Usage of Effective Communication in Curbing Religious Fanaticism: The Nigerian Experience

Religious Fanaticism have been the bane of our society since most religions claim to be the best way or right path for the Devotee to attain Nirvana (Kingdom of God).Thus this paper examines the extent that religious leaders in Christianity and Islam in Nigeria have influenced religious fanaticism through their teachings via communication to their Devotees and general believers .It is a known fact that in Nigeria, victims of religious arrogance and beliefs have suffered a lot of violence from numerous religious fanatical groups under the guise of religion. The thematic framework for this paper is the Two –Step Flow theory which stipulates that influence from communication on an individual is more on a personal level than through the mass media which is impersonal. This means that communication is mostly believed when it is from the set of people we love and respect on a face- to- face basis. The researcher recommends that the religious leaders of both religions in Nigeria should use effective communication in curbing religious fanaticism which will eventually enhance peaceful coexistence within the country. ‘There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it’ -GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1989 ) Keywords-Religious Fanaticism, Devotee, Religious tolerance, Effective communication, Religious Syncretism. 

Press Coverage of Islamic Banking Controversy in Nigeria: A Job Not Well Done

This study primarily set out to assess newspapers published in Nigeria from 1st January to December 31st, 2011 to determine their nature and pattern of coverage of the proposed introduction of Islamic Banking in Nigeria and the controversy it generated. The content analytical research method was adopted and code sheet was used to collect the needed data for the study. Although the population was all the newspapers published within the study period, three newspapers- New Nigerian, Vanguard, and The Guardian, were selected purposively. From these dailies, 108 editions were drawn as the sample size. The data were collected, presented, analyzed, among other things. The study revealed that the Nigerian print media paid scant attention to issues emanating from the introduction of Islamic banking. It is therefore recommended that more specialized tabloids in the area of business reporting should be encouraged, so that such issues as Islamic banking would be given priority attention. Key words: Islamic banking, Press coverage, Controversy, Religio