RELIGIOUS GROUPS: FUNDAMENTALISM, RELIGIOUS POLITICS AND POWER GRAB IN NIGERIA.

Karl Max in his work A Contribution to the critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right says "Religion is the opium of the people.''
Nigeria is a good example of a nation wherein the citizenry is under the influence of Quranic and Biblical opiate which is an alarming situation given the demographics of those predispose to these two fundamental problems hindering our developmental goals.

Religious fundamentalism amongst the young cuts across spatio temporal gender barrier or geographical nexus as a comprehension of the fact that our young citizens have become submerged in religious indoctrination to the extent that they start depicting element of religious psychosis cum delusion and schizophrenic bipolarism which have metamorphose their characters as human into Gorgon Medusalike monster witness on all our university campuses amongst religious zealots inclusive my personal experience while jogging at the Redeem Christian Church Camp recently. I wonder if it is not time we must begin to think of abrogating religious Zombies in Nigeria.

It is in this regard that I am advocating the abolition of religious politicisation and fundamentalism and these objectives should be the preoccupation of all government institutions charge with coordination of internal affairs worldwide in other to remove the illusory happiness of the people that religion is preaching and the urge to gravitate towards political power grabbing unfolding but not seen by many contemporary analyst.

I am mindful of the critique that will follow this piece in respect of the protection of fundamental right to freedom of conscience and religion cum free speech but I need to make a clarification here that this is not about abolition of religion or free speech rather I am writing here about control of excesses and dogmatic divisive vituperations with political undertone coming from the churches and mosques in Nigeria. We need to note here that there is/are always limitations to those rights if and when the integrity or unity of the nation is threatened by religious zealots or Zombies who are making absolute claims on state citizens and followers alike thereby jeopardizing the fundamental tenents of seperation between the state and religion.

According to Dirac : I cannot understand why we idle discussing religion. If we are honest—and scientists have to be—we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination. It is quite understandable why primitive people, who were so much more exposed to the overpowering forces of nature than we are today, should have personified these forces in fear and trembling. But nowadays, when we understand so many natural processes, we have no need for such solutions. I can't for the life of me see how the postulate of an Almighty God helps us in any way. What I do see is that this assumption leads to such unproductive questions as why God allows so much misery and injustice, the exploitation of the poor by the rich and all the other horrors He might have prevented. If religion is still being taught, it is by no means because its ideas still convince us, but simply because some of us want to keep the lower classes quiet. Quiet people are much easier to govern than clamorous and dissatisfied ones. They are also much easier to exploit. Religion is a kind of opium that allows a nation to lull itself into wishful dreams and so forget the injustices that are being perpetrated against the people. - wikipedia.org

Those proselytizing, preaching or spreading religious dogmas are themselves exploiters of the people camouflaging as being righteous when in fact their major aim is hegemony and leverage to control the mind and purse of the people or the nation if given the opportunity to grab political power.

Religion might provides ethical wisdom for society according to T.S. Eliot or social cohesion in some cases but the moment it is used to achieve given political ends contradictory to fundamental state philosophy of fairness and neutrality in a liberal democratic settings that is the moment the instrument of the state in respect of the use of force must be applied to prevent religious zealots like Boko Haram or any other groups from constituting themselves into a state within a state.

Nigeria as a constitutional liberal democracy must avoid any attempt by religious groups to hijack political power rather they must be restricted to the domain of worship and praise singing which is the hallmark of their dogmatic proprosition, it is in this wise I am in agreement with Thomas Hobbes when he describes religion as conflict generating organism that often creates political instability therefore governments must censor religiously politicised opinions in other to achieve stability or tranquility this is certain because the state has a legitimate duty to protect citizens from indoctrinations and harm that such views can/might generate.

The view expressed by Thomas Hobbes about the conflict generating ontology of religion is exemplify by what is happening today in Northern Nigeria to be precise North East coupled with the Kaduna Islamic Movement in Nigeria religious conundrum and it is my opinion that these are prelude to the bigger disaster coming from the fundamentalist christians given my experience at the Redeem Christian Church Camp an environment where Zombies are made of young impressionable minds who will do anything the Church leadership commands.
Identity conflict or Conflict of allegiance between devine and republicanism are some of the elements I noticed conversation wise in my philosophical interractions with some of the young people I spoke with while jogging.

We are beginning to witness such conflict of identity amongst adherents of various religion in Nigeria as regards their allegiance as citizen to the state. Boko Haram and Islamic Movement in Nigeria are typical examples of these kinds of anti-establishment movements with affirmation that authority is derive from the devine and political authority is of no significance therefore they repudiate any obligation to obey laid down rules and regulations.

In conclusion, it is my considered view that the abolition of religious politicisation and fundamentalism should be the preoccupation of all government institutions charge with coordination of internal affairs of Nigeria in other to remove the illusory happiness of the people that religion is preaching and the urge to gravitate towards political power grabbing by religious groups unfolding but not seen by many contemporary analyst.

OTUNBA ADE ILEMOBADE is a philosopher
Twitter: @pearl2prince