Religion and Sustainable Environment in the Niger Delta: The Ogoni Experience

Abstract

What relates religion and environment, whether social or physical is ethics. This study examines major African ethical principles and methods towards sustainable environment in the Niger Delta, using the Ogoni case as example. The paper adopts both the sociological and anthropological approaches. Findings of the study reveal that both the earth and human beings are believed to be God‟s own property. These properties are indigenous inheritance in Ogoni land. It is a common belief among Ogoni people that man‟s life is bound up in his environment. In the belief of the people whatever happens to their land happens to their existence and whatever happens to their lives equally affect their land. In other words, for Ogoni people, land and life are inseparable entities. There exists a symbiotic relationship between religion and environment. The religion of the people abhors desecralization of the environment because some religious symbols are embedded in the environment. When the Ogonis complain of life extinction and genocide, they are showing concern for the security of their God given land. The expressions “Our land is our life” and the “Spirit of Ogoni says No” are based on the belief of the people that God who gave them land as indigenous inheritance would not support any form of environmental degradation. The paper argues that the ethical concerns of religion for sustainable environment would mean its concerns for healthy human lives in the Ogoni region of Nigeria. The study recommends among others that the Ogoni ecological space should be respected and preserved as well as their worldview.