RELIGION IN NIGERIA'S CULTURAL HERITAGE (Solg 104)

Introduction

Religion is among the most enduring and pervasive of Nigeria's cultural institutions. From indigenous traditional belief systems to the later arrival of Islam and Christianity, religion has shaped Nigerian society, social order, and cultural identity across centuries. These notes examine the sociological role of religion, the nature of African traditional religion, and the historical spread of the two dominant foreign faiths in Nigeria.

Opon Ifa

I. Religion as a Cultural Institution

• Religion is a universal social institution that addresses fundamental human questions — existence, failure, success, and death.
• Durkheim (1915:65) defines religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things... which unite unto one single moral community called a church."
• Radcliffe-Brown (1979:157) defines it as "an expression... of a sense of dependence on a power outside ourselves, a power which we may speak of as a spiritual or moral power."

Key social functions of religion:

1.   Supports and legitimises social norms and values.
2. Helps individuals and communities overcome fear and anxiety through appeal to supernatural powers.
3. Provides a basis for self-justification and moral identity, enabling people to face life's crises with fortitude.
4. Radcliffe-Brown (1979) further holds that religion is part of the complex system by which human beings are enabled to live together in an orderly arrangement of social relations.
5. Traditional religion in Nigeria is coeval with its societies and cultures, making it a foundational component of Nigerian cultural heritage.

II. African and Nigerian Traditional Religion

General Character

• Traditional African religion is not merely a set of beliefs but encompasses all aspects of life (Nwanunobi, 1992); it is pervasive and assumes a central position in societies structured around extensive kinship networks.
• The primary concern is the welfare of the group, not the individual in isolation.
• Core belief types found across Africa in varying combinations: ancestral spirits, non-ancestral spirits, magic, witchcraft, and sorcery.

Ancestors and Non-Ancestral Spirits

1. Ancestors remain functioning members of the family and lineage; death represents a change of status within the social group rather than departure from it (Ottenberg S. and P., 1960).
2. The living honour ancestors through sacrifice and proper conduct; ancestors reward or punish accordingly.
3. Non-ancestral spirits are classified by domain — earth, thunder, water — and are concerned with human reproduction, crop fertility, and protection (Meek, 1943; Metuh, 1999).
4. The authority of non-ancestral spirits operates on the principle of immanent justice: their response to human action is automatic and impartial, unlike ancestors who may occasionally act capriciously (Ottenberg S. and P., 1960).
5. The oracle is a prominent example of spiritual authority — a powerful spirit invoked to determine guilt and innocence where human authorities cannot decide (Idowu, 1963; Metuh, 1999).
6. In some systems, deities form complex pantheons headed by a High God who is often the creator (Evans-Pritchard, 1937; Idowu, 1963; Mbiti, 1969; Bradbury, 1973; Ilogu, 1973); the organisation of the spirit world frequently mirrors that of human society (Forde, 1963).

Magic, Sorcery, and Witchcraft

• Belief in non-spiritual force — magic — is an important dimension of religion in many African societies (Ottenberg S. and P., 1960).
• Magic may promote good or evil; it employs herbal medicines, charms, amulets, and spoken spells.
• Sorcery, a magical technique, is distinct from witchcraft — a distinction first systematically elaborated by Evans-Pritchard in his African fieldwork and subsequently adopted by other Africanist anthropologists.

Igbo Cosmology

1. Igbo cosmogonic myths affirm the existence of Chukwu (the High God) as indisputable and primary — God precedes all things and depends on nothing for His existence (Metuh, 1999).
2. Metuh (1999:41) summarises the Igbo perception of Chukwu: all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good, kind and merciful, personally accessible, yet transcendent — a transcendence resulting from human misconduct rather than divine withdrawal.
3. God is known among the Igbo by three personal names (Basden, 1966): Chukwu (the Great Chi), Chineke (Chi the Creator), and Osebuluwa/Olisa (Carrier of the World). Each name originated in a different part of Igboland but is used throughout.
4. Igbo names, according to Metuh, constitute "invaluable archives in which traditional Igbo wisdom and beliefs are enshrined."

Yoruba Religious System

• Yoruba religion is structured around the Orisa — ancestral spirits elevated to objects of veneration and worship; the word Orisa denotes those chosen from among departed ancestors for national veneration (Fadipe, 1970).
• National Orisa worshipped throughout Yorubaland include: Ifa (oracle of palm nuts), Esu (companion of Ifa), Obatala/Oduduwa, Ogun (god of iron), Sopono (smallpox), Sango (lightning), Oya (thunderstorms), Orisaoko (forest and hunting), Erinle, Yemoja, and Osun (Osun river goddess)

1. Ifa is the most universal Orisa, actively consulted in virtually all parts of Yorubaland.
2. Some Orisa serve as intermediaries between humanity and Olodumare (God), including Ifa, Ogun, Sango, and Oya.
3. All major Yoruba Orisa are traceable to historical human beings.
4. It is traditionally said there are 401 Orisa in Yorubaland; after accounting for duplications across localities, Fadipe (1970) identified no fewer than 200 recognised Orisa.

III. Foreign Religions: Christianity and Islam

General

• Prior to Arab and European contact, each Nigerian society practised its own distinct form of traditional religion with a particular conception of God.
• The introduction of Christianity and Islam led to significant religious change; many abandoned traditional practice, though some continue it.
• Other foreign religions (Eckankar, AMORC, Grail Message, Hare Krishna, Bahá'í) have been introduced but their combined adherents remain negligible relative to Christians and Muslims.

Christianity

1. First contact: 15th century, when Portuguese adventurers visited the Kingdom of Warri and made incursions into Benin; by the 16th century, though Christianity had largely receded, the crucifix persisted as a symbol among the rulers and nobles of Warri and Benin.
2. Modern evangelisation followed the abolition of the slave trade. Yoruba repatriates from Sierra Leone settled in Badagry in 1845 as missionaries and traders, with subsequent missions in Abeokuta (1846), Lagos (1852), Ibadan (1853), Oyo (1858), Ondo (1886), Oshogbo (1900), Owo (1908), Offa (1910), and Ado-Ekiti (1911).
3. CMS missionaries, including Rev. J. F. Schon and Samuel Ajayi Crowther, explored the Niger from 1841; further expeditions in 1854 and 1857 led to the establishment of the Niger Mission with stations at Onitsha (1875), Akwa (1904), Egbu (1906), and Patani (1907).
4. Rev. Samuel Ajayi Crowther was consecrated Bishop of the Niger Territories in 1864 — the first African Anglican bishop — and served until his death in 1891.
5. Missions also spread northward: Lokoja (1865), Bida (1903), Zaria (1905), Panyan (1907), and Kabwir on the Plateau (1920), though penetration of Hausaland met official and Islamic resistance.
6. Denominations active in the south included CMS, Catholics, Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and Baptists, as well as syncretic African churches.
7. The Hope Waddell Training Institution (Calabar), established by the United Free Church of Scotland, exemplifies the educational legacy of the missions.
8. In recent decades, Pentecostalism — introduced from the United States — has grown to dominate Nigeria's Christian landscape, characterised by aggressive evangelism, public crusades, and faith healing, with conversions sometimes generating Muslim-Christian tensions.

Islam

• Islam reached Kanem-Bornu in the far northeast around 900 A.D. via the Fezzan and Sudan routes; by 1200 A.D. it had become the religion of the majority in Borno and had spread into Hausaland.
• By the 14th century, Kano had become a major centre of Islamic scholarship and a commercial hub at the terminus of the trans-Saharan trade.
• The 19th century saw revivalist momentum: in 1804, Usman Dan Fodio, a Fulani scholar renowned for piety, declared a jihad against the Hausa ruler of Gobir, triggering the Sokoto Jihad. This resulted in the overthrow of most Hausa rulers across Kastina, Kano, Zazzau, and other polities. Bornu itself underwent dynastic change from the centuries-old Sayfawa dynasty to the new line of Muhammad al-Kanemi, an Islamic scholar of comparable stature to Dan Fodio.
• Islam spread into Yorubaland through peaceful trade and proselytisation by Nupe and northern Yoruba merchants and was a contributing factor in the collapse of Old Oyo; it eventually reached Lagos and all major Yoruba cities.
• Today, Islam is a nationwide religion; there is scarcely a major Nigerian town without a mosque. Nigeria has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world, after Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

Conclusion

Religion in Nigeria — whether indigenous or introduced — constitutes a vital strand of its cultural heritage. Traditional religion remains foundational in understanding Nigerian cosmology, social organisation, and ethical life. Christianity and Islam, though foreign in origin, have become deeply indigenised and are central to Nigerian identity. Together, these traditions reflect the depth and diversity of Nigeria's cultural world.

Reference 

Peoples Of Nigeria And Their Cultural Heritage

Abiodun J. Oluwabamide