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Paper short abstract:

Drawing on diverse sources, this paper addresses the intersections of politics, law and religion in contemporary Nigeria. It focuses on the controversy about the amended Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020) to explore Nigeria's future in the light of engagement with politics of religion.

Paper long abstract:

This paper addresses the intersections of politics law and religion in contemporary Nigeria. It focuses on the controversy about the amended Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020) which was passed into law by the Nigerian government in August 2020. The enactment of the new CAMA law generated a lot of controversies with mixed feelings from different quarters. While some applaud it as a step in the right direction, others oppose it and see certain provisions of the new law as a deliberate attack on faith-based organisations. Among the key actors in the opposition are leaders of the Christian community in Nigeria. Due to some historical antecedents and largely because of the dynamics of conflicts in the Nigerian context, where it has revolved around Muslims and Christians, in addition to the fact that the current state power is within the control of Muslims, Christian leaders view the new law as a declaration of war on Christianity. The paper draws on diverse sources, including newspaper articles, features, editorials and opinion published between August 2020 and December 2022; a wide range of other media locally produced in Nigeria such as television and radio; a series of extensive interviews with religious actors, civil society heads and legislatures; and secondary sources to explore the key arguments and concerns reflected in the CAMA 2020 controversy and what this tell us about Nigeria’s future in the light of engagement with politics of religion.