Is Social Media Driving the Rise of Atheism in Nigeria?

Before the 21st century and the viral use of social media, veteran author and dramatist, Professor Wole Soyinka, was the face of atheism in Nigeria, especially in the South West. The Nobel Laureate has famously adopted Ògún, the Yorùbá god of war, iron and creativity, as a patron deity, and has tapped into Yorùbá mythology and aesthetics to create an African dramatic theory. For these reasons, he is often mislabelled a practitioner of Ìṣẹ̀ṣe, an African Indigenous Religion (AIR). However, it is important to note that he remains a disbeliever of the God claim.

Today, as can be observed on social media, the 90-year-old playwright and poet is no longer the singular face of atheism. Atheism now has many faces and has in fact become faceless. Mubarak Bala, president of Humanist Association of Nigeria (HAN), who was released in January 2025 after spending over four years in jail for ‘blasphemous’ Facebook posts; Leo Igwe, the founder of HAN; David Hundeyin, an investigative journalist; Professor Uju Anya, a US-based university professor and researcher; Uloma, a well-known feminist on X; The Ranting Atheist, who owns The Ranting Atheist Podcast; and Gbenga Arawoyin, an investigative filmmaker—these are some of the country’s most vocal atheists. Many more people also post religious rebuttals and endorse godlessness from ‘unknown’ X handles.