Kinship as Panacea for Christian/Muslim Relations in Yorubaland: A Focus on Iwo Land

Abstract

Despite the heterogeneous composition of Nigeria as a multilingual ethnic and multi-religious society, there are indices which over the years have fostered peaceful and harmonious coexistence, across the different lines of ethnicity and religion. One such aspect is kinship ties in the midst of raving ethnic bigotry, religious intolerance and violence. Studies have shown that kinship ties without reservation have played a mediation role in fostering peace and ensuring harmonious coexistence especially among people of different religions. The present study investigates the mediating role of kinship ties as a panacea for harmonious Christian – Muslim relations in Iwo land, Osun State Nigeria. Adopting a qualitative method of data analysis, the study adopted the interview approach. Twenty-five persons: fifteen Christians and ten Muslims were purposively selected and interviewed. Tracing the antecedents of the two Abrahamic religions, Christianity and Islam in Iwo, the study finds that though Iwo Land is predominantly a Muslim territory, it has enjoyed peaceful and harmonious coexistence among the two religions. Despite the different areas of conflict, which include marriage, chieftaincy, land acquisition, the ebi commonwealth among the populace has guaranteed peace among the people. Some other factors such as a proper understanding, joint efforts in condemning social vices among others have also contributed to the relative harmonious atmosphere among the religions. It concludes that the commonality and communality in Iwo Land revolves around the kinship ties in the land.