When Religion is Powerful than Constitution in Secular Country like Nïgeria

 

 

When Altars Eclipse the Constitution: Religion and the Power Crisis of the Nigerian State

By Sights and Sounds of Ndon-Eyo II Etinan

Nigeria proclaims itself a secular republic, governed by a written constitution and a framework of laws. Yet across the nation’s lived reality, another authority often reigns supreme—religion. From the pulpit to the minbar, from church crusades to mosque sermons, faith routinely commands obedience more potent than the directives of the Nigerian state itself.

This is not an abstract debate. It is a crisis of power, legitimacy, and national cohesion.

Moral Obedience vs Legal Authority

Religion in Nigeria enjoys what the state increasingly lacks: moral authority. Millions obey religious leaders instinctively, often without question, while government institutions are met with suspicion, cynicism, or outright defiance. A single sermon can mobilize crowds faster than a presidential address; a prophetic declaration can override a court ruling in the minds of the faithful.

Where divine instruction is perceived to supersede constitutional law, the authority of the state becomes conditional.

The Politics of the Pulpit

Nigerian politicians understand this imbalance all too well. That is why election seasons resemble religious pilgrimages. Candidates kneel in churches, bow in mosques, quote scripture, and seek blessings—not because of personal piety alone, but because religious endorsement delivers votes more reliably than policy, competence, or integrity.

In this arrangement, clerics often speak with impunity, while the state listens nervously, wary of enforcing laws that might provoke religious backlash.

Fragmented Sovereignty and Parallel Laws

Nigeria operates under a complex web of legal authorities—constitutional law, Sharia law in parts of the North, and customary-religious norms nationwide. While pluralism reflects diversity, it also fractures sovereignty. Citizenship becomes uneven. Rights become negotiable.

When religious law conflicts with constitutional guarantees—especially concerning women, minorities, and dissenters—the state frequently retreats instead of asserting its authority. The constitution bends; faith stands firm.

Security Vacuums and Sacred Violence

Extremist movements such as Boko Haram thrive precisely because religion resonates more deeply than the Nigerian state in many neglected communities. Where government fails to provide justice, security, or welfare, religion fills the vacuum. Sometimes it heals; other times it radicalizes.

When violence is framed as divine duty, the state is no longer just fighting insurgents—it is confronting an ideology that commands spiritual loyalty stronger than national allegiance.

A State Afraid of Faith

Perhaps the most dangerous signal is not religious power, but state fear. Hate speech by clerics goes unpunished. Financial excesses of religious institutions remain largely unregulated. Mob justice justified in God’s name is often met with official silence.

The Nigerian state knows what the law demands—but too often lacks the courage to enforce it.

The Cost to the Nation

When religion overshadows the state:

• Law becomes selective
• Citizenship becomes conditional
• National identity fractures along faith lines

Nigeria risks becoming a country where loyalty to God is clearer than loyalty to the republic, and where unity survives only by avoidance, not conviction.

Editor’s Verdict

This is not an indictment of faith. Religion remains a vital source of hope, morality, and social cohesion for millions of Nigerians. The real danger lies in a state that abdicates its authority instead of harmonizing belief with law.

A strong nation does not suppress religion—but neither does it kneel before it.

Until Nigeria firmly reasserts the supremacy of its constitution over all belief systems, religion will continue to appear more powerful than the state—not because it should be, but because the state has allowed it.

The unresolved question remains:
Can Nigeria survive as a nation governed by laws, if it is increasingly ruled by altars?