SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: Religion And Human Relations

CONTRIBUTORS:

Mgbemena, S. C;
Nmah, P.E;

ABSTRACT:

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ABSTRACT
Conflict is a fact of life, it is found among the religious groups and it can never be
completely eradicated. The dream of any nation is to grow to an enviable height and fully
maximize her potentials both in natural and human spheres of life endeavours. But this will
only be possible in an environment devoid of crises, misunderstandings and wars, a situation
that has eluded Nigeria not long after her independence in 1960. In multi-ethnic and religious
diverse society like Nigeria, with some forms of contextual discrimination, relationships
between people are characterized by lack of cordiality, mutual suspicion and fear as it is the
case among the various components. There is still an increase of religious crises in Nigeria as
a result of intolerance. Often, innocent citizens are killed purportedly in the name of God.
Religion has now been transformed from a unifying and edifying force into a disintegrative
element, which threatens the peace and security of lives and properties in Nigeria. The
religious atmosphere in Nigeria compels one to believe that violence is complimentary to
Christian-Muslim relations. It is on this premise that Samsudeen Saka, founder of
Chrislamherb (Oke Tude) religious movement sought to bring together Christians and
Muslims to worship together without rancor under one roof. This study evaluated the
religious ideology of the founder of Chrislamherb (Oke Tude) movement, towards peaceful
co-existence of religions, especially between Christianity and Islam in Nigeria. Data were
collected from primary and secondary sources. Data were analyzed using socio-missiological
approach which aims at investigating the trend of events in the society by the religious group
in management of conflicts. The historical method which involves extensive fieldwork was
also used. For the critical examination of the study, George Simmel’s theory of conflict as
natural and Mary Parker Follet’s theory of human relations were used. The study discovered,
using these two theories that resorting to violence as a means of resolving religious problems
is dangerous. That the merging nature of the movement does not place one religion higher
than the other. It is observed that the best element in any religious practice is love, and this
has enabled the movement to practice the best elements in Christianity and Islam together
under one canopy for the purposes of religious solidarity without bitterness or rancor. This
study therefore submits that the religious ideology of Chrislamherb (Oke Tude) movement in
the unification of the two major religions in Nigeria is an attempt to bring about peaceful co￾existence of religions in Nigeria. This study therefore advocates the need for religious,
government and other private agencies to join hands in creating an enabling environment that
facilitates cross fertilization of ideas among the different faiths.