THE IMPACT OF CHRISTIAN SCHOLARS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIAN SOCIETIES: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL APPROACH

Abstract

Nigeria as a sovereign state struggles with challenges that threaten the development of the country. The challenges among others include corruption, insecurity, poverty, ethnicity and religious bigotry. In such context, the paper argued for a pragmatic response through the impact of Christian scholars in the development of the country. Therefore, a practical theological methodology was used in the research. The first phase of the methodology described the context of Nigerian societies. The second critically analysed the contextual realities while the third phase critically reflected the normative practices. The fourth methodological phase designed and pragmatically contributed in responding to the challenges of the paper. In arguing the impact of Christian scholars in the development of Nigerian societies the following stood out: Reframing: a response to what is not working; Inter-religious theology; Institute for healing of trauma; Promotion of Human Dignity and being contagious beings. The paper concluded that Nigerian societies are still bedevilled by the present challenges because the identified concepts have not been fully harnessed to achieve the desired developments in Nigerian. Thus, the following points were stressed and or recommended: Scholars who identify themselves as Christians should not only be accepted as one but behaves likewise so that their messages will not be contradicted among themselves in impacting the society; the religious leaders should identify and address the “bad eggs” among themselves to control the problem of extremism and fanaticism in the society; the authority should establish institute for healing of trauma to help in the process of healing and reconciliation.