The Church and Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities

July 20, 2024

“Religious freedom is a defining value of Baptists and advancing it globally is a central missional commitment of the BWA,” BWA General Secretary and CEO Elijah Brown said recently. “At a time when 30% of all BWA Baptists face the reality of war, persecution, and extreme hunger, the need is as great as ever.”

This is the backdrop for the plenary sessions focused on religious freedom during the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) annual meeting in Lagos, Nigeria, in early July.

21Wilberforce President, Wissam al-Saliby, Executive Director, John Gongwer, and 21Wilberforce Latin America Ambassador, André Simão, attended the meeting in Nigeria. André co-chairs the Religious Freedom Commission and he assisted in planning plenary sessions on religious freedom. Dr. Dawari George (BWA Men’s Dept President, NBC delegate to the BWA, member of the Religious Freedom Commission and 21W Ambassador for Africa, GFN-Africa leader) participated in planning the Commission plenary sessions with Andre and Shane McNary. Wissam and John participated in plenary session three as panelists.

“Panelists and religious freedom session attendees included Nigerian Baptist leaders, government officials, parliamentarians, and a Muslim leader,” said co-chair André Simão. “We intended for the Commission sessions to support ongoing and future advocacy efforts using our international platform with Baptist leaders worldwide to enhance the work of the recently launched Global Freedom Network – Africa, a center for human rights and reconciliation in Nigeria. We had 75-100 attendees per session, in all three sessions. Engagement with panelists and attendees about advocacy plans continued throughout the week.”

The first two sessions provided discussions and analyses of the challenges and root causes of violence and threats to freedom of religion and belief in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. The third session was designed as a follow-up to the first two sessions by providing an overview and participatory discussion of potential next steps and solutions for addressing these challenges.

Session One: Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism in Nigeria

The former Deputy Director-General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency and the Director General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) ipcr.gov.ng – a peace and governance expertise hub under the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is driving peace-focused policies to intervene in conflict-affected areas, shared the following:

      • an overview of violent extremism in Nigeria,
      • constitutional protections of freedom of religion and belief,
      • government initiatives to prevent and counter violent extremism in Nigeria,
      • popular criticism of national efforts,
      • challenges in protecting religious freedom against violent extremism in Nigeria, and
      • insights on pathways to building a tolerant, safe, and peaceful society.

ModeratorAmbassador Kio Solomon Amieyeofori, MFR, former Deputy Director-General, Nigeria Intelligence Agency/NIA, and former Minister/Political Coordinator Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations

Speakers: Dr. Joseph Ochogwu, Director General, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution; Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Rev. Israel Akanji, President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, responded to the presentation

Watch Session One

Session Two: Persecution and Peacemaking in Nigeria

Nigerian religious and political leaders offered their perspectives on the ongoing persecution by militia terrorists, presented local advocacy initiatives, and explored potential avenues for the Baptist network to strengthen, and collaborate on practical endeavors.

Moderator: Shane McNary, Vice Chair, BWA Commission on Religious Freedom; Cooperative Baptist Field Personnel

Speakers: Rev. John Joseph Hayab, Baptist minister; Country Director of the Global Peace Foundation; and President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Kaduna; Dr. Hafees Okanlawon Suleyman, Founder/General Overseer Dahasfat Islamic Society, Lagos; CEO Hanisuz Global Ventures, Lagos; CEO Urwat Memorial Hospital, Lagos; Rt. Hon. Bitrus Kaze, former elected member of the National Assembly of Nigeria 2007-2015; former Director, Church of Christ in Nations, 1995-2003; translator Izere Bible Translation Project 2007

Session Three: Global Freedom Network – (GFN)Africa

Following an introduction and framing of the session and its objectives by session moderators, the panel discussed past and current peacebuilding and interfaith outreach initiatives of Baptists in Nigeria and other African countries. 21Wilberforce then provided a status report on the development of the Global Freedom Network (GFN) Africa pilot project. The Global Freedom Network (GFN) is a regionally based religious freedom threat assessment and intervention system initiated by 21Wilberforce and the global Baptist network to help mitigate threats in the region.

Also announced was the newly proposed partnership with Bowen University (the Nigerian Baptist Convention’s flagship school and the largest Baptist university in Africa) to establish a regional center for religious freedom, peace, and reconciliation. An honored guest in attendance was the Vice Chancellor of Bowen, who announced that the Bowen Senate had just approved the proposal and next steps were underway to implement this partnership.

The remainder of the session consisted of interactive engagement and discussion by all the attendees on examples and ideas for positive engagement, advocacy, and action.

ModeratorDr. Dawari George, BWA Commission on Religious Freedom member; GFN-Africa lead; former elected member of National Assembly of Nigeria

Speakers: Wissam al-Saliby, 21Wilberforce President; John Gongwer, 21W Executive Director; Rev. Israel Akanji, President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention

“It was valuable to give the floor to Nigerian Christian leaders in Nigeria at the BWA annual gathering, to listen to them and to understand where they feel God is calling them to address the violence and threat of violence plaguing increasing parts of Nigeria”, said Wissam al-Saliby. “Also, listening to Christian government and former government officials articulate their vision for solutions to the problems was valuable.

Inevitably, the church leaders’ assessments and vision diverge from that of government officials. So now the question for 21Wilberforce is how we can empower and equip the churches to influence their government and society and pursue their calling for justice, peacemaking, and religious freedom. We made good progress in Nigeria, building on the years of 21Wilberforce engagement with the country and my engagement while working for the World Evangelical Alliance.

I am looking forward to our next visit to Nigeria”

                                                                                                                                                           

The Commission on Religious Freedom, co-chaired by André Simão, 21Wilberforce Ambassador for Latin America, and Shane McNary, Cooperative Baptist Field personnel, resources BWA Baptists in their advocacy to advance religious freedom for people of all faiths or no faith, especially Baptists who experience or are threatened by persecution. It develops theological resources, provides information on religious freedom issues, prepares reports and research papers, assists in direct advocacy, and empowers through training and mobilizing greater engagement in support of religious freedom.