Christians and Partisan Politics in Nigeria: A Sociological Investigation of their Challenges and Effectiveness

Abstract

There are many challenges that are capable of standing in the way and the resources that are available to make one very effective in his divine calling as a Christian politician for the benefit of his constituency and the society in general. Christians have succeeded in many other areas of endeavours in this country and beyond, but not in the political terrain because they were discouraged from involving in partisan politics. For the few Christians that have been involved since the seventies, how effective have they been in the politics of Nigeria? Have they been able to influence the political system that is consummated in corruption, suppression, oppression, wickedness, and in a leadership that is without vision and mission? And if they have not, what has been the cause for their inability to bring meaningful change for the better? Have they gone into change things for the better for the generality of Nigerians or have they gone into partisan politics simply to get their own share of the national cake, minding less about the plight of the majority of Nigerians languishing in a state of abject poverty, insecurity and injustice? If these Christians have gone into politics for their own personal benefit, are these Christians the right people called by God to govern us and should these be the right people the church should support into the political arena in Nigeria? This is the burden of the writer in this researched work; and the study is approached from sociological perspectives.

Keywords: Investigation, Christians, Partisan Politics and Effective.