Role of Religion towards National Development: An Exploration into the Causes and Effects of Muslim-Christian Conflicts and Intolerance in Some Selected Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria: 2011-2021

Throughout history, religion has been abused and misunderstood. Some people use it as a means of exploitation and suppression. Others used it as a pretext for prejudice and persecution. While some people used religion as a source of power and domination. In the name of religion, unjustifiable wars have been launched; freedom of thought and conscience has been oppressed. Science has been persecuted, the right of individual to maturity has been denied, and man’s dignity and honour have been flagrantly debased. Similarly, injustice and oppression have been inflicted upon humanity all in the name of religion which in essence suffered many losses. Nevertheless, religion as an institution that relates man to his creator is said to have performs variety of functions. The first function is on individual as it affects social behavior. And secondly, religion interacts and influences the other factors of social institutions in the society such as polity, economy, education and so forth. It is on the basis of this, sociologists, anthropologist and other stakeholders in peace and conflict resolutions dwell much on the role religion performs in maintenance of peaceful and harmonious co-existence in the society. Be it as it may, this research work intends to make an exploration into the Causes and Effects of Intolerance and Conflicts between Muslims and Christians in some selected Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria.