Nigeria: Why do people become religious?

The critical fact is that people are born into a religion. It is historical evidence that there is no culture in the world that does not practice one form of religion or the other. For most people in Nigeria, Christianity and Islam which are foreign religions are more prevalent. But again like in every other society, the African traditional religion is imposing its relevance. It becomes pertinent to note because the ancestors laid the foundation of the customs that the subsequent generations follow. As such, there is no avoidance of the influence of religion on the lives of the natives.

The background of religious practice can be situated on the premise that human beings inherited a mysterious world. And from beginning, the instinct to make meaning of the fact of creation was part of human nature. The inability to penetrate the darkness of life but only through intuition catch a glimpse of the essence caused human beings to conjecture the superstitious images of understanding of the realities pervading them.

The models of living borne out of the necessity to better understand human existence have proven over time to be a reliable guide to navigate the unknown realities of the universe. There is no escaping the path of religious observance if one has to go through the passage of life. Evidently, every living being is religious by default of birth. That one chooses to denounce this reality is a mistake of lack of understanding of the workings of one’s existence. Something as simple as one feeding oneself by scooping food from a source to the mouth is a ritual that has existed and evolved over centuries. Such behavior is akin to a religious worship as human beings adopt the practice prevalent in their surroundings.

People should accept the toga of religion and wear it with the reverence that is attuned to their understanding of life. There is no one form of religious practice that is complete since the knowledge of the universal picture has not fully developed. That notwithstanding, goodness to one another has so far borne the greatest support to a meaningful existence. People change religion whereas they think they become religious in order to find solution to new realities. As the sun of human intellect shines every morning, light pierces distant horizons. Life is made better by the new understanding.