In Rage and Carnage in the Name of God, Abiodun Alao examines the emergence of a culture of religious violence in postindependence Nigeria, where Christianity, Islam, and traditional religions have all been associated with violence. He investigates the root causes and historical evolution of Nigeria’s religious violence, locating it in the forced coming together of disparate ethnic groups under colonial rule, which planted the seeds of discord that religion, elites, and domestic politics exploit. Alao discusses the histories of Christianity, Islam, and traditional religions in the territory that became Nigeria, the effects of colonization on the role of religion, the development of Islamic radicalization and its relation to Christian violence, the activities of Boko Haram, and how religious violence intermixes with politics and governance. In so doing, he uses religious violence as a way to more fully understand intergroup relations in contemporary Nigeria.

Abiodun Alao is Professor of African Studies at King’s College London and the author of several books, including A New Narrative for Africa: Voice and Agency, Mugabe and the Politics of Security in Zimbabwe, and Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa: The Tragedy of Endowment.

Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction: Of Nigeria, Religion, and Violence  1
1. Religion and Nigerian Society  19
2. Islam and Violence in Nigeria  45
3. Christianity and Violence in Nigeria  77
4. Traditional Religions and Violence in Nigeria  101
5. Boko Haram and the New Phase of Violence  115
6. National Politics, Intergroup Relations, and Religious Violence in Nigeria  153
7. The Economics of Religious Violence in Nigeria  189
8. Nigeria's Religious Violence in the Context of Global Politics  207
Conclusion: The Impossibility of the Best and the Unlikelihood of the Worst  225
Notes  239
Bibliography  267
Index  285