Towards an Original Public Theology for the Nigerian Democratic Context: Engaging Religion and Common Good

Public theology, which engages the public sphere with theological insights in pursuit of the common good, has been developed primarily in Euro-American and South African contexts. An original public theology constructed from within the Nigerian democratic context, addressing Nigeria's specific challenges of corruption, ethnic pluralism, religious tension, and poverty, represents a significant gap in African theological scholarship. This study develops an original public theology for the Nigerian democratic context. A public theology construction methodology integrates biblical theology, political philosophy, Nigerian social analysis, and comparative public theology across six stages: systematic review of global public theology literature; analysis of Nigerian constitutional democracy, religious pluralism, and social challenges through interdisciplinary research; empirical grounding through 40 interviews with Nigerian theologians, civil society leaders, economists, and public intellectuals across six geopolitical zones; critical engagement with the Habermasian public sphere concept, the Rawlsian public reason framework, and the Cavanaugh critique of liberal political theology; original constructive synthesis; and validation through a national theological symposium engaging 30 expert respondents. Original contributions include a Nigerian Common Good Theology that integrates Ubuntu communal philosophy with biblical shalom, a Public Prophetic Framework for Nigerian church engagement with governance corruption and democratic accountability, and a Theology of Civic Plurality that provides principled grounds for Christian collaboration with Muslim and traditional religious communities in pursuing the Nigerian common good without theological relativism.

Keywords: public theology, Nigerian democracy, common good, original contribution, religion and politics