Essay on Godism and Moral Relativism By Immanuel James Ibe-Anyanwu: A Review By Ogbu Blessing Ekpere

It is not always that one see the young in present day Nigeria engage in serious, thought-provoking, mental-wracking exercise as a philosophical discourse.  The more likely piazza for convergence of the youth globally in this twenty-first century is in the world of entertainment and sports.  It is refreshing to see a bright light of intellectual deployment emerge in the otherwise dark subterranean cavern of, not ignorance, but of noetic tepidity.  It is therefore with a certain air of optimism that I read the work “ESSAY ON GODISM AND MORAL RELATIVISM” by Mr. Immanuel James Ibe-Anyanwu.

The author opens the Essay by examining the perennial conflict that exists as a result of the inevitable clash of moral values in a plural society.  This is not a task that lends itself to an exercise in superficial sophistry or to any form of intellectual pretensions: it involves deep thinking.  Acuity in reasoning is not achieved by a pedestrian approach to the abstruse issues of life.  There must be a sincere desire which must be matched by a commensurate conscious effort to seek the truth.  It is this quest for a universal truth that impels Mr. Ibe-Anyanwu to apply himself to a deeper study of the complexities of a plural society with the ultimate object of formulating a schematic framework for the surmountability of the several moral dilemmas inherent in such society.

Following in the great tradition of Socratic Discourse, the author launches into what is a rare Nigerian, nay, African insight into Godism, an original idea which the author defines as the concept of a God-centred socio-political thought and philosophy.  Throughout the length of the Essay, effort is made, not to question the validity of strongly held beliefs, especially religious beliefs, but to condemn the absolutist posturing of such beliefs, bearing in mind the impact of environment, experience, zeitgeist and orientation on the conscience and ultimately the moral convictions of the people holding such beliefs.  Moving effortlessly through the province of empiricism and its opposite rationalism, the author wonders why someone should treat the other’s belief system with disdain and, in extreme cases antagonism and violence.  He submits that the problem with religion as a store of moral values is the clerics.  In his words: “The major problem with religions is branding; if the early teachers of each had instilled in their followers the thinking to concede validity to the others, recognizing the relativism of religious morality, there would be no Jihads or Inquisitions.”

It is this position that actuates the author’s deprecation of the involvement of the State in religious matters.  Speaking generally without specifying any geographical entity, Mr Ibe-Anyanwu argues that the State will develop at a healthier pace if elements of religion are eliminated from public affairs.

This position is strengthened by using Nigeria as a prototype of a plural society.  It is not difficult to see the conflict of moral values as a result of the divergence of religious opinion on a daily basis in a typical plural society.  The State which ought to serve as a force of stabilization is hijacked by persons who employ the divisive tools of religion and ethnic solidarity as their rungs to power.  This style of sustaining the stranglehold on power is possible because of the failure of the plebeians and the proletariat alike to understand that the State does not come into existence to further sectarian interests, but, rather, to provide and entrench good life.

The manifest contradictions which the author identifies as the major features of what he calls a Godist democracy, or a democratic system that recognises religion as its cornerstone, but falls just short of theocracy, constitute the problem Nigerian Political Scientists and Constitutional Lawyers alike are struggling to unravel as it relates to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.  In section10 thereof, it is provided that “the Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion”.  Similarly, one of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the same Constitution, the Nigerian grundnorm, is the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.  Section 38 which encapsulates this right provides thus:

Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

No person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if such instruction, ceremony or observance relates to a religion other than his own or a religion not approved by his parent or guardian.

No religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any place of education maintained wholly by that community or denomination.

Nothing in this section shall entitle any person to form, take part in the activity or be a member of a secret society.

The contradictions herein need no divination to see.  For, the same Constitution which declares Nigeria a secular State and guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, also permits the citizens to change their religion.  However, in obvious contravention of these constitutional provisions, the Sharia’ah Legal System which its proponents adopt in the exercise of their fundamental right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion creates the offence of apostasy which seeks to punish by death any person who converts from Islam to another religion.  Another contradiction is the establishment of the Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board and the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board by both the Federal Government and the various State Governments and the sustenance of their operations by State funds.

It is the author’s position that “the State should have no business at all with religion, other than meaningful regulation.”  Regrettably, the State has abused its claim to secularity to the extent of unarguable partisanship in favour of the major religious conglomerates without considering the fact that Animists and those the adherents of these major religious orders describe with the pejorative terms of infidels and pagans are equally entitled to State recognition.  These obviously irreconcilable contradictions agitate the mind of the author who concludes this thought-provoking Essay with this profound injunction: “Religion should govern private lives, while humanism should govern nations’ lives.”

This conclusion is possible if the citizenry will advert their energy towards the study of philosophy.  For it is only by such broad-minded approach to religion and its associative moral relativism that the hypocrisy of leadership in a pluralistic society is revealed, the emergence of Philosopher-Kings either through elections or appointments guaranteed and the negation of sectarian ideology by an emancipated citizenry total.  By so doing, the all too familiar resort to these divisive sentiments in order to sustain stranglehold on power at the detriment of good governance will be obviated.

The Essay does not extol Atheism.  It does not glorify Theism.  It only questions the absolutism of strongly held beliefs and enjoins the holders of such beliefs to be conscious of the fact that the concept of absolute truth in a plural society may be a myth after all.  This Essay is therefore highly recommended to all who seek true answers to the collective problem of peaceful national co-existence.

 Ogbu Blessing Ekpere Esq. is a Legal Practitioner based in Abuja.

Stay updated with Abusidiqu.com, a member of the NIGERIANEWSBEAT team.  Follow us on TWITTER or be our fan on FACEBOOK

Do not hesitate to leave your opinion in the comment section below.

To contact Abusidiqu.com for Article Submission and Advertisement or General inquiry, send a mail to info@abusidiqu.com