AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION AS AN UNEXPLORED TOOL FOR ACHIEVING RESOURCE CONTROL IN NIGERIA
Abstract
The quest for resource control and restructuring is one of the most frequently discussed issues among Nigerians today. The interest in this issue cuts across religion, ethnicity, discipline, and age. This agitation is gathering momentum not because of any other factor but because of poor leadership, corruption, the manifestation of capitalism, and the distribution of resources in our nation Nigeria. It is the research position that this clamour for resource control and restructuring is a strong pointer to the mismanagement of the resources entrusted to public officeholders. The paper also argues that no matter the level of restructuring and resource control at the state level, or Local Government Level, if the challenges and problems of poor leadership, corruption, and the manifestation of Capitalism are not routed out, these agitations will continue to plague the nation-state at all levels. It is therefore the position of this paper that the answer to the quest for resource control and restructuring is to explore the unexplored tool of the African Indigenous Religion, anchored on communal life, authority, and sanctity of traditional rulers, the African ethics and taboos as well as African concept of Wealth based on family and community welfare as against the individual concept as the basis of solving this mirage of challenges. This paper will employ the use of the phenomenological approach as a method and in its theoretical framework will focus on functionalism as a tool.