To achieve the goal of this paper, only four examples of violent, aggressive conflict will be given, two from the military dictatorship era and two from the democratic era. The civil war in Nigeria, also known as the Nigeria - Biafra war, lasted almost three years, from to It was a bloody conflict with a very high number of deaths of more than one million people.
Seven years after Nigeria's independence from Great Britain, the war began because of the attempted secession of the southeastern Nigeria on May 30, , when it declared itself the independent Republic of Biafra. The battles that followed and which largely revealed human suffering aroused the indignation and the intervention of the international community.
Shortly before this war, there were instances of ethnic violence in Nigeria. In July of the same year, a counter-coup ushered in the military regime of Lt. These events were the first set of events in a series of what was going to become an era of human suffering. Prior to the institutionalization of Sharia law in some northern states from , many religious violent conflicts occurred.
Among these is the violence that erupted in over a Christian led convention in Kano. A Christian community invited a German evangelist, Reinhard Bunnke and his colleagues, to Nigeria to be a guest speaker at the convention. Being that the majority of Kano residents are Muslims, they protested against the convention and the coming of the German Pastor. For the Muslims, it was not just seen as a provocation, but an attempt to Christianize the Islamic city or present it to the outside world as a Christian city. This conflict led to the death of hundreds of people, internally displaced persons, and destruction of property.
Kaduna — Enugu Riots. The civil war did not bring an end to ethno-religious violent attacks. In and , at the dawn of the democratic era, there was violent manifestation of conflict in Zamfara state and Kaduna state as a result of the institutionalization of the Sharia law to which Christians were obliged to obey. The protests that followed and the refusal to comply with the Sharia law led to the escalation of violence which resulted in thousands of death.
In retaliation against the massacre of Christians, some Muslims in the South of the country were attacked. The last example that this paper intends to give is the notorious violence and terrorist attacks of the Boko Haram movement in the northeastern region of Nigeria. While the activities of this group have drawn both national and international condemnation, nobody knows with certainty how and when their terrorist attacks will stop.
Founded in in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, by Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, Boko Haram emerged with an ideology that rejects modernity and Western education, and an objective of establishing Sharia law in all the Nigerian states Ugorji, Although nobody within the international community knew Boko Haram prior to , the group was carrying out its small scale activities in Borno State. From to , thousands of people have been killed; property worth millions of dollars destroyed, trauma and pain inflicted and tens of thousands of people have been internally and externally displaced.
The victims of the Boko Haram terrorism are both Christians and Muslims which, to a certain extent, characterizes this conflict as both an intra-religious and inter-religious conflict. But the question that is being asked is: The section that follows will provide insights on possible solutions to the Boko Haram conflict as well as to the other ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria.
Until now, the analysis made in this paper has been guided by the medico-diagnostic method of inquiry, an analytical approach that seeks to avoid one of the commonly committed fallacies of the century - jumping to a conclusion or making a hasty decision. In the first phase of our diagnosis which focused on the amalgamation period from to , seven concealed, hidden, underlying or pre-manifest conflict issues were discovered and they include exclusion from the decision making processes, autonomy of the various ethnic nationalities within the two regions as well as autonomy of the regions, self-determination, territorial integrity, the British colonial tactic of divide and rule, economic opportunities, and lastly, political representation.
And in the second phase, four issues were diagnosed and analyzed: These contributed to the emergence of manifest conflicts in Nigeria from to The third phase conflict issues that occurred between and are a spillover from the first and the second issues, for which an example is the separatist, self-government claims of the Boko Haram movement through the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in the north of Nigeria that should be governed not by the constitution but by the Sharia Law.
To resolve these conflict issues, many scholars, researchers and policy makers have put forward different kinds of proposals. These resolution proposals are summarized as follows: The understanding of the rate of success or failure of these conflict resolution strategies is very crucial to realizing the goal of this research. If the success rate is high, then the outcome of this paper will be a litany of suggestions on how these policies could be strengthened, just as many writers have enumerated.
However, statistical evidence and the reality on the ground tend to show that government policies to ameliorate interethnic and interreligious relations in Nigeria have had little or no results. Drafting and adopting a charter for national reconciliation and integration is necessary but not sufficient for the restoration of peace in Nigeria. There is need for a systematic, engaging, sustainable and result-oriented set of models.
If multiple groups are fighting and killing each other, there are preliminary things that should be done before asking them to forgive one another and reconcile for future collaborative engagement. First, the fighters need to be separated by stronger interveners. Second, the immediate issues, that is, the reason why they are fighting, will be addressed and solutions proposed to the parties or the parties offer solutions to their problem.
Third, additional ongoing opportunities will be provided to the parties to help rebuild and improve their relationship. Fourth, and with time, they will let go and forgive one another in order to move on. Based on this and the diagnosis results presented above, three models of conflict resolution with practical applications will be prescribed to help cure the ethno-religious maladies in Nigeria as well as heal the wounds they have inflicted on their victims.
Andrew Reynolds
These are responsible peacekeeping, peacemaking, and lastly continuous peacebuilding. The current conflict climate in the northeastern part of Nigeria, especially the Boko Haram terrorism requires a higher, concerted and more coordinated intervention mechanisms led by responsible peacekeeping operations teams.
In order to create space for the other forms of conflict resolution — mediation and dialogue for example-, there is need to contain, reduce or minimize the intensity and impact of violence on the ground through responsible peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. In addition to this role, this paper lays emphasis on ethical responsibility. By this, it is expected that the peacekeepers should be well trained and guided by ethical deontological codes so as to neither do harm to the population they are expected to protect nor become a part of the problem they have been sent to manage.
Many forms of peacemaking initiatives — negotiation, mediation, settlement, and tracks of diplomacy Cheldelin et al.
A Historical Analysis of Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria
For ethno-religious violent conflict in Nigeria, this paper proposes two levels of peacemaking processes. The first level is a conflict settlement between the Nigerian government and the Boko Haram movement using a combination of track 1 and track two diplomacy, or multi-track diplomacy. Track 2 activities typically involve influential academic, religious, and NGO leaders and other civil society actors who can interact more freely than high-ranking officials.
These efforts could be led by governments, professional organizations, businesses, churches, media, private citizens, training and educational institutes, activists, and funders. The second level of peacemaking processes that this paper proposes is multi-group or intergroup mediation programs organized for specific individuals, communities, businesses, organizations, ethnic or tribal group associations, religious groups represented by religious leaders who are involved in, connected to, or have fallen victim of, the ethno-religious conflicts in the northeastern region of Nigeria and in the other regions of the country.
These mediation programs should be facilitated by a reputable civil society organization CSO with expertise in ethno-religious conflict resolution in general and multi-group mediation in particular. The underlying assumption of this paper is that using military might and the judicial system alone to resolve conflicts with ethnic and religious components, especially in Nigeria, will rather lead to further escalation of the conflict.
To accomplish this, more resources should be invested in peacebuilding initiatives, and they should be led by civil society organizations at the grass root levels. Normally focused at the grassroots level, this type of diplomacy often involves organizing meetings and conferences, generating media exposure, and political and legal advocacy for marginalized people and communities. The Track 3 diplomacy as described here is not practical. The urgency and need for peacebuilding initiatives in Nigeria require more practical methods than theoretical descriptions.
As an emerging center of excellence for ethnic and religious conflict resolution and peacebuilding, ICERM identifies ethnic and religious conflict prevention and resolution needs, and brings together a wealth of resources, including mediation and dialogue programs to support sustainable peace in countries around the world see www. The four projects are: At the beginning of the phase one analysis, this paper distinguished and defined two kinds of amalgamation: In schools, the project could be established as clubs and in the communities and other institutions as a civic association with a centralized body at the national capital and chapters in all the states and at the local, grass root levels.
The resolution of an inter-religious conflict should make use of common, shared religious values in order to be successful and sustainable.
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Two of the shared, common values in both Islam and Christianity are prayer and peace. Prayer and peace are fundamental values that are inscribed in the Quran and Bible, and unanimously accepted by both Muslims and Christians; and in Nigeria, they are used daily in greeting exchanges. And so, Muslims and Christians coming together once a week or month to pray for peace will be a symbolic way to celebrate the two shared values, help bridge tribal, ethnic, religious, sectarian, cultural, ideological, philosophical and political divides, and foster a culture of peace in Nigeria.
The media has an ethical duty and a moral responsibility to promote peace through journalistic activities. Unfortunately, many media outlets create the conditions that lead to violence instead of peace. Peacebuilding in Nigeria will not be complete without a project uniquely designed for the traditional rulers or leaders of indigenous groups. Too often, temperateness or moderation is a virtue that is gradually developed and improved over a long period of time.
To help acquire this important virtue, especially as it relates to ethnic and religious conflict resolution, this essay proposes that a National Elders Forum be established. Members of the National Elders Forum will be traditional rulers or leaders of indigenous groups from all the ethnic groups in the country. This training will help each of them promote a culture of peace in their respective communities and at the grass root levels. At the beginning of this paper, we set out to analyze the drivers, dynamics and sources of ethno-religious conflict in Nigeria as well as lay out various ways by which this conflict could be resolved.
Anybody who is familiar with Nigeria will know that this is not an easy task. It requires much time and strenuous scrutiny to be able to achieve the expected results. For this reason, this paper, through the lens of postcolonial criticism Tyson, and other relevant social conflict theories, analyzed this conflict using a medico-diagnostic method of inquiry which was useful in avoiding rushing to the conclusion or making hasty prescriptions as many people have done in the past.
While this paper analyzed the amalgamation period from to and identified seven concealed, hidden, underlying or pre-manifest conflict issues that characterize this era -exclusion from the decision making processes; autonomy of the various ethnic nationalities within the two regions as well as autonomy of the regions; self-determination; territorial integrity; the British colonial tactic of divide and rule; economic opportunities; and lastly, political representation -; in the second phase, four issues were diagnosed and analyzed, and they are self-government, constitution, independence, and recognition of the minorities.
Since the amalgamation of the north and south of Nigeria was based on a fragile foundation, the bubbles of the latent conflicts of the amalgamation era exploded during the struggle for decolonization and early years of independence between and The third phase conflict issues that occurred between and , however, are a spillover from the first and the second issues, for which an example is the separatist, self-government claims of the Boko Haram movement through the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in the north of Nigeria that should be governed not by the constitution but by the Sharia Law.
This paper argues that if ethno-religious violence in Nigeria has transitioned into one of its most dangerous forms — terrorism or genocide — then it means that the existing conflict management, settlement and resolution strategies are weak and ineffective. The boko haram uprising and Islamic revivalism in Nigeria. Why boko haram exists: The relative deprivation perspective.
Between democracy and federalism: Africa Today, 59 4 , Conflict , 2nd ed. The functions of social conflict. An examination of the concept of social conflict and its use in empirical sociological research. Territorial integrity in a globalizing world: Government of Indigenous People of Biafra. The policy statements and orders. Bilie Human Rights Initiative. Ethnic groups in conflict. Sharia and Christianity in Nigeria: Islam and a 'secular' state. A liberal theory of minority rights. Essays in honour and memory of Isaiah Berlin: Institute of Peace Press.
The multicultural, global, and classic readings. Handbook of conflict resolution: Final draft of conference report. Ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria: Religion and the Nigerian state: Disadvantaged communal contenders are the most common, and they often face political or economic discrimination or both. Changes to group relations involving communal contenders are particularly likely if power structures change. Intergroup shifts of relative political influence and economic prosperity can provoke violent reactions, which tend to be particularly long-lasting and disastrous.
Power-sharing models that take differences and external changes into account are the only way to deal with these issues. However, as history shows, such power-sharing arrangements are often very difficult to achieve. Religious sects are ethnic groups that differ from the rest of their society mostly by their religious beliefs and related cultural practices. Religious minorities tend to have high group cohesion because religion is a highly salient trait. In addition, religious groups usually already possess an organizational structure, which makes mobilization of the groups particularly easy and likely.
For these politicized religious minorities, their faith is what sets them apart, but their goals are political in nature e. National minorities are groups with kinfolk in a neighbouring state but who are a minority in the state in which they reside. Most of these groups have a history of political autonomy, which they strive to reinstate.
Conflict describes a situation in which two or more actors pursue incompatible goals. It is not necessarily violent, but the use of tension, dispute, or unease is more common in a nonviolent context. A violent internal conflict is generally called a civil war or armed conflict when casualties and destruction are substantial, the conflict has a certain duration, the protagonists are organized, and military operations are used to achieve political goals.
Ethnic conflict, therefore, is a form of conflict in which there is an ethnic dimension. The ambitions of at least one party are defined in ethnic terms, and the conflict, its antecedents, and possible solutions are perceived along ethnic lines. The conflict tends not to be about ethnic differences themselves but over political, economic, social, cultural, or territorial matters. If the political goal of ethnic mobilization is self-determination, the movement is called nationalism.
A nation in this context is a politicized ethnic group with the desire for self-government; that self-government may take a variety of forms, ranging from participation in public affairs to local segmental autonomy to territorial claims, including independence. The use of the word nation is problematic. On the one side, nation can mean the state as a whole the way the term is used in international or United Nations.
If nation refers to people in this context, it can be understood as the aggregate , permanent population of the state, based on citizenship. On the other side, the word nation is also widely used to refer to a politicized ethnic group, in which case the link among people is based on ethnicity rather than citizenship.
Ethnic disputes are common in every multicultural society. Intergroup problems arise in periods of substantial political, economic, and social change and lead to uncertainty, emerging opportunities for action, and particularistic interests. Grievances and polarizing leadership lead to mobilization, ranging from political action conventional politics, strikes, demonstrations, and other nonviolent means to violent acts such as terrorism , armed uprisings, guerrilla activity, and civil wars.
In several scholarly articles, Michael Edward Brown provided a useful approach to understanding the causes of ethnic conflict. In those articles, he distinguished between underlying causes and proximate causes. Underlying causes include structural factors, political factors, economic and social factors, and cultural and perceptual factors. Proximate causes embrace four levels of conflict triggers: According to Brown, both underlying and proximate causes have to be present for ethnic conflict to evolve.
Weak or failed states often serve as an impetus for ethnic conflict. Many times such states are artificial products e. Violent conflicts are likely if changes in the economic situation of a state e. Group rivalry can lead to military mobilization, which leads to general armament of all ethnic groups within the state. That causes a security dilemma: Violent conflicts and internal security dilemmas lead to massive human-rights violations, refugee flows, and spillover effects with the potential to destabilize whole regions. Ethnic geography—the geographic distribution and territorial concentration of ethnic groups in pluralistic states—also contributes to the likelihood of violent ethnic conflict.
Ethnic conflict is particularly common in states with territorially concentrated ethnic groups located near a border or with ethnic kin in an adjacent state. Those groups show high levels of organization and increased group cohesion and are able to use shared homelands as a territorial base for their political struggle. Ethnic conflict is particularly likely in states where ethnic groups lack sufficient representation in public and political institutions.
Authoritarian one-party regimes with discriminatory legislation and a lack of opportunities for ethnic groups to participate in state decision-making processes are particularly prone to ethnic conflict.
Liberal democracies that focus on the ideals of inclusion, political debate, and the attempt to reach consensus among all participants in the political process facilitate nonviolent ethnopolitical action and are thus less likely to experience rebellion or uprisings. Exclusionary national ideologies may also serve as a source of conflict. Nationalism and, in an increased form, citizenship based on ethnic distinctions are especially dangerous because such ideologies tend to flourish in situations of political uncertainty and economic collapse.
Nigerian Civil War
Other forms of exclusionary national ideologies include religious fundamentalism and supremacist fascist expressions. The existence, or lack of existence, of stable domestic intergroup relations can also have a bearing on whether violent ethnic conflict is likely to occur.
Violent conflict is particularly probable if the claims of the various ethnic groups are incongruous , if groups have strength and are organized, if it is possible for groups to take action, if success is a feasible outcome, and if there is a tangible fear of suppression and discrimination on the basis of ethnicity. The tactics that may be utilized by leaders and elites during political turmoil also affect the likelihood of violent ethnic conflict. Scapegoating, hate speech , and manipulation of the mass media are means that have the potential to heighten existing discord between ethnic groups.
Economic problems such as slowdowns, stagnation, deterioration, and complete collapse are sources of state destabilization and can lead to increased tensions and competition among ethnic groups. Discriminatory economic systems in which various groups are faced with inequitable options in terms of economic opportunities, access to land and other resources, standards of living, and the like generate resentment and also contribute to tensions and destabilization. Fast economic transitions e. These changes also can raise hopes for economic and political gains that might not come to fruition and might then serve as a source of frustration.
Cultural factors such as problematic group histories, stereotypical perceptions, and grievances over cultural discrimination—including limitations on religious and cultural practices, unequal educational opportunities, and restrictions on the use of minority languages—are common causes of ethnic conflict. In addition, a weakening of traditional forms of dispute settlement such as a council of elders changes the environment for the resolution of ethnic disputes. Brown notes that proximate causes can be situated within a matrix that identifies them as being instigated at either an elite level or a mass level and as being instigated by developments that occur internally or externally.
He thus identifies four main types of proximate causes of internal conflict: Internal mass-level factors may include fast-paced economic changes, modernization, patterns of political or economic discrimination, and internal migration. Those effects can also occur when refugees or fighters from neighbouring countries cross the border and bring violence and unrest with them. Ethnic groups assume the willingness of the international community to react and to provide a political forum to support negotiation, arbitration, and the settlement of disputes.
Once ethnic conflict breaks out, it is difficult to stop. Massive human-rights violations and physical attacks on civilians—such as rape, torture, mass killings, ethnic cleansing , and genocide—lead to tremendous human suffering. Even if fought at a low level of intensity, protracted ethnic conflicts have a great impact on the affected society.
One such factor, the most powerful, is the ever-increasing level of poverty-typified in joblessness, deteriorating infrastructures, etc. All these clashes are due to the fundamental crisis of underdevelopment; there is widespread poverty and this gives rise to a scramble for limited resources. Most of these communities are no better than slums. Industries are shutting down with the attendant consequences of job losses; most families find it difficult to feed themselves.
There are no potable water, no good roads, proper medical facilities, social infrastructures, and no good schools. Environments such as these generate fear distrust hatred, frustrations, anger, etc. Under such circumstances, it is easy to believe that if the other ethnic groups go away there will be enough.
According to the multiple indicator cluster survey published by the federal office of statistics in , only one in every ten Nigerian can be described as non-poor. The other 90 percent are described as either "core poor" or "moderately poor". Taken in context, what one sees is the harsh reality of a nation where less than 11 million people can be described as "living people", while the remaining 99 million people are best described as the "living dead". Nigeria was ranked th out of nations behind other low human development countries.
- Una cita a ciegas/En la riqueza y en la pobreza (Libro de Autor) (Spanish Edition).
- Ethnic conflict;
- A Historical Analysis of Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria - Osadola Oluwaseun Samuel - Google Книги.
Countries with HDI value below 0. These factors provide classic hot beds for ethnic clashes. Recognising this the ruling class consciously exploits the poison of ethnicism as a means of keeping the working class permanently divided and diverting their attention away from the real problems confronting them - the crisis of Nigerian capitalism.
Nor is this policy of "divide and rule" an exclusive phenomenon. It is the resort of the ruling class internationally. It is a conscious policy of the ruling class that allows for their continuing oppression and exploitation of the poor working masses, their continuing hold onto power. The manipulation of ethnic differences reflects the fear of the ruling class of the potentials of the Nigerian working class and its capacity for unity - a unity that cuts across ethnic lines. The conscious manipulation of ethnic consciousness under terrible social conditions gives rise to periodic explosions of ethnic clashes.
This is also a reflection of the inability of the ruling class to foster genuine unity among the masses. It confirms the fact that capitalism and ethnic violence are interlinked; you cannot have the former without the latter. However, the working masses of the various ethnic groups know that the same forces are oppressing them. Were the workers that marched with Adams Oshiomhole to protest the 3.
Did their population not cut across diverse ethnic groups? This is not to say that there is nothing like the subjugation of smaller ethnic groups by dominant ethnic groups. It is rooted in the subjugation of backward nations by advanced nations. Both are rooted in the class structure of society-in the capitalist system.
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Nigerian Civil War - Wikipedia
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