Constitutional Treatment of Religion and the Politics of Human Rights in Nigeria

Abstract

The debate about the proper relationship between religion and politics in Nigeria has been clouded historically by ideological partisanship and conceptual confusion. This article examines the topic against the backdrop of an emergent constitutional culture in the country and the paradox that this creates in a religiously pluralistic context. It argues that it would be foolhardy to repress pluralism in the attempt to resolve this paradox and instead defends a kind of pluralist orientation that is compatible with the desire to build and nurture a stable constitutional culture. (authors)