Religion is unarguably an instrument of social harmony, and paradoxically, it could serve as a motivation for violence as it has been viewed as "double-edged sword" according to some scholars.

The reason behind religion as a motivation for violence could largely be due to either lack of understanding and misinterpretation of the various religious faiths as religious intolerance in any nation is a serious natural issue and it poses a moral danger to the unity, stability and development of the country.

There is no gain-saying that the world is a global village with people of different race, culture and creed; intermingling more than ever before. This diversity should not constitute a barrier; rather it should be a source of enrichment and can only be so if we equip ourselves with the knowledge of comparative religion to dispel what is called cross or supine ignorance with the conviction that builds friendship and understanding among us as a nation. Our understandings towards religion either we are Muslims or Christians should be based on the fact that we served the same God.

Recently, a picture of a devout Muslim woman whose son is a Catholic Bishop was posted on the social media. The photo which is trending online during the Ramadan celebration in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

According to the Facebook account user, the Catholic Bishop drove his mother to the Ramadan praying ground, waited in the car till after the prayer he drove her back home following the EID Prayer in Freetown, Sirra-Leone. They decided to pose for the camera – the Catholic Bishop’s mother, according to the user, is a devout Muslim. Can you imagine the sense of religious tolerance in both the mother and the son who worships and have different belief about their religion?

Contrarily, some parents will fight their sons and daughters for converting to another religion to the extent of disowning such child. We are all culpable of this as most times, we hurls abuses at others religions forgetting the fact that we serve the same God but in different ways.

Also, there are some school of thought that has subscribed to the concept that the main function of religious education in Nigeria school is to awaken interest in Christianity and Islam. Little did they know that studying of other religions has great advantage by enabling our students to choose for themselves which religion they prefer at some stage in their lives. Parents and religious leaders are not to impose on our children particular faith because we are only adherents of Islam and Christianity by geographical accidents.

When Christians see Muslims as "Boko Haram" and the Muslims view Christians as trouble-makers alike. Comments like this are purposely aimed at denigrating other peoples religion only cause further hatred and distrust among the people. We both take pride in partaking in this blind attack of other peoples'; religions. We often sacrifice rationality, all in a bid to score ';religious'; points while neglecting the very dictates of our religion.

However, one would discover that the knowledge of comparative religion would to a large extent help in reducing religious crisis. This is because with a sound understanding of comparative religion, the perspective of Nigerians would undergo a fundamental revolution. They will then be able to distinguish between moral and immoral act such as killing of innocent lives and burning of worship centers, thus, there would be religious peace which is a recipe for rapid national development.

Conclusively, it remains our collective ability for Nigeria to survive, unite, live in peace and harmony, cherish one another irrespective of religious, ethnic and political differences, for sustainable development of the nation, the government and religious leaders must as a statutory obligation lead the way in the efforts to enthrone religious and ethnic tolerance in the country. They should also teach and preach tolerance in word and indeed.