CROWTHER JOURNAL OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

Despite the abundance of economic resources, attempts to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development have not yielded the desired fruit in Nigeria. Lack of political will and non-participation of Christians in politics has given ill-willed men the opportunity of monetizing politics and predentialism in Nigeria (popularly known as Godfatherism and God-son syndrome). The objectives of this paper are: to examine the level of Christian participation in politics considering the moral concerns in contemporary Nigeria; to examine the factors limiting Christian participation in politics in Nigeria and to determine the prospects of Christians’ active participation in politics. In order to effectively analyze the issues raised above, the author used available materials in the library including journals and the internet to plumb the sources. Oral sources were also employed to supplement the written records in bringing about a better understanding of the essence of Christians’ active participation in politics. Findings showed that the level of anti-social behaviour portrayed by politicians has hindered most Christians from participating in politics, the participation of Christians in politics will really help to reduce the level of corruption in Nigeria, cultural belief and tradition limits the participation of Christians in politics in Nigeria, level of God-fatherism and God-son syndrome has been a major impediment for Christians to participate in politics, and the level of occultism and witchcrafts’ practices played within the corridor of politics has posed a great challenge to Christians. It was recommended that the leaders of various Christian denominations must encourage their local churches to organise seminars and workshops on the political situation in the country and the need for Christians to get involved, the Church needs to envision taking up the responsibility of producing Christian politicians who will make positive impact on the society, the Church must encourage and sponsor those who are gifted and have the right potentials for leadership to go into politics to enable them use their gifting in serving the people especially the marginalized and oppressed

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