Philosophy, Religion and Social Issues in Nigeria

Think religion, think Nigeria! the saying goes. Although the description that Africans are notoriously and incurably religious has been caustically criticised and contested, it appears that it is more or less a theoretical or intellectual exercise than practical reality. One may still be persuaded to argue that Nigeria is still as furiously religious in the twenty-first century as it was before the advent of missionary religions and colonialism. Although philosophy is often conceived as a tool of analysis of religious truth claims and of religious phenomena, the strong resonance of religion in everyday life and encounter has made analytic philosophy to tread with caution in Nigeria. In fact, many of the philosophers are as furiously religious outside the classroom as other people they unsympathetically criticise. However, the need for philosophy is urgent, to at least, clarify and analyse the texture of religious claim that seems to not help the country so much.