Title: RELIGION AND ETHNO-POLITICAL CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA: A SOCIO-POLITICAL ASSESSMENT

Authors: Olunlade Taiwo Bamiji (Ph.D) and Pius Barinaadaa Kii (Ph.D)

Abstract: Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy, represents a complex mosaic of religious and ethnic pluralism that has both enriched and destabilised its socio-political landscape. With a population almost evenly divided between Christianity and Islam and over 250 ethnic nationalities, the country has experienced recurrent ethno-political and religious conflicts that challenge national cohesion, democratic consolidation, and sustainable development. The study adopts a qualitative research design grounded in a socio-political analytical framework. It draws on secondary data sources, including peer-reviewed journal articles, government reports, conflict databases, policy documents, and reports from civil society and international organisations published up to 2025. The research employs thematic and content analysis to examine patterns of ethno-religious conflict, elite political behaviour, governance structures, and institutional responses. The findings reveal that while religion and ethnicity serve as visible markers of division, they often function as proximate triggers rather than fundamental causes of conflict. The deeper structural drivers include governance failures, weak state institutions, corruption, economic marginalisation, youth unemployment, competition over land and resources, the indigene–settler dichotomy, and the strategic manipulation of identity by political elites. The study recommends comprehensive institutional reforms aimed at strengthening democratic accountability, rule of law, and equitable resource distribution. It calls for inclusive governance structures that ensure fair political representation across religious and ethnic divides. Economic empowerment initiatives targeting youth unemployment and regional inequalities are essential to reducing vulnerability to mobilisation along identity lines. The study concludes that religion in Nigeria is not inherently conflictual but becomes volatile when intertwined with political competition, socio-economic deprivation, and institutional weakness. Ethno-political conflicts persist largely because identity is instrumentalised within a fragile governance context. Sustainable peace therefore depends not solely on security interventions but on structural transformation that promotes justice, inclusion, and accountable leadership. By reframing religion as a potential resource for peacebuilding rather than division, and by addressing the structural inequities that fuel identity-based mobilization.

Keywords: Nigeria ethno-religious conflict, national security, governance, identity politics, Boko Haram.

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