Towards an Original Theory of Communication in Nigerian Religious Pluralism and Civic Coexistence

Nigeria's civic challenge of managing peaceful coexistence across religious diversity requires communication frameworks that can account for both the genuine tensions and the remarkable practical coexistence that characterises many Nigerian inter-religious relationships, a dynamic that existing conflict communication and peace communication theories inadequately theorise. This study developed an original theory of communication in Nigerian religious pluralism and civic coexistence. A constructive theoretical methodology drawing on interfaith communication studies, peace communication theory, critical sociology of religion, and grounded theory fieldwork was employed. Grounded theory fieldwork was conducted across 30 months in six sites representing different religious coexistence dynamics across Nigeria: Christian-Muslim coexistence in Zaria, interfaith market communication in Onitsha, Kafanchan post-conflict reconciliation communication, Jos plateau peacebuilding communication, Ilorin historical coexistence communication, and Lagos cosmopolitan interfaith civic communication. Across all sites, 92 in-depth interviews and 18 months of ethnographic observation generated rich data analysed through constant comparative methodology. The resulting substantive theory identifies the concept of functional communication partition, describing a pragmatic communication strategy where religious identity is bracketed in civic transactional communication while remaining operative in community boundary maintenance. Original theoretical constructs include civic communication latitude (the degree of topic and identity openness permitted in cross-religious communication), religious communication sovereignty (the protected space of intra-religious communication insulated from civic interference), and inter-faith communication bridges (person-specific trusted communicators who mediate across religious communication communities). The theory was validated through expert review by 22 interfaith communication and conflict studies scholars.

Keywords: religious pluralism, civic coexistence, interfaith communication, Nigeria, original theory