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Politics
Adeyemi Balogun, Lecturer, Osun State University

Nigeria's election: six dangers of mixing religion with politics

Supporters of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party describe their presidential candidate and his running mate as unifiers because of their ethnic and religious mix. Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images

One of the issues that has generated great concern among voters in the run up to the Nigerian presidential elections is religion.

Many Nigerians see the mixing of religion and politics as an impediment to progress and development. This idea can be traced to Europe. The Middle Ages were a time when religious authorities and political authorities clashed in European states, resulting in instability. The need to separate religion from politics thus became normalised in western political thought by the early 20th century. Over the years the idea found its way into other societies.

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