CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary

This research work titled “An Examination of Religious Crisis and its Impact on Selected

Churches in Kambi Community, Moro LGA, Kwara State” explains the problem of religious

crisis encountered by residents of the community and the impact. Some of the problems which

affected the community as observed are the destruction and vandalism of churches, the wounding

and killing of community members, the halting of religious worship, the decrease in social

activities and functions, the lack of peace among various religious groups in the community, the

exodus or fleeing of residents out of the community to neighboring towns or villages such as

Oloru, Shao, Ogbomosho, Ilorin and the halting of educational activities. A careful analysis

shows that these societal ills were caused by factors such as violent behaviors, rascality,

vandalism, religious fanaticism, terrorism, mob actions, retaliations, vengeance, unequal

distribution of opportunities to community members and youth unemployment.

The design of this research is in a descriptive case-study format. This is because the study is an

in-depth investigation of some problems, causes, effects and some suggested possible solutions

to the problems. 150 respondents are drawn from six different selected churches in Kambi

community, where this research is carried out. These churches are The Apostolic Church

Nigeria, Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Deeper Life Christian Church, Evangelical Church of

West Africa, Living Faith Church and Ore-Ofe Baptist Church.

Samples for this research are collected through the use of simple random sampling. The

researcher conveniently uses simple random sampling technique in selecting the respondents

from the total population because it helps the researcher to avoid bias in sampling. The research

instrument used for data collection is a self-developed questionnaire titled “Resolution of

Religious Crisis” (RRC), to sample the opinions of people about religious crisis and its impact on

selected churches in order to make the issues raised in the research free of personal or individual

bias. The researcher relied on face and content validity in measuring the variables of the items on

the self-developed questionnaire by distributing it among few respondents in order to ascertain

whether the items measured what they purported to measure, who in conjunction with the

supervisor certified the instrument as being valid, and a test retest approach is employed to

measure its reliability. 150 respondents formed the population for this study. A copy of the

drafted questionnaire was handed over to each respondent by the researcher for their response.

The researcher then collected the responses to the questionnaire from the respondents for proper

analysis as highlighted in chapter four of this research work.

5.2 Recommendations

Based on the findings of this research, some recommendations are made which are targeted at

individual religious adherents of the Christian and Islamic faiths, religious leaders, religious

institutions and the government, who are major stake-holders when it comes to instigation,

facilitation and management of violence, religious conflicts or crises in Nigeria:

1. Every religious adherent should understand the basic teachings of their faith and avoid

falling into the traps of manipulative teachings of teachers and books which engender strife with

other faiths..
2. Fundamental human rights of all residents, most especially the freedom of worship

should be held in high esteem and enforced by the government agencies.

3. Religious tolerance among adherents of different faiths should be highly encouraged and

preached by religious leaders towards a stable religious atmosphere.

4. Inter-religious dialogues should be embraced and used in conflict resolution so as to

ensure peaceful co-existence and to avoid the breakdown of law and order which stems from

retaliatory and vengeful actions.

5. Religious leaders should not use their utterances, messages, teachings and actions to

incite Religious violence.

6. All religious leaders and adherents should join forces in nation-building, not division

along religious and ethnic lines.

7. The Government should show good faith by sacking incapable and ineffective security

chiefs, re-organize the security agencies, recruit more security employees from the teeming

young-graduates population and train them using state-of-the-art technological equipments.

Thereby, reducing youth unemployment and accomplishing their security goals at the same time.

8. Community members should engage themselves in community policing by reporting

suspicious activities in their environment in good time to appropriate authorities for immediate

action.

5.3 Conclusion

The problem of religious crisis exists in Kambi community. It is believed that religious conflicts

can be prevented, avoided, controlled and managed. As such, the basic interest of this work is on
religious crisis and its impact on churches. This will better educate churches, church leaders, and

Christians to device ways of ensuring their safety and fostering peaceful coexistence with

adherents of other faiths in their environment. It also enhances national security and development

in Nigeria. It is of great importance now than ever to source for viable and lasting solutions to

the religious-motivated onslaught of Christians by terrorists, fanatics and fundamentalists of

other faiths in Nigeria. The recurrent religious crises adherents of Christianity and Islam in

Nigeria have impacted negatively on the economic, social and political spheres of the Nigerian

church and country at large. In fact, incessant conflicts such as the religious-motivated war of

Boko Haram terrorists and Islamic State of West-African Province (ISWAP) on Christians, the

church and Nigeria have to a large extent ridiculed Nigeria in the comity of nations, as their

activities drive away individual and corporate investors as well as tourists for security reasons.

The responsibility of Government at all levels to ensure the security of lives and properties

cannot be underrated. There is an urgent need for the government to show willingness to enforce

security, either by effective use of the personnel available, recruitment of new hands, or re-

organization of the leadership of the various security outfits for effective and efficient impact.

Inter-religious, faith-based organizations should stand up to their responsibility of ensuring an

effective conflict resolution for political stability.

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