Nigeria’s Democracy has been on a very slow, bumpy road since independence. The country has had a long tradition of military coups, turbulent elections and so on. There are many reasons for this. However, my presentation will explore the role and place of religion in slowing down this journey as well as creating some the bumps that have sometimes threatened national cohesion. At the heart of the turbulence within Nigeria’s Democratic process has been the conflict between the dominant Islamic culture which has sustained the Hausa-Fulani ruling class in northern Nigeria and the principles of liberal Democracy.
The paper will explore this journey by examining some of the difficult themes in the nation’s political history. It will explore some of the rather half-hearted efforts both by federal and state governments aimed at softening the tensions between Christians and Muslims through interfaith dialogue.
Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah (Ph.D., University of London), a Senior Rhodes Fellow at Oxford University, Matthew also received a Master in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He most recently served on the served on the President’s Committee on Electoral Reform in Nigeria. His book Witness to Justice was a first-hand account of the Nigerian Truth Commission, convened to investigate human right abuses during the years of military rule. One reviewer described the book as a “profound investigation into how to establish truth and bring about reconciliation.”