ANALYSIS OF RELIGIOUS ECONOMY AND ITS PARTICIPATION RATES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper is a socio-scientific analysis of religion. Its interest in religious economy stems from the enduring tension between theory in its abstract and applied forms. While the principles of religious economy provide a valuable framework for explaining religious change across space and time, they have also proven to be pliable across the same lines of analysis. Doing so will promote more interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue, and will help militate against the problem of parochialism within the social scientific study of religion. This research analyzes the rates of participation in religious economy using Nigeria’s religious free-markets situation as a case study. The phenomenological and analytical methods were employed to accomplish the aim of this paper with the support of secondary data. The research reveals that the Nigerian religious markets are more as of today, competitive and participatory than in the 1960s. The paper concludes that adherents should popularize their religion, or exchange their religion only on the foundation of issues that can be defined rationally and of rewarding benefits. The paper recommends a state-free religious market in Nigeria that promotes religious diversity and freedom in order to maximize religious gains and profits – of which peaceful coexistence is inclusive.