Pope John Paul II Journal of Philosophy

Democracy in Nigeria seems to be a pre-emptive one, which was ignited through the “instrumentality” of John Paul II in his historic visit to Nigeria in 1998. Though Nigeria, as at that time, was held at the jugular by the dictatorship of Sani Abacha, John Paul II left the church and the government with the tenets for a true democracy. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate how the church and government have upheld the tenets of a true democracy in Nigeria over the past years. In order to address the aim as stated, the analytical method of research is employed to understand the church’s role in Nigeria’s democracy. This paper explores the meaning of democracy, the church's official statements in favour of democracy, and the state of democracy in Nigeria. This paper recognizes that the church plays a major role in ensuring true democracy since it deals with the whole man, but bemoans the fact that sometimes the Church is weak in this respect. In conclusion, the church ought to take up its obligation towards true democracy to make itself relevant in the lives of the people and to remain meaningful in the world.

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