[35], Nigeria has the largest Christian population in Africa though Christians are about 48% of the population. These religious campaigns have seen an increase in gun battles between the members of these sects and security forces with loss of lives witnessed on both sides. This quarrel accelerated to the point where the Muslim students organised protests around the city which culminated in some Christians responding by burning a Mosque at the college. When Nigeria gained independence, however, it adopted a federal constitution declaring the separation of church and state and guaranteeing freedom of religion in recognition of its different religious and ethnic communities and their intermixture in northern, central, and southern regions. The works of the Presbyterian Church in Calabar from Scotland by missionaries like Rev Hope M. Waddell, who arrived in Calabar 10 April 1846, in the 19th century and that of Mary Slessor of Calabar are examples. Over half of the population is estimated to be Muslim. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions © 2021 worldatlas.com, The 10 Least Populated Countries in Africa, 10 Countries Where Women Far Outnumber Men, The Most Famous Serial Killers In America And Their Twisted Crimes. Bye and large, Protestantism particularly the Pentecostals, Apostolic and evangelicals constitute the major Christian population of Nigeria from the late 1990s to the present[citation needed]. The Church of Nigeria has about 17 million members.[46]. The exodus of Igbo from the north in the late 1960s left Roman Catholic churches poorly attended. The dominant religions in Nigeria today are Christianity and Islam. Seminaries and universities also exist in Nigeria under Catholic supervision. Most Nigerian Christians are Protestant(… There are basically three major religions in Nigeria. [34] The Boko Haram movement has been connected to the Maitatsine movement. [1] In a 2019 report released by Pew Research Center in 2015 the Muslim population was estimated to be 50% while the Christian population was estimated to be 48.1%. [13][4][15], Nigeria has one of the largest Muslim populations in West Africa. [33] The rise of these sects has also been linked to the increase and aiding of religious extremist by politicians for their selfish ambitions. NIELS KASTFELT Religion, and Politics in Nigeria: a study in Middle Belt Christianity. [49], After an isolated presence in the late 1920s,[50] the Baháʼí Faith in Nigeria begins with pioneering Baháʼís coming to Sub-Saharan West Africa in the 1950s especially following the efforts of Enoch Olinga who directly and indirectly affected the growth of the religion in Nigeria. For a very long time, religion has been used by the (Nigerian) oligarchy as its main weapon to hold on to power (Kukah 1993). [74] The leaders were able to polarize their followers through speeches and public demonstrations. The remaining 1.9% are either practitioners of indigenous religions or no affiliations. The second group going with the Sunni Islam. The Ahmadiyya movement established itself in Nigeria in 1916,[24] and make up approximately 3% of the Muslim population. Nigeria, the most populous African country (with a population of over 200 million in 2018),[3] is divided between adherents of Islam, Christianity and traditional religion quite similar to polytheism though the ratio is uncertain. The acts in a given traditional carnival is dependent on the type of gods or goddesses to be worshiped. There are three main religions in Nigeria today; these are Christianity, Islam and the traditional religion. Religion, a supposedly godly concept which basically should cultivate love, peaceful co-existence, patience, tolerance, forgiveness and so on. This page was last edited on 25 April 2021, at 11:18. The Aladura, like several other breakaway churches, stress healing and fulfillment of life goals for oneself and one's family. He was a Cameroon preacher who slated the government, something which led to his arrest in Nigeria in 1975, yet by 1972 many people followed him across society, ranging from the elite to Koranic students called almajiral or gardawa and unemployed migrants. Christianity. [citation needed] A significant Shia minority exists (see Shia in Nigeria). In the southwest, there is no predominant religion. The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria count around 3.8 million members while the Evangelical Church of West Africa has close to 5 million members. [27] Ahmadiyyas have also established a weekly newspaper called "The Truth" which is the first Muslim newspaper in the country. Such families had connections to their churches going back to the 19th century and were generally not attracted to the breakaway churches[citation needed]. This estimate varies, however, and there are though to be between 2 and 4 million Nigerian members of the Shia faith. The Shia Muslims of Nigeria are primarily located in the Sokoto State. [61] As in many parts of Africa, there is a great amount of stigma attached to being an atheist. Islam was introduced to northern and central Nigeria in the middle ages as early as the 11th century and was well established in the major capitals of the region by the 16th century, spreading into the countryside and toward the Middle Belt uplands. Like most African states Nigeria is composed of thirty six numerous states and three hundred and fifty (350) ethnic groups with over five hundred languages with different religious believes. Nigerian Islam has become heterogenous with the springing up of many Islamic sects. While Islam and Christianity are the dominant religions in Nigeria, neither is completely free of influence from indigenous religions. Nevertheless, other religions exist in Nigeria such as Hinduism, Bahai, Judaism, The Grail Message and The Reformed Ogboni Fraternity but are practiced by either foreigners or negligible few Nigerians. Christianity is the most popular and most advertised religion in Nigeria. [11], According to a 2018 estimate in the The World Factbook by CIA, the population has an estimated 53.5% Muslim, 45.9% Christian (10.6% Roman Catholic and 35.3% other Christian), and 0.6% as other. Religion is the belief in and worship of a supernatural controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. There were also breakaway, or Africanized churches, that blended traditional Christian symbols with indigenous symbols. By the 1980s, African music and even dancing were being introduced quietly into western oriented church services, albeit altered to fit into rituals of Euro-American origin. [60], Irreligion in Nigeria is measured at less than one percent of the population. The arrival of Muslims in Nigeria put a stop to these sacrifices, and Islam became firmly established in northern Nigeria. These include Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion. During the 1980s religious riots occurred in and around the five cities of Kano in 1980, Kaduna in 1982, Bulum-Ketu in 1982, Jimeta in 1984 and Gombe in 1985. Rituals and forms of worship were strictly those of the home country of the original missionaries. Many religions are followed in Nigeria. The Kalo Kato rely entirely on the Quran and they are found among poor communities across northern Nigeria.[11]. Facilitating such hours for adherents and readers of the Grail Message is - besides the dissemination of the Grail Message - one of the main concerns of the international Grail Movement. Brief history. In the Northern part of Nigeria, the Muslims there are Sunni, where the Islam religion is more concentrated. [45] 3 788 The pervasivenes of religion—i.es o.f Muslim or Christian identity—a a s source of communal and political conflic its now a constant preoccupation in They were for the most part ritually and doctrinally identical to the parent church, although more African music, and later dance and dressage/vesture, entered and mixed with the imported church services. [52] As the community multiplied across cities and became diverse in its engagements it elected its own National Spiritual Assembly by 1979[53] and Operation World[unreliable source] estimated 1000 Baháʼís in 2001[54] though the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying mostly on the World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 34,000 Baháʼís in 2005. Protestant Christianity flourishes in Nigeria, counting around 32.3% of the population as adherents. [78], Exploitation of the media used to propagate the ideas of the conflict, thereby radicalising each force even more. In one instance there was an evangelical campaign organised by the FCS and brought into question why one sect should dominate the campus of the Kafanchan college of education. [16] In Nigeria, about 52 percent of the population is Muslim. [42] It has about 19 million members in Nigeria in 2005. The impact of religion in a secular state seems to have played out negatively in Nigeria, as politics and religion are mixed in the attempt to gain political hold on the population. Native religions in which people believe in deities, spirits and ancestor worship, are spread throughout the country. Media was biased on each side so while places like the federal radio corporation discussed the idea of defending Islam during this brief moment of terror but does not report the deaths and damage caused by Muslims, galvanising the Muslim population. A number of indigenous denominations used Biblical references to support polygamy. Nigeria also has the most number of Catholic priests in the whole of Africa. Ibrahim Zakzaky, a Muslim cleric and head of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, was responsible for introducing Shia Islam in the country in 1979 as a student. 65–68 <, Fellowship of Churches of Christ in Nigeria, Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim, African Methodist Episcopal Church in Nigeria, General Council of the Assemblies of God Nigeria, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, The Lord's Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement, Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Religion in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) State, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria, "Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population", "The countries with the 10 largest Christian populations and the 10 largest Muslim populations", "Nigeria: a secular or multi religious state - 2", http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/26525030/The-Middle-Belt-Movement-and-the-Formation-of-Christian-Consciousness-in-Colonial-Northern-Nigeria, "Kano Seeks Supremacy of Sharia Over Constitution", "https://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/sites/www.odid.ox.ac.uk/files/BP1Ostien.pdf", "Mapping The Global Muslim Population, October 2009", "Christian – Muslim Relations in Nigeria: The Problems and Prospects", "Attack on Shi'as in Nigeria | Jafariya News Network", "The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity", "Niger begins demolition of sect's enclave", "Darul-Islam: Rise and fall of an empire", "Radical Islam in the Lake Chad Basin, 1805-2009: From the Jihad to Boko Haram", "Islamic Fundamentalism and Sectarian Violence: The "Maitatsine" and "Boko Haram" Crises in Northern Nigeria", http://www.cfr.org/africa/boko-haram/p25739, "Site of the Nigerian Baptist Convention", "Mormon Church announces in missions in Vietnam and Africa", "Current Dioceses in Nigeria (Catholic Hierarchy)", "Site of the Gazette ( Colorado Springs)", "Refworld | Nigeria: Situation of Christians, including those living in northern cities, Lagos and Abuja; state protection (2011-October 2015)", https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/books/yearbooks/yearbook-1986, "The Baháʼí Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Baháʼí Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963", "In African, Islam and Christianity are growing - and blending", "Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism", "Do you know the pain of being an atheist in Nigeria? This is having a big impact on the country's churches and mosques. The majority of Nigerian Muslims are either non-denominational Muslims or Sunni and are concentrated in mostly the northern region of the country with some Christian population, the same way Christians dominate in the south with some Muslim population. [70] In some parts of Nigeria, there are even anti-blasphemy laws. One of the few ethnic groups that were always open to the influence of different religions is the Hausa people. [9] Kano State has sought to incorporate Sharia law into its constitution. Nigeria’s kingdoms and territories had a long history of state-imposed religious practices, especially in the Muslim northern regions. Roughly 95% of Muslims are Sunni of Maliki school of jurisprudence, and 5% are Shia Muslims Archdeacon T. A. J. Ogunbiyi[citation needed]. Beside these, other religions exist in Nigeria like Hinduism, Bahai, Judaism, The Grail Message, and The 1) The Redeemed Church, 4) Deeper Life Church, 5) Overcomers' Ministries and other new springs. Denominations like the Seventh-day Adventist also exist. By the 1980s adherents were back in even greater numbers, and a number of new churches had been built. Nigerians in earlier times were free to put faith in whatever and whoever was most dear to their tribes and themselves. There were clashes in October 1982 when Muslim zealots in Kano were able to enforce their power in order to keep the Anglican House Church from expanding its size and power base as they saw it as a threat to the nearby Mosque, even though the Anglican House Church had been there forty years prior to the building of the Mosque. Christianity is the most popular religion in Nigeria with many denominations spread throughout the country. Christianity was one of the things introduced into Nigeria by the British among many other things. Established in 1914 by the Ven. [38], From the 1990s to the 2000s, there was significant growth in Protestant churches, including the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Living Faith Church (Winners' Chapel), Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) (the first Aladura Movement in Nigeria), Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM), Christ Embassy, Common Wealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Aladura Church[39] (indigenous Christian churches being especially strong in the Yoruba and Igbo areas), and of evangelical churches in general. – Unbelievers cry out", "Atheism in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities - Modern Ghana", "What if Zuckerberg were a Nigerian atheist? The rise of this radical movements has been attributed partly to the poor socio economic infrastructures and poor governance in Nigeria. Nigeria as a nation has a rich and complex history which can be traced to when it first … Geographically, the Northern region of the country is dominated by Islam, while the Southern region is dominated by Christianity. Religious affiliation in Nigeria is strongly related to ethnicity, with rather distinct regional divisions between ethnic groups. Other reports conclude that there are close to 60 million Sunni Muslims in the country. There are basically three major religions in Nigeria. It was a trust in nature and animism that projected itself in giving strength and value to that worshiper. [22][23] Ibrahim Zakzaky introduced many Nigerians to Shia Islam. [20][21] Shia Muslims make up between two and four million of Nigeria's population. https://www.legit.ng/1141371-major-types-religion-nigeria.html Most of Nigeria's Muslim population live in the Northern and Central states. The fraternity is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. 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