CHURCH AND STATE RELATIONS: ANAMBRA STATE EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The Church and state are expected to work together for the maximum benefit of the masses irrespective of diverse religious affiliations. The researcher have observed, however, that the two institutions seem not to work together in Anambra State. The two institutions seems to be divided owing to the culture of unhealthy rivalry among different religious groups and churches in the state. Based on the religious differences the church and political leadership of the state could not conveniently partner together as two sides of the same coin. This as a matter of fact has hindered the corporation that should have existed between the church and state leadership. To execute this research, the researcher employed the use of primary and secondary sources in gathering data. The primary sources involves interviews and direct personal observations while the secondary sources investigated the views of various scholars, which are gathered from written documents like books, journals and other literary documents. This study attempted to proffer some workable solutions on how to bridge the gap that have long existed between the church and the state. The paper recommends that it is necessary that the church and the political leadership in Anambra State will work together as two sides of the same coin (that is, working together as two distinct social institutions) in alleviating the plights of the citizens especially among the youths. With this in place there will be a remarkable progress in overall developments of the state.