Suchergebnisse

There exists strong relationship between religion and politics, especially in Africa. In Nigeria, there is a trend of spiritualizing electoral politics with regard to consulting spiritual leaders prior during and after elections. The dynamics and manifestations of this interface between religion and politics is recently more pronounced with Pentecostalism which from its humble beginning in the early 1990's is now a global brand with a blend of socio-economic, political and religious influence. Nigerian politicians of all shades and aspirants now visit prophets, not because of the large pool of adherents this brand of Christianity command, rather it is anchored on its spiritual and future telling tendencies. However, this pattern of interactions has invariably given rise to far rising religious leaders in Nigeria who are now consulted by political leaders outside Nigeria, not only for spiritual needs but also political matters like elections. It is within this context therefore, we attempt to interrogate the linkage between the spiritualization of electoral process and the projection of Nigeria's soft power, given the strategic position of Nigeria in the African continent. Specifically, the central focus of the paper is to investigate the nexus between prophetic electoral declarations by Nigerian pastors and the projection of Nigeria's soft power potentials in Africa. The paper drawing on the theory of power, relying on documentary method of data collection and adopting content analysis, argues that Nigerian pastors of Pentecostal extraction in the course of their prophetic electoral declarations vis-à-vis the political ambitions of many African leaders have contributed to the soft power reservoir of the Nigerian state. The paper, therefore recommends that the Nigerian state should incorporate and calibrate such power resources to shore up its hegemonic claims as a regional power in Africa.

In Nigeria, there have emerged a trend of unscientific predictions of electoral outcomes, mostly, attributed or rooted in divine, transcendental, sacred or mysterious exposition whereby at every round of elections, certain prophets reel out prophetic declarations of prospective winner or/and loser of the elections without any form of data collection and analysis. Unfortunately, this spiritualization of electoral outcome has seemingly stampeded the evolution of a vibrant public opinion polls culture that should naturally be spearheaded by Political Scientists, in order to advocate for the entrenchment of the science of forecasting in the electoral process to engender objectivity and reliability of predictions. However, this is not the case in Nigeria. Far more dangerous is that these prophetic declarations are made amid tensed political atmosphere sufficient to threaten the democratic process and consolidation in the country. It is in this regard therefore, that this paper critically examines this phenomenon and put forth ways Political Scientists can reassert their voice in the electoral process in Nigeria by making use of opinion polls to forecast electoral outcomes. Also, the paper is a wake-up call for the professional body of Political Scientists in the country to assume its rightful place in the electoral process and to nip in the bud these personalist-prophetic declarations-which most times clash with each other and are capable of threatening Nigeria's democratic process.