One Nation Under God

In contemporary Nigeria, university campuses have become veritable centres not only for religious practices but equally for the recruitment of members by sects, cults, and denominations. Our research project was premised on the assumption that for the country to achieve sustainable integration, undergraduates in the nation’s university system should be co-opted as advocates and stakeholders in the onerous task of peacebuilding and interfaith harmony. This paper reports on the initial survey carried out early in the year 2022 among university of Abuja undergraduates (Christian and Muslims) in this regard. The paper used the descriptive research method. A carefully designed questionnaire was administered among five hundred and twenty-four (524) undergraduates from the University. Having deployed the Integrated Phenomenological Approach (IPA) to research, the paper found that respondents were all desirous of a peaceful interfaith space not only on their campus but across Nigeria. They opined that the introduction of a curriculum on interfaith dialogue and the formulation of a policy on religious practices in the Nigerian University System (NUS) would go a long way in entrenching peace among adherents of various religions and ultimately in promoting national integration.在当代尼日利亚，大学校园不仅已成为宗教活动的重要场域，同时也沦为各类教派、邪教组织及宗教宗派招募成员的聚集地。本研究项目以如下核心假设为前提：若尼日利亚欲实现可持续的国家整合，本国大学体系中的本科生应被吸纳为和平建设与宗教间和谐这项艰巨任务的倡导者与利益相关方。本论文报告了2022年初针对阿布贾大学本科生（基督教徒与穆斯林）开展的相关初步调研成果。研究采用描述性研究法，向该校524名本科生发放了精心设计的调查问卷。本研究运用整合现象学研究法（Integrated Phenomenological Approach, IPA）后发现，所有受访者均渴望在校园乃至尼日利亚全国范围内拥有和平的宗教间共处空间。他们提出，在尼日利亚大学体系（Nigerian University System, NUS）中开设宗教间对话相关课程，并制定规范校园宗教活动的政策，将对巩固不同宗教信徒间的和平局面、最终推动国家整合进程大有裨益。