Differences And Similarities Between Ancient Greece And Rome

There are lots of similarities and also differences between Ancient Greeks and Romans, some of the similarities are their government and their arts and literature. Their first similarity is in their government. In Greece, Pericles was an important figure in Athenian politics between 461 B.C. And 429 B.C., during this time Athens expanded its empire abroad while democracy grew at home. The period of classical Athenian and Greek history was called the Age of Pericles. Pericles created a direct democracy, which is a system of government in which the people participate directly in government decision making through mass meetings, in this system all male citizens participated. They all voted on every major issue. The Romans had their own†¦show more content†¦They took on their statues and placed them in public buildings and their home. The Romans made reproductions of Greek statues when the supply of original works of art ran low. Roman sculptures were more realistic than their G reek partners. The high point of Latin literature was during the Age of Augustus. The most distinguished poet was Virgil, he wrote his masterpiece Aenied in Romes honor. Roman architecture was also similar to the Greeks but they excelled in architecture. The Romans continued to use similar Greek styles but also used curved arches, vaults, and domes. The Romans and the Greeks had some differences too, for example, their trade was different. In Greece trade was a central part of their culture, because Greek colonies began to spread they sent their pottery, wine, and olive oil. When they sent these resources they got in return grains, metals, fish, timber, wheat, metals and slaves. Because of the trading industry their people became very wealthy in many of the city-states. In Athens their economy was largely based on trade and farming. They grew grains, vegetables, and fruit. Their trade was mainly based on what they grew there, grapes and olive trees were cultivated for wine and olive oil. These were used for local use and export. Even though farming was a central part of Athenian life they lacked fertile land, because of this they had to import 50 to 80 percent of their grain. RomeShow MoreRelatedsimilarities and differences between greece and ancient rome educational sytems2560 Words   |  11 Pagesnot getting the grades brings fear and insecurity, leaving him to scurry anxiously back down the stairs to relative safety and security. With the above point in mind let us continue our focus on Rogers’ principles and explore where there are similarities in approach. ‘Those learnings which are threatening to the self are more easily perceived and assimilated when external threats are at a minimum’ (Rogers’ fourth principle,1969). Conversely when external threats are present, learning stops andRead MoreThe Religious And Social Differences Between Ancient Greece And Rome Essay1423 Words   |  6 PagesThe Religious and Social Differences between Ancient Greece and Rome In modern day, everyone tends to think of the Roman gods when they think of Greece, or when they think of the ancient gods in general. Juno versus Hera, Jupiter versus Zeus, and Mars versus Ares are some examples of their different and separate deities; not just their names, but their personalities as well. There are many differences between the two religions, as well as differences between each culture’s social standings. NotRead MoreSimilarities And Differences Between Greece And Rome1457 Words   |  6 Pagespoints when bringing up similarities and differences between Greece and Rome. The two vocal points I feel strongly about are both their military and leadership. When talking about their militaries we have two of the strongest forces to ever grace the earth. When talking about their respective cultures we are talking about beliefs that spread nationwide. These are the similarities and differences between Greece and Rome. If there was anything that Rome and Greece where known for it was thereRead MoreWomen s Influence On Women1545 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout history until about the last couple century’s women have had not as many rights compared to their male counter parts and this was especially evident in the ancient world. However women had more rights in places for example they had a bigger role in society compared to that of Greek women in ancient Greece. Women were cogs in a patriarchal dominated society woman were very much under their husbands control according to law and the most important role of women was to raise the children andRead MoreGreek And Roman Civilizations : Greece And Ancient Civilizations1503 Words   |  7 Pages Greek and Roman Civilizations In examining the impact that the ancient world has had on modern Western civilization, the two ancient civilizations which are frequently understood as having had the greatest influence are Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. These two civilizations would eventually come to shape much of what would become the modern European culture, politics and society, and by extension, a vast proportion of global culture and society. In scrutinizing the trajectory of modern historyRead MoreGreek And Roman Civilizations : Greece And Ancient Civilizations1498 Words   |  6 Pages Greek and Roman Civilizations In examining the impact that the ancient world has had on modern Western civilization, the two ancient civilizations which are frequently understood as having had the greatest influence are Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. These two civilizations would eventually come to shape much of what would become the modern European culture, politics and society, and by extension, a vast proportion of global culture and society. In examining the trajectory of modern historyRead MoreEssay Greek and Roman Governments772 Words   |  4 Pagesdifferent. Both have had tremendous influences on governments in our modern world. Rome was a republic where the leaders were chosen through voting, while Greece practiced a more direct democracy in which the citizens participated in the crucial decision-making within the government. This paper will attempt to diagnose the fundamental similarities of each government coupled with the not so obvious differences. Based on the evidence from each type of go vernment, it is clear that each were similarRead MoreThe Great Differences Between Ancient Greece And Rome And Modern Life1200 Words   |  5 Pagesthan many of the ancient societies that we have studied? No doubt there are great differences between ancient Greece and Rome and modern life in the US. But the needs of people to live well, create a social structure and advance as a people are all things that we share. Furthermore, the human emotions that drive discoveries and advancements have been consistent throughout time. Let’s take a look at ancient Greece and Rome and see how much we have in common. Let’s start with Greece†¦. †¢ Democracy oRead MoreSimilarities Greeks and Romans Essay896 Words   |  4 Pagescultures | Similarities and differences between Greece and Rome. | Essay. | | Zack Skone | 4/18/2013 | This document is about the similarities and differences between Ancient Greece and Rome. | Comparisons and differences between the Ancient Greeks and Romans The Ancient Greeks and Romans both began their histories as city-states. While the coastline and the mountainous terrain of the Greek peninsula isolated the various Greek cities from one another, the city of Rome was locatedRead MoreGreek And Roman Comparisons And Contributions1698 Words   |  7 PagesContributions Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome are responsible for many facets in today’s world. In fact, when reviewing history, the Greeks and Romans are sometimes confused with one another. There are many shared traditions, but yet there are many differences between the two. The countries are both Mediterranean, however they had different social class structures, different mythology, and placed different values on life. Ancient Greece was vibrant in the fifth century B.C., but Rome was not in it’s

Individual Rhetorical Analysis Of The Selected Readings

Individual rhetorical analysis of the selected readings by Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe are necessary to arrive at a collective analysis of the most effective strategies. Olaudah Equiano’s â€Å"The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vassa, the African† was first published in 1789 in London, England (687). Equiano’s narrative is informative; however, it is critical of the treatment of slaves and persuasive in its appeals to end the brutal treatment of African Americans. His intended audience was his friends and the public. Regarding the purpose of his narrative, Equiano wrote in Chapter I, â€Å"If it affords any satisfaction to my numerous friends †¦ or in the smallest degree promotes the interests of humanity, the ends for which it was undertaken will be fully attained† (688). His narrative also offered a first-hand (first-person narrative) account of slavery and shared the story of his journey towards freedom. Equiano’s narrative is in chronological order after a brief introduction in Chapter I, which explained his purpose for writing his story along with providing background inf ormation on his childhood and the culture of his birthplace in Essaka, Africa. Furthermore, although much of Equiano’s story centered on his extensive sea travel, his harmonious mixture of formal and informal word choices along with the lack of the technical terminology commonly associated with sailors helps the general audienceShow MoreRelatedThe Six Course Goals Of This English 109w Course Essay1377 Words   |  6 Pagesprocess that includes planning, revision, and editing based on feedback from peers and instructors; Critically read and analyze academic texts; Understand, identify, and analyze the rhetorical situations of academic texts, including their contexts, audiences, purposes and personas; Understand, identify, and analyze the rhetorical situations of academic texts, which may include genre, format, evidence, citation, style and organization; Develop an awareness of and preparedness for the writing they will doRead MoreI Am Writing At The Spring 2015 Semester Of Mr s. Miller s Engl 112 Dual Enrollment College1577 Words   |  7 Pageswriting for both the social sciences and the humanities, and a very challenging multi-genre project on a topic of our choice. Mrs. Miller encouraged us to strengthen our research skills through the use of annotated bibliographies developed from using readings from our textbook (Graff 2008), and online research databases available through the Germanna Community College Library website, including Opposing Views in Context. I also used Academic Search Complete and a variety of sources from the Gale PublishingRead MoreMetaphor Criticism : A Black Man And The Vehicle Is The Top934 Words   |  4 PagesMetaphor criticism would be my rhetorical method of choose. I selected metaphor criticism after reading the prompt above and saw an abundance of metaphors such as â€Å"stunning glimpse†, â€Å"dizzying height† and â€Å"journey to the top† just to name a few. A metaphor within the paragraph that stood out is â€Å"journey to top.† The tenor would be â€Å"journey† and the vehicle is the â€Å"top† I thought metaphorical about each leg of the Arch from a historical perspective. As a black man, the racial history that my peopleRead MoreSummary : Professional Accomplishments Essay1637 Words   |  7 Pagesissues of writing, reading and even reading aloud. At the same time, I took into consideration traditional semantic fields in literature that express the theme of negating. When it comes to the negation applied to the area of performativity, I was concerned with disappearing subjectivity of the individual in the relationship to literature, taking place during two constitutive for literature processes: creative and receiving, namely – let us repeat – at the time of reading (or listening to) andRead MoreThe Analytical Strategy And Its Appraisal846 Words   |  4 Pageshave used narrative and rhetorical analysis for the transcripts. All of the interviewees are describing their work and personal life as stories throughout the interview. Some of the interviewees, Richard and Phil have used headline solution and repetition to create identifies of middle managers (Thomas and Linstead, 2002). All the selected data and documents for analysis should be credible, reliable and meaningful to the research. Ethnographic or qualitative content analysis is used in this researchRead MoreI Am I Was Looking At What We Usually Deem `` Confessional ``1744 W ords   |  7 Pagesand readers in conveying and interpreting meaning. It can connect writers and readers across distances. However, our views of disclosure are complicated by our tendency to assign â€Å"confession† as a category, by external factors that influence our reading, and by our own reactions to work that discloses. My altered views of personal writing and self-disclosure have changed the way I read, write, and teach personal essays. I’ve gained a heightened awareness of the power of personal essays that discloseRead MoreSylabus for Rhetoric3362 Words   |  14 Pagesforms, addresses audiences. By paying attention to the strategies that good writers and speakers use to persuade their particular audiences, you will learn to reason better and to persuade others in your own writing, both through rhetorical appeals and through analysis of audience, purpose, and exigency that is at the heart of the study of rhetoric. For RHET 1302, you will read and reread texts and write multi-draft essays. Practically speaking, you will learn skills that you can use in your futureRead MoreSocial Media And Its Effects On Society Essay1605 Words   |  7 Pagesportrayed and how it affects teens today. In my teen years, I was very concern on the amount of likes I would obtain from a certain photo. Social net works allows us to create both a textual and visual presentation of ourselves in the form of an individual profile. It gives out great forms of communications and news. It is a great way to keep up with the world, friends and, networking. Though, the bad outweighs the good. I have gathered references that explore how body images being portrayed in socialRead MoreSyllabus Designing - Review of Literature5836 Words   |  24 Pagescharacteristics: ESP may be, but is not necessarily: restricted as to the language skills to be learned (e.g. reading only, etc.) taught according to any pre-ordained methodology (i.e. ESP is not restricted to any particular methodology – although communication methodology is very often felt to be most appropriate). Munby (1978, 1996) defined ESP in relation to ESP courses based on the analysis of the students’ language needs. His definition of ESP is still current as follows: â€Å"ESP courses areRead MoreRevision Of The Writing Process2499 Words   |  10 Pagesbe â€Å"theoretically dry and uninteresting† citing it as â€Å"Aristotle’s Rhetoric†(125)—which is illustrated as triangle connecting three rhetorical concepts â€Å"Ethos† referring to the credibility of the author through how they would present themselves in their writing, â€Å"Pathos† which creates an audience within context of what the writer is writing for and who would be reading this piece and finally â€Å"Logos†(126) the thesis-based overall message or topic. By appealing to either of these concepts throughout

Appeal Free Essays

Dear Michael McCawley, My name is {} and I am writing this appeal in accordance to the cancellation of my admission at University of California Santa Cruz. I was informed that the reason for such cancellation was due to the failing grade I received in my Health 11 college class, which I retook during my second semester of senior year. My performance in this class and even in my senior year of high school was not a case of the so called â€Å"senioritis† but fell due to a downturn in my family’s economic stability. We will write a custom essay sample on Appeal or any similar topic only for you Order Now I took a job at my local McDonalds in hopes of earning money to pay for my books or anything I would need to spend on while in college. That use of my work would not turn out as I thought; my father was laid off his job and, being an immigrant, has not been able to find a job to this day. My mother, as well an immigrant, was able to receive welfare but not enough to pay for all bills, rent, and at times food, for my siblings and I. This is when I began working as much as I could because it was either earn what I did before and let my family starve with no roof, or step up and help pay bills and buy groceries. I would ask my manager to allow me to work my full eight hours a day and giving me weekends as well. I needed to do this in order to help support my family. This hectic work schedule along with my high achieving school schedule would clash. The tiresome rigor and loss of energy at work would lead me to miss assignments in my regular classes as well as my college classes. Despite that I was still able to graduate as third in my class with high honors and become master of ceremonies for my graduation. In my other college class I was able to earn a grade of an A because it was focused on class work and finals, whereas my health class was centralized on homework assignments, so even if I did well on test, which I did, I still did not have a high enough percentage to pass the class because my time was taken up to work for my family. I believe that it would not be fair to judge a student’s efficacy by one class that they failed while they have excelled in all other areas, especially for a circumstance that could not be helped. I took the initiative to attempt to make up the grade from my junior year but due to the circumstance I have explained could not do it. Even so this does not show all I can do. During this summer I also took the initiative to enroll in classes at University of California Los Angeles where I did very well receiving a grade of a B in each class, unfortunately due to a lack of financial aid I was not able to make these grades official. This is my true reflection of how well I could do at a UC campus and shows that by reinstating me it would not be lowering the standards of UCSC but a second chance for me to prove that I belong at this school. I know I will excel because I will have no financial distractions because I will be receiving financial aid and will be able to focus on my studies especially with the learning environment that UCSC offers. I hope you take my appeal strongly into consideration for reinstatement. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you, How to cite Appeal, Essay examples

Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria free essay sample

This development was heralded as an avenue to usher in democratic stability and good governance. However, contrary to widespread expectations, the post-military regime became an avenue for the explosion of violent ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, since the emergence of democracy in May 1999, not less than one hundred ethnically and religiously instigated conflicts have occurred in Nigeria which resulted in loss of lives and unquantifiable material and psychological damage. Drawing from documentary research and findings, this paper probes the persistent spate of ethno-religious crises in Nigeria and its harmful implications on democratic consolidation in Nigeria. It investigates the history, causes and manifestations of ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria and maintains that unbridled lust for power, corruption, religious intolerance and the failure of the government to deliver democratic dividends, have resulted in these conflicts between ethnic and religious groups in the country. In the light of all these then, can democracy thrive in an atmosphere of crises? Can Nigeria come out of ethno-religious conflicts? If so, what steps can the government take to rein in the menace of these crises? Finally, the paper provides submissions for curbing this social epidemic, which has become a permanent feature of the Nigerian social polity. Keywords: Nigeria, Ethno-religious, Crises, Democracy, Development Introduction Democracy could be said to be a seed: when you sow bountifully, you reap bountifully. Thus, one of the dividends of democracy, which Nigerians have reaped in abundance since the transfer of power from the military to the civilians on May 29, 1999, is the rising wave of ethno-religious conflicts with devastating and untold consequences on lives and property (Jega, 2007: 116). Nigeria is a very populous nation in Africa with diverse cultural heritage. In fact, the country has a population of over 140 million and over 400 ethnic groups belonging to different religious sects as well (Salawu, 2010: 345). Since the attainment of independence, Nigeria has remained a multi-ethnic nation, which has been grappling with the problem of ethnicity on the one hand and that of ethno-religious conflicts on the other hand. At the inception of independence, for administrative expediency the various ethnic factions were fused and merged together by the colonialists. Then, the colonial masters left and things started falling apart, the center no longer held. No ethnic group desired to see the other. Little wonder then that the former Secretary of State at the British Colonial Office (1952-1959), Sir Peter Smitters regretted the action taken by the British to merge diverse ethnic groups into one in Nigeria. According to Ali (2004) cited in Adebayo (2010: 214), he was reported to have lamented that it was extremely dangerous to force diverse radical and social entities into single rigid political structure. However, that statement was medicine after death; the deed had been done. Indeed, a conglomerate of almost four hundred ethnic groups, each having its distinct history, language, culture and political systems before the colonial rule, all preserved in mitigated forms with the British system of governance super-imposed and named Nigeria really had future implications for unity. The colonial administration, for administrative convenience, compressed and merged the various ethnic groups in their respective regions, making Hausa/Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba the major ethnic groups and reinforced the three political/administrative divisions – the north, the east, and the west, under appropriate constitutional arrangement. At independence and post independence era, the status-quo of the colonial era was retained under that infantile freedom, with every group retaining its tradition, language, and culture while sharing the common central institutions in a federal arrangement (Adebayo, 2010: 214). As a result, these major ethnic groups, because of their opportunistic positions were seen as consistently dominating the political and economic scene before and after the attainment of independence in 1960 and this led to agitations for state creation by the other â€Å"minor† ethnic groups who saw themselves as the marginalized groups. However, the more states were created, the more the complaints of marginalization and inequality by the new minorities against the new majorities in each state (Abdullahi and Saka, 2007). Consequently, the proliferation of ethno-religious and political turbulence in the country is therefore necessitated on the one hand by cultural, communal and religious differences and on the other hand by fear of domination nursed by the minority groups. As if what constitutes the federalism is not satisfied, there have been agitations for reversing back to the old regional autonomy of the different groups for the purpose of determining the pace of their development and control of their respective resources. These pernicious phenomena of ethnicity and religious intolerance led to the incessant surge of ethno-religious conflicts, which gave birth to the many ethnic militias today like the O’dua People’s Congress (OPC) put in place by the Yoruba in the south-western part of the country to fight for the protection and defence of Yoruba in Nigeria; the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), fighting for the cessation of the Igbo ethnic tribe in Nigeria; the Bakassi Boys; the Egbesu Boys; the Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC), the Igbo Peoples’ congress (IPC); the Arewa People’ Congress (APC) and the Ohaneze Ndigbo among others. This might probably be the feeling of Elaigwu (2005: 12) when he writes †¦the violent protests in the Niger-Delta over perceived injustice in resource distribution; the Itsekiri-Ijaw violence in the Delta; the resumption of the Ife-Modakeke communal violence; the menace of Odu’a Peoples’ Congress (OPC) and the accompanying violence in Lagos and Shagamu areas; the formation of the Arewa Peoples’ Congress (APC) and the Igbo Peoples’ Congress (IPC); the MASSOB feeble attempt to resuscitate Biafra; the Sharia crisis and the demands for a confederation; the South-South demand for the control of its resources; and all the recent interethnic/religious conflicts in various states across the country are all part of the bubbles of the Nigerian federation. They are based on the historical structures of mutual fears and suspicions among Nigerian groups in a competitive process. They reflect dissatisfaction of Nigerian groups with the state of the federation. With the emergence of all these ethnic militias and the deep divide between the various ethnic groups, religious intolerance became more violent and bloody with more devastating results using the ethnic militias as the executing platforms of ethno-religious agenda. Federalism thought to be an approach to national unity, resulted to anarchy in the country. A number of steps were taken to at least mend the disunity and disarray prevalent then and promote unity among the various ethnic groups. These included the establishment of federal institutions in some states of the federation, promotion of national cultural and sporting activities, and, more significantly, the National Youth Service Programme (NYSC), just to mention a few (Adebayo, 2010). Although these steps yielded pockets of successes in achieving national unity, the â€Å"unholy† marriage of convenience of the ethnic groups still begs for irrevocable divorce. While the ethnic rivalry held sway, religious pluralism, which culminated in many crises, shook the country to its very roots. The pernicious effect of this trend is not entirely surprising given the fact that religion is so sensitive to Nigerians that many are not only ready to defend it at all costs, but are ready to die for it. Hence, religious pluralism which resulted in religious intolerance was fused with ethnic rivalry, producing the recurrent spate of ethno-religious crises. And because of the violent nature of ethno-religious conflicts, which often take the form of riots, sabotage, assassinations, lynching and maiming, kidnappings, armed struggles, guerilla warfare and secession in Nigeria, they undoubtedly pose dangerous threats to democracy in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Yes, as Jega (2007: 116) truthfully stated, the genetically engineered seeds of democracy planted by our colonial masters and further successive military regimes have grown to mature crops for harvest. Instead of democracy yielding peace, stability and security to lives and property, it seems to have yielded a return, full circle spate of ethno-religious conflicts and violent eruptions. Thus, the discussion of ethno-religious conflicts in whatever context becomes all the more necessary given the fact that there is a phenomenal recurrence of these conflicts around the nation thereby increasing its threat level to democratic consolidation in Nigeria. It is against this backdrop that this paper attempts to probe the history, manifestations and implications of ethno-religious crises in Nigeria since the dawn of democratic dispensation. Causes of Ethno-Religious Crises in Nigeria According to Awolowo (1990: 35), the notion of Nigeria as â€Å"a mere geographic expression† was engendered by the forceful packaging by colonial authoritarian fiat of unwilling communities of diverse origin and culture under the same polity. Consequently, relations and political behavior of the peoples are characterized by mutual suspicion and invidious hatred since they are strange bed-fellows, who were only coerced into the nation-state via amalgamation. Until 1960, Nigeria was a British colony. Like most colonies, it was not constructed for internal coherence, but rather for the administrative convenience of the British (Shively, 1997: 39). Over 400 different languages and dialects are spoken within its borders, and there is also an important religious split, as the north is primarily Muslim and the south is predominantly Christian, making her not only at ethno-religious crossroads but also at linguistic crossroads. As diverse as these ethnic groups are, they are also not accommodative of each other’s religion and professions of faith. This state of intolerance has added up to fuel the spate of crises in Nigeria. It should be noted that religion has always been the platform for frontal expressions of ethnic aggressions and conflict. Hence, ethnocentric politics, sectional solidarity and primordial interests became prominent features in the nation’s political practice. Sectional and individual virtues and interest rather than collective virtues and national unity are advanced and exalted. Thus, communal orientation precluded any attachment to the state and the syndrome of the ‘son of the soil’ took preference over merit and competence in the choice of policies and leaders. Although as Obasanjo and Mabogunje (1992: 4) aptly observed, colonialism provided scaffolding of holding the different communities together, not much change was achieved in altering communal mentality and predilection. Nonetheless, the persistent military incursion into government and politics did much harm for the body polity as national issues was mostly tribalized and primordial virtues extolled. These regimes had primordial outlook and sub-national mentality under which the northern part of the country was favoured brazenly, on one hand, and the southern part was deliberately dealt with in terms of appointments, contracts, location of government establishments, political oppression and repression as well as provision of social services and infrastructures. As a result, ethnic sectarianism has left a trail of destructive violence and even threatened the territorial integrity of Nigeria (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2001). Indeed, after long years of authoritarian rule, when the military clique and their civilian collaborators privatized the Nigerian state (Ukiwo, 2003), politicians in the emergent Fourth Republic were all too anxious to claim control of the state and its oil wealth as well. This thus led to an unbridled competition for political relevance and spheres of interests among politicians, especially in the context of the division of the country into geopolitical zones, states and local governments and the fact that distribution of benefits among the political class depended on the ability of each member of the ruling class to deliver his constituency. This lust for power has led to the neglect of the needs of the masses and the demand for peaceful co-existence. Instead, the rulers continue to enrich their pockets through corrupt dirty means and seek for elongation of tenures for selfish gains. In the circumstance, ethnicity, religion and other sectarian identities are exploited, resulting in avoidable violent conflicts among component units of the country. The persistence of mass poverty and increasing income inequality, largely as a result of the transformation of the fortunes of politicians and their allies from jobless neighbors to emergency billionaires in less than two years after capturing power, have deepened popular alienation. It has also called into question the legitimacy since 1999. Consequently, some of the easiest things to do in contemporary Nigeria are to mobilize an assassin, vigilante, ethnic-cum-religious militia, rioter, crowd or rented pro-government demonstrator. The result could only be imagined. The power lust of the political cliche is one of the perceived causes of ethno-religious crises in Nigeria. Another reason responsible for ethno-religious crises in Nigeria is the wrong interpretation by those who claim authority to the understanding of the holy books. If not so, one wonders why people act contrary to the teaching of the holy books (whether the Quran or the Bible) in matters pertaining to peaceful co-existence, unity and sanctity of life, and property. As it is a serious disease for someone who does not have a full grasp of the interpretation of any of the holy books to claim authority to knowledge, many of the so called ‘religious leaders’ use their shallow knowledge to put up interpretations to suit their selfish ends banking on the ignorance of their followers. Lamenting on the wide gap between the teaching and practice of religion among its adherents, Adebayo (2003) cited in Adebayo (2010: 219) identified some factors responsible for using religion as instrument of polarization, among which is leadership tussle, which also culminated in the proliferation of many denominations in the country. Also, sectarian jingoism, as well as excessive patriotism to one’s religious sect, which consequently transformed to fanaticism, is another major factor contributing to this social menace. Salawu (2010) also noted that the failure of the Nigerian leaders to establish good governments, forge national integration and promote what can be called real economic progress, through deliberate and articulated policies, has led to mass poverty and unemployment. This has resulted into communal, ethnic, religious and class conflicts that have now characterized the Nigerian nation. Poverty and unemployment have therefore served as nursery bed for many ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria because the country now has a reservoir of poor people who warmongers as mercenary fighters. What this means theoretically is that poverty and unemployment increase the number of people who are prepared to kill or be killed for a given course at token benefit. This explains why all ethno-religious crises that ever occurred in Nigeria have a large turnout of people (including the under-aged) as fighters. Lastly and very importantly, and not the least, the ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria also have some historical antecedent (Salawu, 2010). This is because many governmental actions during the colonial rule and after independence encouraged, to a large extent, the sowing of the seeds of ethno-religious conflicts that are found to be rampant in the Nigerian nation today. Over the years, many events in Nigeria have led to the politicization of mistrust, intolerance, violence and acrimonious relations between the mainly Moslem north and the Christian south of Nigeria. To this extent, there has been an unfortunate insertion of ethno-religious discrimination and incompatibility in the structures of the Nigerian State since the colonial period. The political events of the January 15, 1966 coup and the July 1966 counter-coup further entrenched ethno-religious configuration in Nigeria. This is because the killings and counter-killing that followed the coups which took ethnic and religious colorations as the Muslim dominated tribes in the north were set against the Christian-dominated tribes of the southern region.