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Religion and Political Culture in Nigeria 

By 

Christian Osemuyi Oseghale 

 

 

 

Abstract  

The political environment of Nigeria, including the manner of government, the 

creation of public policies, and the electoral process, have all been significantly 

influenced by religion. It cannot be overstated that religion has always played a 

significant role in Nigerian politics, particularly since the country won its 

independence. No matter how one feels about religion, it is a well-known fact that 

in Nigeria, politics and religion are closely related, despite the circularity of the 

Nigerian state in line with the constitution. This paper, therefore, examines the 

impact of religion on Nigerian politics, focusing on how it has influenced the 

political culture of the people positively and negatively since the advent of the 

fourth republic in 1999. This study suggests that people of all religions should get 

involved in politics, starting with local elections in our small towns and moving 

on to presidential campaigns and elections. To achieve national cohesion and 

development, politics in Nigeria needs to be practised, religious morals followed, 

and freedom of religion protected by the Nigerian constitution. The paper 

concludes that religion should shape our personality to reflect the characteristics 

of whoever our creator is and use those characteristics to improve our society's 

political space. Each of us should strive to become a member of the Nigerian 

dream team that will advance the nation and rethink the concept of modern 

governance to better serve the needs of as many people as possible. 

Keywords: culture, governmental policy, religion, political culture, politics, 

Nigeria 

 

Introduction 

Nigeria is one of the world's most religiously and ethnically divided 

countries, with extensive socioeconomic cleavages. These have grown 

increasingly significant because of the following: The three major ethnic 

groups have nothing in common politically, socially, or historically. Most 

Nigerians speak a "home language" and learn English, but not the other 

main local languages. Religion is not as significant in the South. Muslims 

in Yoruba, for example, behave politically as Yorubas rather than 



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Muslims. In contrast, in the north, it is difficult to separate religion from 

ethnicity. Religion has been in existence since the creation story, from the 

biblical perspective; it has no generally accepted definition, but salient 

points from available definitions expressly emphasize religion as a channel 

or means through which mankind reaches or interacts with whoever he/she 

believes or accepts as his/her creator. So whichever religion one finds 

himself or herself in, there is the realization and consciousness of 

salvation, which makes the adherent to desire to do always what is 

acceptable to one’s creator in order not to be sanctioned.  According to 

Durkheim (1912), cited in Taves (2009), "a religion is a unified system of 

beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart 

and forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral 

community called a Church, all those who adhere to them." 

Max Lynn Stackhouse, according to Nelson (2010), said religion is “A 

comprehensive worldview or ‘metaphysical moral vision' that is accepted 

as binding because it is held to be in itself true and just even if all 

dimensions of it cannot be either fully confirmed or refuted." In 1871, 

Edward Burnett Taylor coined the term "religion" to describe "the belief in 

spiritual beings." He argued that limiting the definition to include "belief 

in a supreme deity," "judgment after death," "idolatry," and other similar 

concepts would exclude a large number of individuals from the category of 

religious people and "has the fault of identifying religion rather with 

particular developments than with the deeper motive which underlies 

them. “Additionally, he argued that all known societies hold spiritual 

beliefs. The truth about religion is that certainly religion is a beaming light 

and an unassailable tower for the protection and welfare of the peoples of 

the world, for the fear of God encourages those who truly believe in Him 

to hold fast to that which is good and turn away from all evil acts. Once the 

lamp of religion is hidden, confusion and misunderstanding will follow, 

and the lights of fairness and justice, tranquillity and peace will cease to 

shine. Unto this every one of true understanding will bear witness 

(Baha'u'llah, 2018). 

 “Political” is referring to politics, which is an act or process of governance 

or, put differently, a settled pattern of administration. The Merriam-

Webster online dictionary defines political as “referring or relating to 

government, a government, or the conduct of government, relating to, or 

concerned with the making as distinguished from the administration of 

governmental policy and relating to, involving, or involved in politics and 

especially party politics.” In his book, The Sociology of Religion, Thomas 

F. O'Dea (1970) said, "Religion, like culture, is a symbolic transformation 

of experience." 



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Culture rules virtually every aspect of an individual’s life, which is why it 

is commonly referred to as a way of life of the people. Culture is dynamic 

because it allows its members to function through relating with each other 

without the need to discuss the implications of being together at every 

moment. Culture is learned and unwittingly expressed, so regardless of its 

importance we are generally unconscious of its effect on how we perceive 

the world and interact within it (Global Affairs Canada, 2014). 

Anthropologist E.B. Taylor referred to culture as “that complex whole 

which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other 

capabilities and habits acquired by a man as a member of society," a 

definition which Griswold notes is the “anthropological definition of 

culture” (Griswold, 2012).  

A diagnosis of these three concepts, namely, religion, politics and culture, 

reveals that, in the context of this study’s topic, they are bound in a strong, 

interwoven relationship in the sense that religion can bond and inspire 

individuals in the direction of a mutual goal or common belief system; this 

set of common beliefs can influence their worldview, attitudes and social 

behavior (culture), which in turn, might become a prism through which 

they assess social options and make leadership decisions as to how their 

society is governed (politics). In generating this string of relationships, 

religion appears to exert a force greater than what no political factor could 

generally accomplish. Culture, as a concept, is all-embracing, in the sense 

that it is a way of life of a people in terms of their collectivist orientation 

that manifests in their individual or group social expressions. When we 

talk of religion and political culture in Nigeria, therefore, we are referring 

to the manner in which religion influences the political viewpoints, 

attitudes and choices of Nigerians as seen in their involvement in politics, 

especially party politics, and in their political affiliations and choices. This 

is a very broad issue we cannot exhaustively discuss within the scope of 

this paper, and so we will narrow our attention, in this study, to the 

question, “In what ways does region affect political culture in Nigeria?”  

Theoretical Framework  

The three concepts, religion, politics and culture, are discussed in this 

paper under the conceptual framework of structural functionalism theory. 

Structural functionalism sees society as an interrelated part. The 

functionalist's approach was first obvious in the thought of August Comte 

who stressed the need for cohesion after the social malaise of the French 

Revolution. It was later presented in the work of Emile Durkheim, in his 

study of how societies can maintain social unity.  In 1963, in their book 

titled, The Civic Culture: Political Attitude and Democracy in Five 

Nations (Almond &Verba, 1963), two political scientists, Gabriel Almond 



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and Sydney Verba, who were strongly influenced by sociological 

structural functionalism, published a study of the political cultures 

associated with five democratic countries – Germany, Italy, Mexico, the 

United Kingdom, and the United States. 

According to Almond and Verba, there are three basic types of political 

culture which can be used to explain why people do or do not participate in 

political processes; they are:  Parochial political culture, Subject political 

culture, and Participant political culture. Parochial political culture exists 

where citizens are mostly uninformed and unaware of their government 

and take little interest in the political process. Subject political culture 

refers to where citizens are somewhat informed and aware of their 

government and occasionally participate in the political process, while 

Participant political culture is what we see in a polity where citizens are 

informed and actively participate in the political process. It is based on 

these three types of political culture identified by Almond and Verba that 

the direction of the political culture that religion has helped to shape is 

determined. Talcott Parsons (1902–1979), who was heavily influenced by 

Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, and who developed the idea of roles into 

collective roles (Parsons, 1966), says that for society to enjoy some 

acceptable level of solidarity and stability, institutions saddled with the 

responsibility of social functioning in the society (economics, education, 

legal and even gender-based) should complement each other in fulfilling 

societal functional needs for it to run smoothly. He believes that once this 

is allowed in every society the social contract between the ruler and the 

ruled will be beneficial to the ruled; this can encourage those persons on 

parochial and subjective side to navigate toward the direction of 

participant political culture. Although numerous critics have pointed out 

Parsons' emphasis on political and monetary struggle, his position has 

continued to gain popularity as it concerns stability and order in society.  

Methodology 

Data for this study were collected from secondary sources like books, 

articles, newspapers, libraries, resource centres and online sources. All of 

them helped in the explanation of the concepts and in understanding how 

religion affects political culture. Collected data were analyzed using 

monolog descriptive mechanism to extract points made by different 

authors that argue for or against the ways religion affects political culture. 

What is Political Culture? 

Having discussed above the word “political” (as used in this study’s title), 

we need to also explain the term “political culture.” According to the 



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International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, political culture is the 

combination of attitudes, beliefs and sentiments that give order and 

meaning to a political process and which make available the fundamental 

expectations and rules that govern behaviour in the political system. The 

aforementioned encompasses both the political ideals and operating norms 

of a polity. People behave in ways that are consistent with their 

fundamental views in terms of politics, the economy, and society, 

according to Robert Swierenga, cited in Wald & Calhoun-Brown (2018). 

The god or gods they place at the centre of their being determine their 

values, morals, and behaviours in the workplace, at home, and in the 

voting booth (Wald & Calhoun-Brown, 2018). 

Political culture is a concept used in political science to describe a 

population's shared opinions and normative judgments about its political 

system. This concept does not refer to attitudes toward particular political 

figures, such as presidents or prime ministers, but rather to how people 

perceive the political system as a whole and their confidence in its 

legitimacy. Political culture was defined by American political scientist 

Lucian Pye as the collection of fundamental beliefs, sentiments, and 

knowledge that form the basis of the political system. Therefore, the 

attitudes that people have toward their system of governance serve as the 

foundation of political culture (Morlino, 2017; Winkler, 2022). Gabriel 

Almond defines it as "the particular pattern of orientations toward political 

actions in which every political system is embedded". According to López 

González (2017), María Eugenia Vázquez Semadeni defines political 

culture as "the set of discourses and symbolic practices through which both 

individuals and groups articulate their power relationship, elaborate their 

political demands and put them at stake." 

Political culture, simply put, talks about what people believe and feel about 

government, and how they think people should act in the direction of 

government. Comprehending the relationship of a government to its 

people, and how those people are going to act towards that government 

and others, is at the core of political culture which, according to Swedlow 

(2013), is the shared values and beliefs of a group or society regarding 

political relationships and public policy and in answering the question of 

how human beings are going to live together. That is, political culture 

answers the question of who gets to do what, with whom and under what 

conditions. Political culture also answers the question of who decides, who 

has authority, and who has power in a group, organization, institution, or 

other social unit in society. 

 



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How Religion Affects Political Culture 

Religion is a collection of ideas, practices, values, and stories that are all 

entrenched in culture. Just as religion cannot be understood in isolation 

from its cultural and political contexts, it is practically impossible to 

understand a culture without considering its religious dimensions. Just as 

race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and socio-economic class are always 

factors in cultural interpretation and understanding, so too is religion 

(Harvard Divinity School, 2018). 

According to Cuba (2015), religion, like other closely-held 

opinions/beliefs/thoughts, affects political culture in the following ways; 

Firstly it creates voting blocks, it does not however guarantees that 

everyone who identifies with religion X or denomination Y or group Z will 

vote the same way but in practice we see this happening. Secondly, 

political cultures have an emotional impact on how laws/executive orders 

are made, by having individuals in positions of power and by having 

legislators who have no direct affiliation with a religious group and who 

can, at least, stop and consider their response to any specific legislation or 

position. And thirdly, political culture causes issues to be discussed. There 

might not always be agreement on those issues but at least they are 

discussed. Didonato (2018) maintains that as much as secular governments 

strive for a clean break between religion and politics, the two do in 

actuality mix in multifaceted ways. On the political end, religion can 

powerfully influence which party a person votes for, and even campaigns 

for, and on the religious end, political views can play a major role in 

religious conversion – in other words, people do not commonly change 

religions or denominations to find a fit for their political beliefs. 

The Nature of Religious States 

Religion is more than just a way of life in some countries; it is the basic 

constitutional law of some countries. States like Saudi Arabia, Iran, 

Afghanistan, and the Vatican are religious, not secular, states. Religious 

concepts and codes dictate the affairs of such countries. Theocracy, not 

full-scale democracy, is practised in such countries where the supreme 

leaders are invariable religious leaders. According to Boyer (2017), ‘If 

religion is the opiate of the masses, these countries know how to get high.’ 

Emphasizing further, she said; According to data from the 2017 Best 

Countries rankings, a representation of 80 countries centered on a survey 

of more than 21,000 global citizens, Saudi Arabia is observed to be the 

most religious country in the world. With theocratic monarchy and a legal 

system based on Islamic Sharia law, her citizens can receive harsh 

punishments, including death, for apostasy and blasphemy.  



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The Vatican City, also called the Holy See, is the only place in the world 

where we have a full theocratic monarchy based on Christian religion. 

Although within a geographic state (Italy), the Vatican functions as an 

independent State, with the Pope functioning as its King and head of 

government. Under international law, the Holy See is allowed to enter into 

certain international agreements; however, it does not operate under civil 

laws since it is not a civil state but an absolute monarchy in control of the 

Roman Catholic Church, ruling according to the Apostolic Constitution of 

1967 (Encyclopedia of Nations, 2018). 

Relationship between Religion and Politics 

Religion is one of the most overlooked topics in the study of world 

politics. This is because of a long-standing bias against the study of 

religion, the impact of classical liberal principles that emphasize the 

separation of church and state on social scientists, and the difficulty of 

quantifying religion, among other reasons. The Westphalia Treaty, which 

was signed in 1648, established political and religious separation. 

However, religion has always had an impact on how government decisions 

are made and how policies are developed. According to Fox (2001), 

religion has three impacts on global politics: (1) it affects the context in 

which decision-makers act as well as the worldviews of many of them and 

the people who elect them. (2) Religious beliefs and practices serve as 

justification for political decisions and actions. (3) Religious conflicts 

frequently span national boundaries and have global implications. Equally 

important are international religious movements like political Islam and 

fundamentalist groups, as well as the foreign policy of theocratic nations 

and other governments that are affected by religion. The global campaign 

to protect religious freedom is the centre of attention in the light of the 

world's growing interdependence. This illustrates how important religion is 

to comprehending world politics. The interaction between religion and 

politics today is complex and constantly shifting. The religious beliefs of a 

population have an impact on the leaders and lawmakers of a nation, and 

this influence cannot be isolated from the governance of a state (Fox, 

2001; Mandaville, & Hamid, 2018). 

The relationship between religion and politics continues in the direction of 

being an important theme in political philosophy, despite the developing 

consensus among political theorists and the cordial management of both in 

practical political contexts, such as the United Nations. There is a need for 

some kind of separation between church and state and also the right to 

freedom of conscience. A unique reason for the importance of this topic is 



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that religion over and over again makes strong claims on people’s 

allegiance, and universal religion makes these claims on all people, rather 

than just a particular community. For instance, Islam has traditionally held 

that all people owe obedience to Allah’s will. Consequently, it is probably 

inevitable that religious commitments will sometimes come into conflict 

with the demands of politics. Nonetheless, religious beliefs and practices 

also hypothetically support politics in many ways (IEP, 2018; Lane, 1992).  

The influence of religion on world politics is complex. It is abundantly 

obvious that the leaders and foreign policies of theocratic countries like 

Iran and Afghanistan are influenced by their religious doctrines. They 

routinely spring up international challenges and conditions that cannot be 

detached from their domestic and foreign policies. The role of religion as a 

source of public legitimacy is highlighted by the importance of moral pleas 

made by religious figures like the Dalai Lama and the Pope (Fox, 2001; 

Golan, & Martini, 2020). Politics and religion both function as "living" 

systems, which means they may evolve and adapt to their surroundings 

just like people do. When combined, the two have a profound impact on 

people, neighbourhoods, nations, and even the entire world. Politics and 

religion coexist in a symbiotic connection with the capacity to both help 

and hurt the other. Every group in human society has a set of beliefs that it 

has developed with the aid of religious principles (Ivy Panda, 2022). These 

beliefs frequently influence how people behave politically within a given 

political system. The media will always assess a politician's life in light of 

specific religious ideas. These values are based on religious morality and 

convictions. Here in Nigeria, a candidate for office is classified as either a 

Christian or a Muslim. The number of votes a political figure might garner 

in an election depends on their religion. Politicians in the United States 

identify with Christianity since the majority of voters are Christians. A 

political figure in the Arab world must identify with Islam because it is the 

predominant religion in the area. Before a political leader is chosen, the 

religious factions must also be made apparent. In some nations, religion 

plays a significant role in every election year. Certain religious affiliations 

are seen to be connected to cultural values that influence how well leaders 

operate in any political system. When it was reported that Obama was a 

Muslim, the question of religion became more prominent in the United 

States. Obama almost lost the election due to concerns that he might 

promote Muslim interests, if elected. The president allayed concerns, 

though, by affirming that he was a Christian (Fox, 2001; Golan & Martini, 

2020; Ivy Panda, 2022). 

Religious Politics in Nigeria 

In Nigeria, religious politics is a well-known phenomenon. Religion has 



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been a significant factor in political expression in Nigeria; it influences the 

style of governance, policy formulation, and the electoral process. 

Religion's influence on politics in Nigeria may be both beneficial and 

detrimental. According to Umeanolue (2019), just as religion boosts 

national development, it also has the potential to hinder it. In the Nigerian 

society, there is a clear connection between politics and religion. The 

connection between religion and politics has been established for a long 

time, even though the actual role religion plays in politics is still up for 

debate. In Nigeria, people are not seen as being good or bad because of 

their religion; rather, religion is exploited by politicians to deceive, divide, 

and oppress the people. The majority of Nigerians are aware of this 

oppression but appear to have accepted it as their fate, an attitude 

exacerbated by poverty, illiteracy, and lack of political education (Falana, 

2010). 

Religion has always played a big role in politics in Nigeria, especially 

since the country gained independence. No matter how religion is viewed, 

its connection to politics in Nigeria cannot be denied. There are numerous 

competing religions for relevance and recognition in addition to the three 

major religions—Christianity, Islam, and Traditional Religion. Despite this 

fact, Nigeria remains, theoretically, a secular state. Since independence, 

this has been stated in the constitution. The Latin word "Secularism," 

which means temporal, is the root of the word "secular". It is understood to 

refer to "worldly, as opposed to sacred things or having no particular 

religious affinities". As a philosophy, secularism rejects religion. It asserts 

that civil rules should not be influenced by religion and that religion 

should not have any place in civil affairs. In this manner, a common state 

is a state where strict religious networks play no perceived part in 

legislative issues and no conventional connection to the state. This is not 

the case in a religious or theocratic state, where religion dictates policy. 

“The government of the federation shall not adopt any religion as State 

Religion," reads section 10 of the 1999 Federal Republic of Nigeria 

Constitution (Bibinu, et al., 2020; Golan & Martini, 2020). The section 

further states that: Any religion cannot be officially adopted as the state or 

the Federation's religion. Alternatively, Section 38(1) states that: Every 

person shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, 

including the freedom to change his (sic) religion or belief, and (either 

alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest 

and propagate his (sic) religion or belief through worship, teaching, 

practice, and observance. Additionally, Section 275(1) of the Nigerian 

Constitution recognized Nigerians' right to Shari'a law, stating: "There 

must be for any state that requires it a Shari'a Court of Appeal for that 

state." Additionally, Section 260(1) states that Abuja would house the 



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Federal Capital Territory's Shari'a Court of Appeal. 

The Nigerian constitution has always been influenced by religion directly 

or indirectly. Political parties since 1999, at the advent of the fourth 

republic, has tried to play the religious game in politics by projecting 

candidates who represent the two major religions, Islam and Christianity, 

for election at the national and, in most cases, sub-national levels. 

Regarding presidential elections, in 1999 all the presidential candidates of 

the political parties either has a Christian presidential candidate and a 

Muslim vice presidential candidate or vice versa. This trend has been 

consistent, as witnessed in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019 presidential 

elections in Nigeria. However, that of 2023 was different as a political 

party, the All Progressive Party (APC), projected a Muslim-Muslim joint 

presidential ticket. That action generated a series of reactions; some saw it 

as a threat to the peaceful coexistence of both religions while others saw it 

as a way of discouraging Nigerians from judging candidates by their 

religious orientations. These reactions and counter-reactions are similar to 

those of 1993 in the aborted third republic, where the then Social 

Democratic Party (SDP) also had a Muslim-Muslim ticket; the controversy 

ended with the annulment of that election. According to Akinwunmi 

(2022), Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, who were the APC presidential  

and vice-presidential candidates in the 2023 election, have consistently 

defended themselves thus: 

We are not coming into government to represent the Muslim or 

Christian faith. The Sultan of Sokoto and the CAN President are 

competent to represent their faiths. We are the Nigerian dream 

team that will catapult the country to a higher pedestal and we will 

redefine the concept of modern governance. The Christians have 

nothing to fear and there is no cause for alarm because we are one 

people with a common destiny. 

Since political culture is expressed in how the electorates perceive the 

political parties and their candidates, the outcome of the 2023 presidential 

election and the performance of the Tinubu-Shettima administration 

would, in a significant way, affect the way Nigerians view the religious 

coloration of joint presidential candidates in the future, thus opening a new 

vista of the interwoven relationship between religion and politics in 

Nigeria. 

Discussion 

Political socialisation is value-laden in the quest for an equal society. 

Nigerians form political opinions and attitudes through socialisation agents 

such as the family, schools, interest organisations, the media, and 



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government-sponsored events. Political socialisation in affluent nations 

takes place through relatively stable institutions. Nigerians, on the other 

hand, grow up in a political environment that is continuously changing. 

The upheaval of urbanisation, along with the impact of recurring economic 

downturns, complicates political socialisation even more. Nigeria's 

political and economic leaders constitute a bourgeois class whose income 

is directly or indirectly derived from the state. The elites frequently utilise 

their positions for personal benefit, preserving their fortune during both 

civilian and military rules. Because of its bigger population and leadership 

positions within the armed forces, the north produced the bulk of Nigeria's 

chief executives, both civilian and military. Goodluck Jonathan was an 

exception, serving as the first president from a minority ethnic group, the 

Ijaw. Whether obvious or implied, religion or religious influence on 

political culture can be discerned from most social or historical 

experiences. That was why Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) argued that 

religion was vital for politics as “religion drives people to obedience, 

makes them familiar with laws and how to live in a peaceful society. 

Alluding to Hobbes position, Montesquieu (1689-1755) also had a firm 

belief that religion should be part of politics as “religion provides unity, 

harmony and social stability for society”. Therefore, it can be categorically 

said that religion affects political culture. This view is supported by 

available literature that indicates that over many centuries religion has 

proved to be a very powerful concept that commands total devotion and 

partly or totally influences the political choices of its adherents. Religion 

fills such an important vacuum in the life of an individual that, sometimes, 

someone who had stopped believing in one particular religion may be 

pulled, like the people of Athens that Apostle Paul referred to who were 

“worshipping the unknown god” (Acts17:23), towards relying on another 

form of faith. This could be why Machiavelli believed that “religion was 

the foundation of state and society”. This may also, remotely, explain why, 

in Nigeria, religion and political culture appear inseparable. 

Conclusion 

From the foregoing, it is clear that in spite of efforts to separate religion 

from politics, both spheres of activities usually meet, formerly or 

informally. As to whether religion or religious influence on political 

culture is positive or negative, available information indicates that it could 

be either or both, depending on how a given society manages the 

relationship. Many so-called secular ideas have roots in religious beliefs. 

For example, political theorists have recently emphasized the ways that 

different explanations of secularism have been overwhelmingly formed by 

diverse normative assumptions about Christianity. This single illustration 



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of a fundamental shift in political theory is challenging the legitimacy of 

the long-lasting contention that religion can be and should be restricted to 

a private sphere and separated from political influence. Those who insist 

that religion, Christianity or Islam, should be completely separated from 

political culture were advised by John Gladwin in his book, God’s People 

in God’s World, that they should have a rethink because from creation the 

plan of God for mankind is to be in the world and become the light and salt 

of their various societies so that social phenomena, such as politics and 

governance, will be in perfect order.  

According to Harvard School of Divinity, the ongoing global influences of 

religions in the political life of a people during the course of time and 

period became pronounced in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 

1979, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the 9/11 attack of September 

11, 2001; since these events, political theorists in the West began to 

recognize the highly challenging ways that religions and religious 

influences have been disregarded.  

This study concludes by providing an illustrative response to the question 

posed in the introductory section, namely, “In what ways does region 

affect political culture in Nigeria?” In Nigeria, the southern part dominated 

by Christians appears to see politics as a dirty game that good Christians 

should not be part of, a view which engenders political apathy, while the 

Northern part dominated by Muslims sees politics as a normal game – in 

fact, to them, Islam encourages it; and so enthusiasm about politics and 

political calculations is higher in that part of the country. The type of 

political leadership this kind of system throws up is difficult to separate 

from religious influence. 

Recommendation 

This study recommends that since religion cannot be totally separated from 

politics and one’s religious believes cannot immune them from the adverse 

effects of negative political choices and decisions, everyone, irrespective 

of their religion, should play active part in politics. They should deploy the 

virtues taught in their religious doctrines to play ethical politics and help in 

sanitizing Nigerian politics and stabilizing the polity. Irrespective of any 

one’s religion, age or sex, they should be involved in politics, even if their 

involvement only goes as far as simply educating themselves on who is 

who or why this person, and not that person, should be elected. 

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Author Information: Dr Christian Osemuyi Oseghale is 

a lecturer in Caleb University, Imota Lagos, Nigeria. 

Email: trustnigent1@gmail.com. Orchid ID: 0009-0001-

0276-0607 

 

 

 

 
 

APA 

 

Oseghale, C. O. (2024). Religion and Political Culture in Nigeria. 

Global Online Journal of Academic Research (GOJAR), 3(2), 63-77. 

https://klamidas.com/gojar-v3n2-2024-04/. 

 

 

MLA 

 

Oseghale, Christian Osemuyi. “Religion and Political Culture in 

Nigeria”. Global Online Journal of Academic Research (GOJAR), 

vol. 3, no. 2, 2024, pp. 63-77. https://klamidas.com/gojar-v3n2-

2024-04/. 

 

 

 


