Long before the westerners came to Africa and began their famous colonialism, the Pre-colonial period, there exist in Africa, small tribes and settlements scattered all over, with some waging ears against each other while others while forming peace treaties and ties by intermarrying. We could describe Africa as a center for selfishness then, as every tribe was after their gain.
With the waging war by some strong tribes on other weaker tribes, it became necessary that these weaker tribes form alliances to be able to survive, sadly, some tribes were completely wiped out from history, while others were captured, made slaves, and integrated into stronger tribes. In other words, it was the survival of the fittest.
In Nigeria, there were three major settlements or tribes, the Hausas, the YORUBAs, and the Igbos. These three tribes formed the major backbone of what we now know together as NIGERIA, formally known as the southern and Northern protectorate.
While the Igbos and Yorubas occupied most of the Southern protectorate, the Hausas owned the northern protectorates. Before the coming of the colonial masters, two religions found their way into NIGERIA, one from the northern borders and the other from the Southern borders. Before then, what was practice indigenously by NIGERIANS was the traditional religion.
Each tribe has its deities or gods that they worshipped. Essentially, each element of the world had a God who controlled them, ranging from the god of fire, water, thunder, and so on. Also in context, there were the good gods who rewarded good deeds and the bad gods who were after people's lives. In this case, there was a balance.
The Yoruba are known to have documented the origins and functions of most of their gods before the Colonial masters came with religion. Like a priest in a Catholic church, there were several persons regarded as native priests, Babalawo, and so on, who were believed to have the ability to communicate directly with the gods and hence assumed the role of spiritual directors. It's believed that most of the African religions were in existence before Christianity but there is no substantial proof to back this up.
With the coming of the missionaries and the Islamic clergyman, there was a huge division within clans and tribes. While many accepted the newfound faith, Christianity, and Islam, others refused to bow to no foreign God. The missionaries were smart about the way they preached the gospel by first offering food, health care, and MEDICINE to the people, thereby gaining their trust, and later introducing them to their religion.
This sudden rift and division amongst tribes gave a sound opening for the colonists to take over all the tribes and made them their slaves. It's believed that the introduction of religion played a vital role in the eventual colonization of Africa.
With this in mind, what's the parallel between the African traditional religion and Christianity?
While Christianity is called the white man's religion that was preached to Africans, it's no news that Africans, especially NIGERIANS are fond of copying what the whites do, for example, in Nigeria, a man is bound to do both his traditional marriage and also white wedding, which is European traditional marriage.
Notwithstanding, many believe that both Christianity and African traditional religion are the same thing but just approached differently. Below is some parallel comparison.
1) they all believe in the existence of supernatural beings who demand out worship in return for Goodwill.
2) they both believe that such supernatural beings can affect reality and human existence on earth directly, and thus, should not be angered.
3) they both believe that there is an eternal punishment for those who don't believe in their gods.
4) they both believe that at one time in history, these gods once walked the earth and lived amongst men.
5) they both believe that humans, animals, plants, and trees were created by these gods.
With this in mind, one would wonder what's then the difference? Could it be the form of worship? The procedures and preachings? The norms? The difference between all religions that exist is the first storyteller!
