RELIGIOUS FACTORS IN AFRICA’S EXPLOITATION AND IMPOVERISHMENT: A CALL FOR CHANGE OF STATUS QUO

Abstract

The explorers that invaded the serene, gradually developing African environment imposed themselves on the African societies, distorted the indigenous patterns of development, and permanently implanted a system of perennial exploitation. These invaders wore the garb of religious deliverers and engendered an atmosphere of persistent conflict, with colossal losses in human lives and resources. In Africa today, immigrant religion has become full-time work, distracting from productive activities, replete with all sorts of intrigues that engender vicious strife, leading to crises that end up destroying the few resources existing. Children are, on some religious platforms, denied requisite education and employed as ready tools for armed conflicts and wanton destruction of lives and property. This paper examines how religious factors are deliberately employed for the exploitation and impoverishment of Africa and suggests how this situation can be changed so that Africa, especially the Sub-Saharan region, can be lifted out of squalid impoverishment to an enviable height of development.