Full Project - ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN MAINTAINING PEACE AND HARMONY IN NIGERIA

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Full Project – ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN MAINTAINING PEACE AND HARMONY IN NIGERIA

Click here to Get this Complete Project Chapter 1-5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page………………………………………………………………………………I

Declaration Page…………………………………………………………………II

Approval Page………………………………………………………………………III

Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………….IV

Dedication……………………………………………………………………………V

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………..VI

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….VII

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1.3 Purpose of the Study

1.4 Research Questions

1.5 Significance of the Study

1.6 Methodology

1.7 Delimitation of the Study

1.8 Limitation of the Study

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Conceptual Framework

2.1.1 Concept of the Church

2.1.2 Concept of Peace and Harmony

2.2.3 The Concept of Peace Building

2.2 Responsibilities of the Church to the Society

2.3 Roles of the Church in Maintaining Peace

2.4 Challenges of the Church in Maintaining Peace

2.5 Peace Building in the Bible

2.6 Roles other Religions in Peace Building

2.6.1 Islam

2.6.2 African Traditional Religions

2.6.3 Hinduism

2.6.4 Buddhism

2.7 Summary of Literature Review

CHAPTER THREE

STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Description of the Area of Study

3.2 Occupation of the People

3.3 Economy of the People

3.4 Religion of the People

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 Data Presentation and Analysis

4.2 Analysis of Findings

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Summary of the Findings

5.3 Conclusion

5.4 Recommendation

References

Appendix I

Appendix II

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The Church around the world has this mentality and believe that it is part of their responsibility to act in a moral way. This has globally been felt in the way and manner the Church handles issues relating to community cohesion. The global role of the Church in maintaining peace and harmony has been felt in diverse ways around the world. A world deprived of peace and harmony certainly will fall apart and return to the jungle era in which the strong prey on the weak. The church from inception has acted as an agent of reconciliation between waring communities, and reconciling African societies from fetish traditions and turning against each other. In Nigeria for instance, the killing of twins and some diabolic African traditions was abolish by Mary Slessor a Scottish missionary in the then Cross River State (Mary Slessor 1848-1915). Today, churches in Nigeria are teaching the members on the act of non-retaliation as taught by Jesus which helps to absorb violence instead of escalating it, hence every cycle of violence provoking revenge, which in turn provokes more violence is broken by the simple act of tolerating the violence and avoiding retaliation.

Christians are taught to emulate the life of Jesus Christ, this implies the total application of Christ’s lifestyle in tackling social challenges of the society. God’s initial idea is for the church to change society, drawing many lost souls to God and not the other way round. Every church either big or small is meant to show concern towards it host community particularly that of her members not just hampering on saving the souls. The church which represent Christ has three major roles to play in our society which are: evangelism which is to preach Christ, edification which is to practice Christ, and benevolence which is to personify Christ.

To best understand the role of the church in maintaining peace and harmony in the 21st-century it is imperative that we understand what peace truly entails. Although, there have been several definitions of peace ranging from the erroneous definition of peace as the mere absence of war to political definitions of peace. A single and universally accepted definition of peace has eluded humanity, just as the quest for peace has been one of the preoccupations of humans since the dawn of history. Peace is known to be a universal phenomenon that everyone desires and wishes to enjoy endlessly. In the Christian context, the word Peace is translated from the Hebrew word ‘Shalom’, which is a key word in the Bible and it is at the center of how God wants us to live on earth. But in the Nigerian context peace has been far-fetched since the 1960 independence, there have been reoccurring scenarios of conflicts, ethno-religious crisis, protest, political clashes, bandits’ attacks and militancy till date. The African conception of peace recognizes the fact that in order to ensure lasting peace some elements should be present. These include “acknowledgement of guilt, showing of remorse and repentance by a perpetrator of injustice, asking for and receiving of forgiveness, and paying compensation or reparation as a prelude for reconciliation and peaceful coexistence” (Francis, 2006 p.26)

The introduction of Christianity in Nigeria have always been for societal peace and harmony against violence. Peace was not only what Jesus taught but He also lived it, this in most cases is what scholars call pacifism, as Jesus never taught violence, even at his arrest by the Pharisees and one of his disciples struck the ears of the priest, Jesus rebuked the disciple and said that “those who live by the sword shall die by the sword” (Mathew 26:52, NKJV). In another place Jesus taught the people not to retaliate any evil done to them as it used to be, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, if one should strike you on the right cheek, turn the left cheek (Mathew 5:38-39, NKJV) but now to always forgive those that offend them and he charged them to forgive their neighbors even seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22, KJV).

The introduction of Christianity in Nigeria has made significant contributions to societal peace at a number of different levels (Albert, 2011). Christians therefore are those who follow and act the teaching of Christ in all ways of life. One of the climaxes of Christianity or Christian virtue is peace. Christians are enjoined in the Bible to embrace and live peacefully with their neighbors’. The following scriptures confirm this: Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34 vs 14). Blessed are the Peace makers for they shall be called the children of God Matthew 5 vs 9). Let him eschew evil and do good; let him seek peace and ensue it (1 Peter 3 vs 11). Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12 vs 14). If it be possible, as much as it lieth in you, live peaceably with all men (Rom 12 vs 18). With all these scriptural teachings of the church, Christians are supposed to be role models to the society. This led to the study on the role of the church in maintaining peace and harmony in Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

This study was set to examine the role of the church in maintaining peace and harmony in Nigeria. There has been increased cases of disruption to peace and harmony in Nigeria today despite the church’s tireless efforts to sustain peace as demonstrated by Jesus Christ. Religious crisis, cultural or ethnic conflicts, political agitations arising from the feeling of marginalization, tribal or ethnic politicking whose result is always negative and anti-unity, kidnap activities across, the country, bandits attacks on officers and the Fulani herdsmen brutality have become a reoccurring security challenge in Nigerian. Recently, the Vanguard newspaper gathered that the Abakaliki-Enugu Expressway was been blocked as commuters and drivers were not allowed to move in and outside of the State due to Ezilo-Iyonu communal crisis (Vanguard newspaper, April 20, 2021). Another recent report was that “At about 1200hrs of Sunday, hoodlums, numbering about 20 in a Mitsubishi L300 Bus, and some others on foot, came in through the back fence and attacked one of our divisions at Ugbuodo Divisional Headquarters in Ebonyi Local Government Area of the state. “The attackers entered and immediately opened fire, shooting sporadically at policemen on duty but were swiftly challenged and repelled in a gun battle that ensued. One of the attackers was killed (Vanguard newspaper, 23 May 2021). Notwithstanding all this insecurity challenges, every human being treasures and values security, without which there cannot be unity, peaceful co-existence, development, Unity and Progress. Hence there is need for security to enhance peaceful coexistence in Nigeria. The study on the role of the church in maintaining peace and harmony in Nigeria came in time to fill this gap.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to investigate the role of the Church in Maintaining Peace and Harmony in Nigeria: A Case Study of Christ Ascension Church Abakaliki District. The specific objectives include the following:

To find out the problem of the inadequate role of the Church in Maintaining Peace Harmony in Abakaliki District.
To ascertain the causes of the inadequacy of Church role in Maintaining Peace and Harmony in Christ Ascension Church, Abakaliki District
To investigate the effects of the inadequacy of Church role in Maintaining Peace and Harmony in Christ Ascension Church, Abakaliki District
To suggest some relevant solutions to the inadequacy of Church role in Maintaining Peace and Harmony in Christ Ascension Church, Abakaliki District

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions will huide the study;

What are the problems of the inadequacy of Church role in Maintaining Peace and Harmony in Christ Ascension Church, Abakaliki District?
What are the causes of the inadequacy of the Church role in Maintaining Peace and Harmony in Christ Ascension Church Abakaliki District?
What are the effects of the inadequacy of Church role in Maintaining Peace and Harmony in Christ Ascension Church Abakaliki District?
What are the relevant solutions to the inadequacy of Church role in Maintaining Peace and Harmony in Christ Ascension Church Abakaliki District?

1.5 Significance of Study

It is often imperative to question what would be the significance of any endeavor, be it academic or otherwise. This is also applicable in this present research. The researcher anticipates that, the findings of this research will be very useful to the Nigerian government, religious bodies and the general public on the role the church plays in sustaining peaceful coexistence in our society. This research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.

1.6 Methodology

Method of data collection used includes: Research design; population of the study; sample and sampling technique; instruments for data collection as well as methods of data presentation, analysis and interpretation.

1.6.1 Research Design

The research design that is employed in this research is the descriptive and field survey method. The survey method is utilized to collect data by sampling the opinion of the respondents. Questionnaires are included in the research design. Questionnaires are used to sample the opinion of both the literate and illiterate population of the research. Given that the responses of the research population are very important for this research, this method is therefore very necessary. There were about ten questions in the questionnaires. The questionnaires were drafted in English because it is a general language to the most of the people.

1.6.2 Population of the study

The population of this research consists of is the whole population of Christ Ascension Church Abakaliki is as at the time of this study was one thousand nine hundred and fifty member (1,950) in total.

1.6.3 Sampling Technique

The researcher uses a random sampling method to avoid bias in selecting the respondents and giving each respondent equal opportunity of being selected. The selected respondents were asked question based on their knowledge on the subject at hand.

1.6.4 Sample of the Study

A total of one hundred (100) respondents were used in the study comprising mainly of twelve pastors, others are deacons, deaconesses, other church workers and members making up the remaining eighty eight respondents.

1.6.5 Instrument for data collection

The instruments used in this study are questionnaires, library as well as internet resources. The questionnaire is a means of collecting data and it gives respondents opportunity to freely express their minds over every issue in the questionnaire as the second instrument used in the research assists the researcher in carrying out personal interviews by going to the respondents at their homes and churches. Library resources such as books, commentaries Journals and Bible encyclopedias were consulted to give the background information for the study. Personal collections, materials from Evangel Theological Seminary as well as Ebonyi State University Abakaliki Religious department Libraries were used. Furthermore, the researcher consults the internet source media for related material that are useful for the study.

By this the sources of information to the research were both primary and secondary sources of data. While primary data came from the original sources and were collected specifically to answer the research questions. Secondary data came from other studies conducted by other persons for other purposes. It is the researchers believe that the information from these instruments is valid and reliable.

1.6.6 Method of data collection

The procedural steps that the researcher used to collect the data include: writing letters to some key respondents for the permission to interview them and going by their permission to interview them, secondly, meeting some selected church members on Sundays after the church service to distribute questionnaires to them. People that are closer were given some time to allow them fill the questionnaires and collections made the following day. While others at far distance were pleaded with to fill them immediately for collection.

Again, the researcher did collect some of the questionnaires himself while some pastors helped him to collect from their members and church boards. The researcher endeavored to distribute and collect back the questionnaire himself.

1.6.7 Method of data presentation, Analysis and Interpretation

The researcher used tables in the presentation of data. The method of data analysis for this research is based on simple percentage of the responses to the questionnaires. The results of the questionnaires are collated and graded over one hundred percent using the tabular form.

1.7 Delimitation of the Study

This study will cover the role of the church and Christianity in general as regards the issue of societal peace and harmony in Christ Ascension Church (1984FC), Abakaliki District.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The following constraints tend to hinder the flow of the study;

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9 Operational Definitions of Terms

Role: According to an online Dictionary, Role is defined as the function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation.

Church: A church building or church house, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly for Christian worship services. The term is often used by Christians to refer to the physical buildings where they worship, but it is sometimes used (by analogy) to refer to buildings of other religions.

Peace: According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Peace is defined as a state of transquility or quiet.

Harmony: According to Cambridge Online Dictionary, Harmony is defined as a situation in which people are peaceful and agree with each other, or when things seem right or suitable together.

Peaceful coexistence: This is simply an atmosphere of living together in peace rather than in constant hostility.

Religious Crisis: A religious war or holy war (Latin: bellum sacrum) is a war primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, debates are common over the extent to which religious, economic, or ethnic aspects of a conflict predominate in a given war.

Niger Delta: Delta State is an oil and agricultural producing state in Nigeria. It is situated in the region known as the South-South geo-political zone with a population of 4,112,445

Boko Haram: The Islamic State in West Africa or the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād and commonly known as Boko Haram until March 2015, is a jihadist terrorist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon.

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