Written by Chinedu Okeke
SCIENTIFIC SOCIALIST STRUGGLE AGAINST RELIGIOUS SUPPORT AND SUSTENANCE OF NEO-COLONIAL NIGERIA (2025)
THE STATE OF RELIGION IN NIGERIA TODAY
The first thing we have to acknowledge when talking about Religion in the context of the Nigeria of 2025 is that it has served (for many decades counting) and still serves as a core instrument and institution in maintaining and perpetuating the oppressive conditions and exploitative social relations of the neo-colonial Nigerian State. It is from this factual and honest acknowledgement that any serious and effective analysis of religion vis-a-vis the anti-imperialist, pan-Africanist, socialist struggle can be properly undertaken.
In Nigeria today, religion is a key institution and tool for maintaining the neo-colonial capitalist state and the societal relations that flows from the structure of the state. Again, it is key to emphasize this point. Christianity and Islam especially as the dominant religious institutions have confused and complicated the consciousness of the people in distorting their understanding the structural reality and the exploitative patterns of the Neo-colonial Nigerian state. To put it bluntly, these religions have replaced fantasies, illusions and delusions with the deep and complex understanding of reality needed for any radical /revolutionary/socialist transformation.
Already, due to years of indoctrination and its dominance in society we are well aware of the ‘Spiritual Industrial Complex’ and its profit-generating and influence-bestowing capacity for those able to wield it effectively in line with the objectives and perpetuation of neo-colonialism. The ‘Spiritual Industrial Complex’ being referred to here is the creation of a whole illusions and delusions invoking Devils, Spirits, Demons, human agents (generally negative spiritual factors) to explain the misery, poverty and problems being faced by the people and the manipulation of same to create a false reality and narrative which generates influence and/or money for the religious clerics (G.Os, Bishops, Apostles, Imams, Alfas, Dibias, Ifa Priests etc) while these explanations ultimately distorts a concrete understanding of reality. As a dialectical necessity to maintain their influence, the religious institutions also creates positive illusions and delusions like God, Heaven, Miracles, Divine breakthrough (generally fantasized spiritual factors) to also create a false reality and narrative of the source of hope and process of finding solutions to the artificially created delusions used to explain reality. Ultimately, the creation of a whole world of fantasies, illusions, delusions and superstitions by religious Institutions muddles and seriously confuses the consciousness of the masses of the people to a concrete understanding of reality and the thoughts, actions, and systems that are needed for revolutionary social transformation. Again, this situation also bestows huge material benefits, social status and political access to the State to those who are in the top hierarchy of these religious institutions. Huge benefits which they(and those aspiring to their positions) will fight to their last drop of their blood to give up!
CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR THE ‘LIBERATION THEOLOGIANS’ AND ‘RELIGIOUS DECOLONIZERS’ TO CONTEMPLATE
It is from this concrete understanding of the institutional workings of religions (especially Christianity and Islam) in the present context of Nigeria that we argue against such terms as ‘Liberation Theology’ or ‘decolonizing religion’ applied within the organization and context of those who lay claim to scientific socialist ideology of struggle. Those who make these arguments are very quick to bring up names like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X as historical evidence to substantiate their argument. But this simplistic comparison fails to understand the vastly different contexts in which these great African revolutionaries used Liberation Theology as a tool of struggle in America or the second half of the 20th century and Nigeria of today. This particular analysis will be attempted more extensively in another piece, but suffice it to say that the America of the Civil Rights Movement of beginning circa 1940s and Neo-Colonial Nigeria state of the 2020s have vastly differing contexts which indeed limits the possibilities of liberation theology and ‘decolonizing religion’ as a tool of anti-imperialist struggle and socialist transformation in Nigeria of 2025.
For those who lay claim to scientific socialist tradition and advocate for liberation theology as a tool of struggle, we pose the following critical questions to them:
- How can liberation theology work to achieve socialist transformation within religious institutions set in the framework of hierarchical structures which repress (subtly or directly) all sorts of questioning and challenges against established doctrines or religious leaders of such institutions?
- How can liberation theology work to achieve socialist transformation within religious institutional settings where the top hierarchy (and those aspiring to be) all hold concrete/serious material benefits in maintaining the exploitation and misery of the neo-colonial state as a very fertile ground to profit off, establish influence, and also gain political access to the riches and opportunities of the state?
- How can liberation theology work to achieve socialist transformation within Institutional settings with people holding a distorted and confused view of reality due to years and decades of indoctrination with illusions, delusions, fantasies and superstitions as a result of consistent engagement with these religious institutions and worldview?
Again for those who lay claim to scientific socialist ideology and are also proponents of decolonizing religion, we pose the following questions to them:
- What is more useful or effective in the process scientific socialist transformation? Trying to indigenize or replace foreign-originated illusions, superstitions and delusions with local-indigenized illusions, superstitions and delusions (as a substitute for reality) or attempting to demystify and explain reality by showing the complex evolution and dynamics of society?
- Do advocates of decolonizing religion not acknowledge that illusions, superstitions and delusions are still manipulated within indigenous traditional religions to distort an understanding of reality?
- Should much needed effort be spent to ‘decolonize religion’ or to simply criticize all aspects of the worldview and institution in any form of expression that contributes to the limitation and blockage of the concrete development and advancement of the masses of the people?
These are just but a few critical and fundamental questions that need to be answered in engaging the question of Liberation Theology or ‘decolonizing religion’ within the Neo-colonial Nigerian state today.
And while we wait for the liberationist theologians and the ‘religious decolonizers’ who also lay claim to the scientific socialist tradition to contemplate and answer these questions in the practical arena of struggle, we would here make a few initial conclusions of our own as regards the question of Liberation Theology and decolonizing religion drawing from the analysis made and questions posed.
CONSISTENCY AND MATERIALIST APPROACH IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST REACTIONARY RELIGIOUS WORLDVIEW AND INSTITUTIONS
Within the tradition of scientific socialist struggle, within the context of the Neo-colonial Nigerian State today, we need to always make clear and breakdown the fact that the dominant Religious Institutions (Christianity and Islam) are central pillars and key allies of the exploitative systems, societal structures and social relations that reproduces Poverty, Misery, and Underdevelopment in our country. Again, we emphasize that this fundamental admission of the present reality is a critical step in critically analyzing any question on religion vis-a-vis the struggle for socialist transformation.
Scientific socialist struggle requires a consistent, thorough and continuously updated knowledge of the evolving dynamics and complexities of reality through the process of practical struggles. Regarding the question of religion in the context of Nigeria today, there needs to be consistent criticism and expose on all aspects of religion which distorts, muddles and confuses the consciousness of the people to seeing and understanding the workings of reality as it is. Hence, illusions, delusions, superstitions and fantasies of all kind which limits and confuses the people in their understanding of the systemic structures and social relations of production in society must be confronted as a means of clarifying reality. And this is best done in the concrete arena of the struggle. For the people will be best convinced to cast off any illusions or delusions by the clarity of reality gained from directly engaging and educating themselves at once, in the concrete struggle for material benefits than any thousand explanations attempted to show how Religious Theology encourages Liberation struggle.
Again, the brief analysis attempted above already shows how all manners of Illusions, delusions, superstitions and fantasies are deeply entrenched in the dominant religious worldviews and institutions in Nigeria, the concrete purposes they serve and the material benefits and political influence bestowed upon them by their position and utility in the neo-colonial Nigerian state. Within this context, liberation theology is more likely to be an exercise in futility as the top echelon of the established religious institutions have key material class/group interests in maintaining and perpetuating the current role and operational nature of religious institutions within the neo-Colonial Nigerian State. These top echelon/hierarchy in the dominant religious institutions already receive support from the state and also hold very strong influence over many millions of Nigerians (by confusing reality) thereby holding and tending towards a very antagonistic position in relation to any form of liberation struggle within the religious institutions or worldview.
The anti-imperialist, pan-Africanist socialist revolutionary struggle requires no illusions, confusions or delusions. At all times in the process of the struggle, a fundamental requirement is a critical understanding of the evolving nature of reality. In this struggle for our basic material conditions and the significant process of industrialization/development needed for societal transformation, we need not accommodate any illusions or pacify any sentiments that distorts or confuses the correct understanding of the evolving dynamics of reality.
Within any party/movement/organization fighting for socialist transformation and laying claims to a scientific socialist tradition, there must be established within such organization the freedom of criticism of religion and religious institutions. Indeed, such attitude must be encouraged among comrades. Not just criticism from an emotional point of view, but reasoned criticism on empirical evidence and facts on the ways and methods in which religion, religious institutions and religious influencers act as reactionary forces/elements in maintaining the exploitative and oppressive social relations and systemic structures of the Neo-colonial Nigerian state. Any party, laying claims to scientific socialist principles, which seeks to avoid the unequivocal criticism of the reactionary role of religion hiding under such concepts as ‘Liberation Theology’ or ‘decolonizing religion’ inherently lends itself as a stumbling block/obstacle to the process of social transformation. Again, criticism of religion must be consistent, unequivocal and generally applied without bias. At the same time, criticism of religion must be undertaken not just for the sake of it or as a means of antagonizing, but must be carried out in a factual and reasoned way which further clarifies and exposes the evolving dynamics and complex realities of the Neo-colonial Nigerian state. The most lasting impressions of political exposes are those made within the concrete context of the operations of society.
In the final analysis, within the general context of the Nigerian society, effort must always be made to struggle against the false and distorted narratives that the dominant religions create in limiting and distorting the radical and revolutionary consciousness of the masses of the people. We must tackle the misleading delusions and illusions that religion seeks to substitute with reality by showing the people their capacity and possibilities for determining social transformation. We must tackle the delusions of ‘generational curses’ and ‘village people’ as the causes of personal poverty and misery by showing how structural inequality, labour exploitation and land grabs+resource theft provides the very fertile ground for the exponential multiplication of these conditions. We must tackle the illusions of spiritual/ancestral causes of sickness and diseases and show the people how governmental neglect of investment in nutrition and healthcare along with poor sanitation and lack of clean water contributes to disease. We must tackle the superstitions of ‘witches’ and ‘wizards’ or ‘village people’ as the causes of accidents by showing how bad roads, unregulated driving and outdated billionaire’s trucks all as a result of governmental neglect are the main causes of accidents. We must tackle the illusions of ‘spiritual attacks’ as the causes of ‘mysterious’ death by showing how the interaction of social/psychological factors (stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, trauma, etc) leads to accumulated and complicated biological conditions that eventually result in sudden death. Again, this is the more likely as a result of the exploitative and repressive structuring of the neo-colonial Nigerian state. All sort of illusions, delusions and superstitions must be challenged, demystified and clarified. Here again, the concrete struggle against the reactionary role of religion in society can be more effectively realized in the concrete struggle for improvement of material conditions in the areas of medical and psychological healthcare, food and nutrition, housing, employment, quality living environments/spaces etc for the masses of the people. For it is in the organized struggle to improve these material conditions that the people begin to concretely realize the transformative power and possibilities to determine and control their destiny as a collective force by extracting gains/concessions as much as possible and struggling to ultimately win the necessary political and economic power needed for significant social transformation.
This, in brief sketch, is the approach proposed in terms of how those who lay claim to the scientific socialist tradition of struggle must concretely struggle against the dominant religions (especially) in recognition of the historical and current role it plays as a strong pillar and support of the exploitative and repressive Neo-Colonial Nigerian state which limits the development and advancement of the masses of the people.
Chinedu Okeke,
Movement for African Emancipation(M.A.E),
July 2025.