Socio-Political and Theological Focus of the Research Work

Human societies are not just amorphous. They have structures that can be approached at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The relatively harmonious relationship within these levels determines how functional or dysfunctional a society could be. An attempt to view the Nigerian state at these structural levels paints a picture of a polity beclouded, on the one hand, with conflict of ideology. On the other hand, however, it possesses the potential for resilience and growth. The meaning associated with the concept of ‘Structural Sins’ helps to identify what constitutes structural weaknesses in the Nigerian system and which contributes to keeping it underproductive. The reflection juxtaposes proof of structural dysfunctions within the polity with evidence of their effects in disrupting human capacity building (capability approach) for authentic freedom and development. The persistent decades of struggle to stabilise the energy sector of Nigeria and the records of induced leadership and institutional failures provide the fieldwork and the empirical specimen in proving the presence of such structural cancer.