Are you interested in the percentage of these religions mentioned above in Nigeria? We encourage you to participate in our discussion today.
In this post, we will focus on the population of Christians and Muslims in the country.
This will give you insight into the two renewed religions in Nigeria.
Population Proportions Of Major Religions In Nigeria
As the most populous country in all of Africa, Nigeria is home to the world’s two most populous religions, namely Christianity and Islam.
Whereas the majority of Christians settled in the south, east, and west of the country, while the majority of Muslims settled in the northern part of the country.
However, there are quite a few Muslims who are indigenous Yoruba in the west.
The proportion of Christians in Nigeria
Christianity in Nigeria makes up different faiths.
Among them are Roman Catholic, Angelical Church of Nigeria, the Apostolic Church Nigeria, Assemblies of God, Church of Christ in Nations, Evangelical Church of Winning All, Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ, Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, and so forth.
Don’t worry; we’ll check them on an individual basis.
Around 2018, it was estimated by “The World’s Factbook” that Christians in Nigeria are approximately 45.9 percent.
About 10.6 percent of the Christians in Nigeria are Roman Catholics, while the remaining 35.3 percent are of other appellations.
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Roman Catholics in Nigeria
In 2005, the Roman Catholic churches of Nigeria experienced a massive increase in the number of their membership.
According to the Archdiocese of Benin, Abuja, Jos, Onitsha, Lagos, Kaduna, Ibadan, Sokoto, etc. They had an estimated populace of approximately 19 million.
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Apostolic Church of Nigeria.
It is among the Pentecostal Christian appellations in Nigeria since 1938 and has an estimated populace of approximately 4.9 million people in the country.
They are headquartered in Olorunda Ketu, Lagos, although their international headquarters is in Penygroes, United Kingdom.
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The Populace in the Assemblies of God (AG)
The church originated in the Nigerian Church of Jesus Christ and was associated with the Assemblies of God in the United States in about 1934.
It is also amongst the Pentecostal churches in the country and the church is based in the state of Enugu. The Assemblies of God have around 3.6 million members in all areas of Nigeria.
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Anglican Church of God
Following the church in England, it is the second-largest province of the Anglican Communion in Africa. The church was established in 1842 with its headquarters in Abuja.
Right now the Anglican Church of God would have an estimated populace of about 18 million.
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Population in Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN)
It was formerly known as the “Church of Christ in Nigeria” and has been around since 1904.
The church is headquartered in Jos, Plateau State with an estimated populace of about 8 million members in various
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Evangelical Church Winning All
It is one of the oldest Christian appellations founded by the SIM, one of the missionary organizations established in Nigeria about 1893.
They have 6,000 churches with approximately 6 million members.
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Methodist Church Nigeria
This particular Christian denomination is said to be one of the largest Methodist appellations in the world and was established in Nigeria about 1845.
In 2005, the church was said to have a massive increase in membership, which makes the church have about 2 million memberships in the country.
If we will exhaust all Christian appellations in Nigeria, considering a full day will not be enough. That’s because we have several of them.
However, the total number of Christians in Nigeria is estimated at 87 million. That makes Nigeria the sixth-largest Christian nation in the world.
The Proportion of Muslims in Nigeria
It is said that Nigeria has the biggest Muslim population in West Africa. The proportion of Muslims in the country is approximately 52 percent of the Nigerian population.
More so, the way Christians have different denominations, also the Muslims have their movements.
These include Shiites, Sufis, Ahmadiyya, Quraniyyan, and Boko Harams.
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Shia
Among the Islamic movement in Nigeria, the Shiite Islamic movement seems to have the highest number of disciples.
It was founded by Ibraheem Zakzakzaky around the 80s and gained popularity in the northern region as the state of Sokoto. Currently, the Shi’a populace is estimated to be between 4 and 7 million people in Nigeria.
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Sufi
It is another Islamic movement in Nigeria that is gaining popularity in certain northern areas like Kano and Katsina. However, there are still quite a few in other northern areas.
As of the moment, the estimated number of Sufis has not been revealed yet.
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Ahmadiyya
Of the Muslim population in Nigeria, around 3 percent is Ahmadiyya’s. This implies that they have more than 2.8 million Ahmadiyya supporters in the country.
This Islamic movement is not as populous as the Shiites, but they have won acceptance in many northern states.
In case you don’t know, there are several mosques owned by the Ahmadiyya, one of which is in Ibadan and the other in the F.C.T.
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Quraniyoon
Although it is an Islamic movement in Nigeria, it is not well known in the country, although there are still a small number of disciples in the country.
It is said that this category of disciples relies solely on the Qur’an and is found in the poor communities of northern Nigeria. So their population is not disclosed yet.
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Boko Haram
This is another Islamic movement that has been identified as a terrorist group in the country.
According to them, they are promoting the Islamic religion, but use violence as a tool. As it is now, this Islamic terrorist is ranked as one of the largest terrorist groups in the world.
On a day-to-day basis, they recruit new adherents to the movement. However, there are around 15,000 Boko Haram operatives in Nigeria.
These are mainly the Islamic movements in Nigeria. As a result, the overall number of Muslims in the country is estimated to be about 90 million.
This makes Nigeria the fifth country with the greatest Muslim population in the world.
Now you can see the percentage of the two great faiths in the country. Not just this, but also their divisions. The Muslim population of Nigeria is larger than that of Christians, albeit not very large.
We hope you found this article ingenious.