How God became a Nigerian: Religious impulse and the unfolding of a nation

Nigeria, the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa with a population of some 150 million people, is an embodiment of historical, cultural, ethnic, religious, social, and linguistic affinities and diversities. Its religious landscape is highly complex and dynamic, comprising a multiplicity of religious traditions, including the indigenous religions, the various strands of Christianity and Islam, as well as newer Spiritual Science movements. These religious traditions have mutually enhanced and transformed each other in a highly competitive context. They serve as significant sources through which many Nigerians seek understanding of their complex reality and existence; they are instrumental in maintaining peace and cohesion but also sometimes in fostering religious violence and conflict. This contribution explores the religious impulse in the unfolding of Nigeria as a nation through the prism of religious history and its interconnectedness with politics; the contestation of ritual and social space and power in Nigeria's religious economy; and also through its negotiation and self-insertion into the global religious marketplace.