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Leaving Religion and Living without Religion in Nigeria
By Leo Igwe
Newsdiaryonline July 22,2011
Nigeria is often described as a deeply religious society where
most, if not all persons, profess religious beliefs without
qualification. Nigeria is often portrayed as a country where the
religious demography is static- everybody is religious,
everybody belongs to one faith or the other. Everybody professes
religion, nobody renounces religion. Nobody is critical or
skeptical about religious dogmas. Non religious and freethinking
Nigerians are purportedly so insignificant. For me this is a
misrepresentation of the religious demography and dynamics in
the country. And the time has come for us to rectify this
misrepresentation.
No doubt, most Nigerians profess belief in God and identify
themselves with one of the three main faiths- Traditional
Religion, Christianity and Islam. There are many Nigerians who
profess minority faiths and spiritualities or some forms of
religious syncretism embracing elements of more than one
religion. The politics of national census has not allowed us to
know exactly the number of Nigerians who profess different
faiths. Generally, in Nigeria there is a lot of social pressure
on individuals to be religious and to remain religious from
cradle to the grave. Remove this social and political pressure
on Nigerians and the religious dynamics will radically change.
A very important and largely ignored aspect of Nigeria’s
religious demography is the non believing folk. These are those
who renounce their ‘family religion’ or those who see no
evidence for the existence of God. They see no existential value
or meaning in the religion which they were born into. They live
their lives without professing a belief in God, without
belonging to any faith. They are called humanists, atheists and
freethinkers. They exist in Nigeria. They live in Nigeria. But
anyone who knows the intensive religious upbringing and
bombardment every Nigerian child goes through will understand
why most non religious people are in the closet and seem not to
be active or visible.
From childhood, Nigerians are brainwashed with assorted
religious dogmas including the doctrine that those who say in
their heart that there is no God are fools. And that questioning
or denouncing the existence of God is a blasphemous and
sacrilegious offence punishable in this world and in the so
called hereafter.
So Nigerians are made to believe that professing religion is a
must- and not a matter of choice. Hence so many Nigerians who
were born into one religion or the other and who grow up to
question, challenge or reject religious myths and superstition
cannot express their thoughts and sentiments openly in the
public. Many Nigerians are non believers in private and
believers in public. They leave religion and live without
religion but still remain in the closet. One bitter truth about
religious demography in Nigeria is that many who identify
themselves or get counted as religious believers are not. Many
Nigerians who renounce their family religion still pay lip
service and identify nominally with the faith of the fathers.
Because Nigerian are taught and told that there is no
alternative to religion, they remain ‘religious’ even when they
have lost the faith.
Many people who leave religion and live without religion cannot
come into the open to say so. This is not because they are
cowards or they are not convinced non believers. This is not
because they are not proud to be religious non believers. The
reason is that they value life and want to remain alive. They do
not want to be wasted by religious fanatics. Unlike our
religious folks, non believers do not want to be murdered or ‘marytred’
because the so called afterlife, which believers imagine they
will inherit in the hereafter, is an illusion. In our families
and communities, there is a heavy price on leaving religion and
in living without religion. Those who renounce their faith in
God are hated, persecuted and discriminated against. They are
treated as enemies of the society. They are ostracized and
despised. In some communities those who openly denounced their
faith can be murdered in cool blood otherwise the person loses
the support, sympathy and solidarity of the family and community
including the government. So because of the risks involved many
Nigerians who leave religion or live without religion do not
want to openly admit it. Religious non believers remain in the
closet because they do want to die.
Until believers abandon force, intimidation, violence and
persecution of those who leave religion or live without
religion, religious statistics will remain false and
exaggerated. It will be difficult to ascertain the exact number
of believers and non believers in this country. Unbelievers will
continue to be counted and included as religious believers.
Still there are few other Nigerians who have taken the bull by
the horns. They have, in spite of the risks involved, openly
denounced or rejected the faith of their fathers and confirmed
their identity as godless and non religious. They have gone
public with their unbelief. The names that easily come to mind
are Tai Solarin and Wole Soyinka. But they are not the only
Nigerians who have said farewell to god and religion. There are
many freethinking non religious individuals out there in our
schools, colleges and universities, in the rural and urban
areas. Many Nigerians who
have left religion and are living rational faithless life are
doctors and nurses, teachers and students, carpenters, tailors,
drivers and mechanics, wives and mothers, brothers and sisters,
husbands and fathers. And they are growing in number. They may
not be as organized as our religious folks but the fact is that
they are here, and are going about their lives in a rational,
ethical and lawful manner.
The time has come for use to acknowledge the non religious
dynamic in our society. The time has come for us to recognize
that there are Nigerians who have left religion and are living a
happy and meaningful life like other human beings.
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