Abstract

For the past five decades—since Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960, and following the [first set of] parliamentary elections in 1959, when the predominantly Muslim north secured less than 50 percent of the 142 seats in the 312-seat assembly—one of the most epistemological challenges confronting the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Nigerian state is sustained statutory peace and plural development. Unfortunately, there is little literature exploring religion as an index for lasting peace in Nigeria. This article, while attempting to fill the void, is part of a larger discussion on the roadmap to using religion-based communication as an instrument of good governance and development. Granted, religion diversity has been used, arguably, successfully, to propagate terror, and to spread disunity and oppression in Nigeria. This article concludes that diversity of faith ought not to be a source of rancor and disintegration in the efforts toward national development; it ought to be a true and present foundation of peace in the Nigerian State.