IMPLICATION OF ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 6:1-7 TO THE PROBLEM OF ETHNICITY AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION IN NIGERIA

Kanayochukwu Michael Okoye (PhD), Ndidiamak Vivian Ugwu (PhD), Emmanuel Chijindu Asogwa (PhD)

Abstract


The issue of peaceful co-existence among the ethnic groups that make up Nigeria has been a challenge to the government of the Federation. Notwithstanding the various attempts made to ensure peace and national integration, Nigeria socio-political scene has been decimated with plethora of crisis with devastating consequences, especially on the basis of ethnic identification or ethnicity. Just like the Nigerian State, the early church faced the problem of group identity and intergroup bias, which posed a threat to the unity, progress and its evangelical mandate. However, the community rose up to the challenge and peace was ensued. This work therefore explores the implication of Acts 6: 1-7 to the challenges of ethnicity and national integration in Nigeria using the Synchronic exegetical approach. From the text, we discovered that that the problem of ethnicity and national integration in Nigeria is not in its heterogeneous nature but in its leadership. The quest for national integration must begin with the willingness of the leadership to address the issues of social injustice and discrimination through a call for national dialogue, to harness opinions that will make for national integration.

Keywords


Acts 6:1-7, Ethnicity, Marginalization, Integration, Intergroup conflicts.

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