IGWEBUIKE AS AN IGBO-AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY FOR CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigeria is a religiously diverse society, with Islam and Christianity being the most widely professed religions. In the 1980’s serious outbreaks of violence began to be manifest in the relationships between Christians and Muslims. The clashes in Kaduna and Kano states are notable. Since then, the relationship between the two religions in Nigeria has been defined by violence, attacks, counterattacks and bloodshed. This piece studies the relationship between Christianity and Islam in Nigeria with the view of seeking a solution to the recurrent conflicts between them. It further adopted Igwebuike as an Igbo-African philosophy for the resolution of conflict between Christians and Muslims. The historical and phenomenological methods of enquiry were employed in the collection and analysis of data, while the indigenous wholistic theory was adopted for the interpretation and understanding of the problem at hand.This work submits that Nigerian Muslims and Christians are first of all kinsmen before their adherence to Christianity and Islam. Both religions constitute parts of the intricate web of reality and relationships in the ontological order. Their differences are for complementarity and not conflict.

Keywords: Igwebuike, Igbo-African, Dialogue, Christian, Muslim, Relations, Nigeria, Philosophy.