Migration and religious socialization in Nigeria: the Fulanization dilemma

Abstract

Migration has remarkably influenced the development of civilization and the establishment of cultural borders throughout history. In the case of Nigeria, one of the negative impacts of migration has been the violent seizure of ancestral lands by the Fulani as part of a strategy to 'fulanize' and 'Islamize' the Nigerian nation. This study investigates the links between human migration and religious socialization in Africa, particularly Nigeria. The paper employs the descriptive and phenomenological approaches and bases its arguments on the theoretical foundations of Durkheimian and Weberian theories. The paper argues that regional mobility, with its religious socializing effects, affects national politics, government, the economy, and other national domains. It concludes that African countries should include international migration in their plans and national development goals to make their countries safer.