from teachers of their own faith.
This is because the idea of teachers of the same faith teaching
the students enrolled in pubic schools limit students opportunities to learn
about other religion other than their own. There is the need to expose students
to discussions on religious differences and pluralism.
• Promotion of local and national debate on religious tolerance.
• Production and distribution of comic books about religious
differences and tolerance to students in public schools and the almairis.
• Ensuring that religious education teachers are well grounded
and trained in essencism as a philosophy of education.
• Building capacity for the rural poor/nomads.
• Promotion and fostering awareness about critical thinking,
skills related to radicalization, religious freedom and tolerance.
• The institution of programming in public schools that will
aids in the prevention of radicalization and promotes religious freedom and
tolerance.
• The civil society and education should promote the idea of
human rights as a tool for the promotion of religious intolerance.
• Victims of religious intolerance should be encouraged to seek
redress in the court of law for the abuse of the fundamental rights.
• Promotion of tolerance and religious dialogue through
education and the involvement of civil society in the process.
• The consistent promotion secularity status of Nigeria to education and
public awareness.
• Government at all levels should not be involved in the funding
of any religious activities.
• Liberalism should be promoted in all sphere of our national
life.
CONCLUSION
Our analysis show that religious intolerance is
a serious national issue in Nigeria, and it pose a mortal
danger to the unity, stability and development of the country. Religious
intolerance and it potentials to conflict and violence makes it a sensitive
issue of national discourse.
However, to tackle the challenges presented by
this, this seminar posits that education as a basic tool and vehicle of
liberation can effectively be employed in solving this growing national
monster. To achieve this, there is the need to lay a sound foundation for our
education through a philosophy, which in this case is Essencism. This
philosophy will also enhance Nigeria’s level of sensibility
in physical, spiritual and practical creativity.
This will provide Nigeria a practical and
workable philosophy of education, which processes will help cultivate in
Nigerians a high level of “physic-spiritual sensibility”. For as I Chinedu
Iroka puts it “…A philosophy of education determines basically the direction of
the creative and productive development of a people”.
Again, O’Connor believes in the soundness of
this logic when he asserts that “The educational system of any society is a
more or less elaborate social mechanism designed to bring about in the persons
submitted to it certain skills and attitudes that are judged to be useful and
desirable in the society. From this, we can see that no meaningful development
can take place without peace, a sound and appropriate philosophy of education
because it is from here that we derive the aims of knowledge, skills and
attitude.
With Essencism as a philosophy of education, a
new culture and character that reflects the totality of man as a person that
lives in peace with one another while preserving life, and Nigerians will not
be cajoled into pursuing a religion and activities that will be detrimental to
the sanctify of human life and destructive of natural law or principles. This
will help redirect all Nigerians and provides the focus and knowledge that
humanity is one and all Nigerians derive their existence from this.
Again, this will help to establish
epistemological relationship between education, culture, religion, politics,
peace and development. It will at the same time, place the services of
education and religion to all the citizenry. Of greater importance of this
philosophy is the fact that it purges the populace from hatred and intolerance
but rather will provide a combination of critical reflection and judgment of
religious activities. This will greatly checkmate the awesome impact of
religious intolerance in our culture, and create the necessary atmosphere for
peace and sustainable development in Nigeria.
compiled from online resources
compiled by IROKA CHINED
ciroka951@gmail.com
Tags
ARTICLES