CONFLICT IN NIGERIA
American Academy of Political and Social ScienceReligion, Legitimacy, and Conflict in NigeriaAuthor(s): Henry BienenSource: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 483, Religion andthe State: The Struggle for Legitimacy and Power (Jan., 1986), pp. 50-60Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and SocialScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1045539 .Accessed: 02/10/2013 11:21Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. .Sage Publications, Inc. and American Academy of Political and Social Science are collaborating with JSTORto digitize, preserve and extend access to Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 41.204.186.122 on Wed, 2 Oct 2013 11:21:25 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
ANNALS, AAPSS, 483, January 1986 Religion, Legitimacy, and Conflict in Nigeria By HENRY BIENEN ABSTRACT: Nigeria has not evolved political formulas that explicitly allow religion or religious authorities to define legitimacy. There have, however, been struggles carried out in religious terms over constitutional mechanisms for adjudicating conflict. Religion also has been an element in the conflict between ethnic-language groups. Finally, religion provides a language, a set of values, and institutions through which groups struggle and over which groups contend, both within and between religious com-munities. It has been necessary for northern leaders to stress Islam
ANNALS, AAPSS, 483, January 1986 Religion, Legitimacy, and Conflict in Nigeria By HENRY BIENEN ABSTRACT: Nigeria has not evolved political formulas that explicitly allow religion or religious authorities to define legitimacy. There have, however, been struggles carried out in religious terms over constitutional mechanisms for adjudicating conflict. Religion also has been an element in the conflict between ethnic-language groups. Finally, religion provides a language, a set of values, and institutions through which groups struggle and over which groups contend, both within and between religious com-munities. It has been necessary for northern leaders to stress Islam