NOTE:
Please note:
The bulk of this article is taken from the chapter 2 and the
conclusion of my doctoral dissertation, with just a few amendments.
This work is sent out for peer review after which it is expected to be
submitted for publication as a journal article.
Introduction
Peace studies developed through the activities of scholars and peace
practitioners from the 1900s and became an academic study around the
late 1950s (Alkana, 1984; Dungen & Wittner, 2003.; Harris et al.,
1998). During its early stage, professional bodies emerged like the
Committee on Psychology of War and Peace, and Peace Research Movement
(between the First and Second World Wars) (Kelman, 1981). This is
followed by many theories ranging from conflict resolution, non-violence
and protests, civil disobedience, conflict transformation and the
realist approach, mostly from the West (Barash & Webel, 2009; Barsky,
2014; Galtung, 2000, 2007; Sriram et al., 2010). More works are still
ongoing to bring a lasting peace to human society. As peace research
continues to advance, it keeps seeking innovative approaches for
in-depth studies to ameliorate any identified deficiencies. While Harris
et al. (1998) and Montiel (2006) argue for a multidisciplinary approach
to research peace, Galtung suggests a trans-disciplinary approach for
the study Galtung (2010). The contributions from different fields
further enhanced the relevance of peace studies, both locally and
internationally and have expanded to oil and gas industry, mining, arms
struggle and peacemaking to mention but a few.
To this end, lately, Mulimbi and Dryden-Peterson suggest a need for a
multi-culturalist approach across about 20 ethnic groups in Botswana
(southern part of Africa), where an assimilation approach (around the
dominant ethnic group, culture, and language) has been used in the
education policies and curriculum to foster unity and avoid armed
conflicts. While assimilation approach helped somewhat, the minority
ethnic groups experienced low education benefits, meaning ‘negative
peace’, to secure unity with dreadful structural problems in their
minority group. A multi-culturalist approach could help better sustain
the ‘condition of positive peace’ in the region, both scholars argued,
(2018, pp. 142, 146).11The methodology they used involves
examining the curriculum, the contents of teaching, cultural heritage,
language, and social studies textbooks. Groves and others write on
the United Nations peacekeepers’ failure to address the gender violence
prevalent in the Timor-Leste new state (2009). Marriage (2006) discusses
the multinational aid providers and NGOs22NGOs stands for
Non-Governmental Organisations contributions to the economic hardship
of the deprived people they were meant to help and a lukewarm attitude
to investigating the agencies’ failures to reach out to the Sierra Leone
interior, and poor support to Congo and South Sudan. Thus, providing
solutions to conflict situations is yet an unfinished task.
According to Rodríguez-Martínez and Calvo, ‘All types of violence have
their origins in inequalities that have become embedded in the customs
and traditions of our culture and society […]’ (2014, p.
108). Thus, what must be considered as an acceptable peace culture
should promote opportunity for the wholeness of being; that is:
‘development which ensures the maximum well-being of societies and which
are fully consistent with the proposals of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and Human Rights’ (ibid , p. 108).
The idea of a peace culture in relation to sustainable peace, not
necessarily as an aftermath of a war should be considered to further
peace initiatives.
Religions are being made part of the debate. Peace studies in
association with religion have become inevitable and a religious
approach to peace research has begun to expand. Scholars in religion
have made contributions with the rise in terrorism, violent propaganda,
and heavy losses to human life and property, (Abu-Nimer, 2001, 2008;
Paden, 2006). Abu-Nimer focuses on peace in Islam and interreligious
conflict resolution, dialogue and peacebuilding. Azumah (2012) and Huff
(2004) write on Christian-Muslim relations and dialogue while Griggs
(2013) writes on Christian-Muslim relations with a focus on religious
polemics and dialogue. Montiel and Macapagal (2006) researched
Christian-Muslim relations in Marawi in the Philippines. Research on
religions such as these has the potential to serve a purpose in peace
and conflict studies. These are part of the areas of multidisciplinary
study the earlier researchers have suggested.
The Problematic of the paper/Focus!
The goal of the peace and conflict research pioneers, according to
Galtung was ‘to draft a research program[me] in the field of peace
studies’ (1985, p. 141), suggesting a need to achieve peace, which
involves the wholeness of life otherwise called positive peace. The
peace must ensure a violence free life, be it physical, psychological,
economical, and structural. Many communities have been identified as
peaceful societies (PS) across the globe but with no examples from West
Africa. However, the Yorùbá of southwest Nigeria have been identified by
a group of scholars (AKINADE, 1996; Akinjogbin, 1966; Lateju, 2012) as
being peaceful, although not yet included among the PS in a wider peace
and conflict studies.
This study wants to find out to what extent could the Yorùbá’s
peacefulness be generalized, over-simplified or be recognized by
scholars in peace and anthropological studies as an example of PS? In
this paper, the author examines the Yorùbá of two different religions
(Islam and Christianity), and how they manage their inter-religious
crises and able to retain their peace within their Yorùbá religion and
host culture. What contributions could the Yorùbá studies, therefore,
bring to the idea of peacefulness in human societies?
Relevant Studies among the
Yorùbá
The author is aware of a recent study among the Yorùbá called, ‘Knowing
Each Other’ (KEO) with several surveys in Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti and Ondo
States (Nolte et al., 2016). KEO’s survey discovered the slow growth of
Christianity in southwest Nigeria Yorùbáland (ibid , p. 542), yet
there is much work to be done in this region to examine and understand
how the Yorùbá handle or manage conflicts and retain their peace.
KEO had surveyed Osun (Irewole, Ede North and Ede South), Ọ̀yọ́ (Ibadan
North) and the Kwara States (Offa), while the author used different
locations within Ọ̀yọ́, Osun and Kwara States, namely Ògbóm̀ọṣọ́, Ibadan (a
radio station); Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí in Ọ̀yọ́; Ilorin in Kwara; and Ejigbo, Iwo and
Ila-Orangun in Osun (states). While the author recognizes KEO’s landmark
and extensive survey, this study dwells on the qualitative method and
use of thick description to obtain its findings with a focus on
peacefulness.
Methodology
This study involves 27 participants in electronic qualitative surveys,
72 in three FG discussions sites and 27 interviews. This inquiry was
conducted among the Yorùbá people of southwest Nigeria. It focuses
peacefulness among the people that is how the Yorùbá manage their
disputes and conflicts whilst sustaining the peace using an in-depth
study of the data to build a theory in peace and conflict studies.
Having provided a brief origin of peace and conflict studies in the
West, and the emerging research interests in a few other places, the
following section contains a brief history of conflicts in Nigeria
context to situate the Yorùbá in peace discourse.
1. Conflicts in Nigeria
There have been repeated occurrences of violent conflicts in Nigeria
since its independence in 1960. These are often attributed to politics,
economic/poverty, ethnicity, religion, or a combination of these factors
(Adamolekun, 2013; Adele & Oloruntele, 2001; Alabi, 2002; Alemika &
Chukwuma, 2000; Lyons & Reinermann, 2003). Osaghae and Suberu suggest
some ethnoreligious conflicts where many lives lost and properties
destroyed in northern Nigeria from 1987 to 2000, (2005, p. 19). Adegoke
(2012), Ibrahim (1991), and Mu’azzam and Ibrahim (2000) describe various
episodes of ethnoreligious violence in Nigeria; mainly in northern
Nigeria, while the latter mention the Kafanchan crisis as an example.
Sodipo (2013) considers Boko Haram exploiting the situation for their
insurgency, also in the north.
The intra-religious conflicts, according to Osaghae and Suberu, are the
Maitatsine and the Quadriyya and Tijanniyya conflicts among Muslims in
the north (2005). The author is aware of intra-religious disputes in
southwestern Nigeria among Christians that did not result in physical
violence but ended in division and the establishment of another worship
centre as in the case of Ọjà Ọba Baptist Church emerging from Ìjẹ́rù
Baptist Church Ògbóm̀ọṣọ́. Meaning that conflict as used in this study
focuses the one with potential to result in physical injuries, threat to
life, and destruction of life and properties.
Furthermore, the inter-group conflicts were predominant among the Fulani
herdsmen and local farmers in the middle-belt, southwest, and southern
Nigeria, while the Niger Delta militancy against the government is found
in the southern oil fields (ibid 2005, p. 20). The Ogoniland and
the rest southern oil rich minority’s conflicts are examples of
ethno-economic conflict tantamount to economic violence, (Nbete, 2012;
Osaghae, 1995), in connection with the Nigeria State. Ethnic-related
violence in Nigeria as described by Osaghae and Suberu is found in both
northern and southern Nigeria and among the major ethnic and minority
groups. However, to Sklar, the complexity of some of the conflicts in
Nigeria is difficult to figure out as they ‘masked a more complex
struggle between interests that were non-ethnic in nature’ (2004, p.
xiii). Equally, most conflicts generated communally often had impacts on
national politics, leading the way to ethno-political crises and
conflicts, (Ibrahim, 1991).
Osaghae and Suberu cited the Ifẹ̀-Modákẹ́kẹ́ conflict among the Yorùbá, and
an intra-ethnic (non-religious) conflict among the Aguleri and Umuleri
in Anambra Igbo-land southern Nigeria (2005, p. 20). The Ifẹ̀-Modákẹ́kẹ́
conflict among the Yorùbá implies the Yorùbá were not immune to
conflicts. Nonetheless, they settled this eventually without the
national or international military intervention. A well identified
conflict among the Yorùbá is land related disputes, which they do settle
by their local chiefs from time to time. On the other hand, there are
police and media reports of cases of occultic violent practices among
the Yorùbá like the ritual killing of people (Agency-Report, 2020;
BBC-News, 2014). Such violence is not accepted by the larger community
but considered a deviant from the acceptable ọmọlúàbí societal
norm.
On religious grounds, Shari’ah implementation in Nigeria is an
area of focus in peace talks. Shari’ah is the Islamic law
followed by Muslims, comprising of the Quran, the Hadith or sunna(the saying – sunna quoliyyah and deed – sunnah filiyyahof the Prophet of Islam), while the secondary sources of Shari’ahare Ijma’ (the consensus of Muslim scholars of Ijtihad rank),
Qiyas (analogy) and Istishab (legal presumption) (Oba, 2002).
Adegoke (2012) and Oba among others strongly advocate for the
implementation of Shari’ah in Nigeria. While Adegoke argues for
the implementation of Shariah , Akinade (2012) and Lateju (2012)
consider the possibility of the Shariah becoming an infringement
on non-Muslims’ rights. Ibrahim (1991) suggests the Shari’adebate was hijacked by national politicians against the wishes of the
Muslims who advocated for it while Akinade describes the Shari’ahdebates in Nigeria as politically motivated, (Akinade, 2002). Whatever
the purpose of the Shari’ah debate was, it has ended in conflicts
in northern Nigeria through which many lives were lost but not so
violent among the Yorùbá.
A case for southwest Nigeria Yorùbá
peacefulness
So, how the Yorùbá community interact across religions to maintain
harmony could be explored since the author’s focus is to seek how a
peaceful community works to retain its serenity. Fabbro lists some
criteria for assessing a community for its peacefulness as shown below:
‘1) The society has no wars fought on its territory;
2) The society is not involved in any external wars;
3) There are no civil wars or internal collective violence;
4) There is no standing military-police organization;
5) There is little or no inter-personal physical violence;
6) There is little or no structural violence;
7) The society has the capacity to undergo change peacefully; and,
8) There is opportunity for idiosyncratic development.’ (Fabbro, 1978,
p. 67).
The Peaceful Societies – PS (Peaceful-Societies, 2019) do not
necessarily meet all the criteria but must have displayed many on the
list. While Fabbro critiqued Melko for using only the first criteria for
his study of the Semai, Fabbro used only the first five in his work.
This implies the study of PS is in continuation and scholars keep
looking forward to more analysis and verifications in their research.
Which of these criterial do the Yorùbá meet?
The author considers if the Yorùbá met the criterial 1, 2, 4, 7, and 8
to be considered as a peaceful society, evaluating the Yorùbá’s
peacefulness when placed by the PS criteria. The Yorùbá have not fought
a collective war since the end of their civil war around the 1800s,
signing their treaty in 1886 (Balogun, 1985; Law, 1991). A hundred years
after a major war is recommended for a community to be reconsidered as
peaceful if they retain their harmony (Melko et al., 1983). The Nigeria
federal government control both the police and army, whist, recently,
the southwest governors constituted a local Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn security
unit to complement the efforts of the police in protecting their people
(Agboluaje, 2020). In response to criterion 3, although the Yorùbá have
not had internal collective wars on its territory since the 1800s, two
towns, Ilé-Ifẹ̀ and Modákẹ́kẹ́ fought for some years in the 1990s which was
resolved later without the involvement of the national or international
military as mentioned earlier. Some communities had disputes over land
and the leadership tussles, like chieftaincy selection but often settled
their grievances locally.
Criteria 5 and 6 are areas that affect the Yorùbá most. It is a common
knowledge that there are cases of physical conflicts like occasional
fighting within homes, quarrel between spouses, violence of occultic
practices reported to the police. Recently, a protest about the police
brutality tagged ENDSARS movement turned violent at Lekki and other
parts of Lagos, (Ramon, 2020). The speed of the protest and maturity
with which the protesters delivered their messages was praised by many
including the president of Nigeria, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd),
before some thugs, the State along with the military became involved to
turn it violent (Afejuku, 2020; Editor, 2020). Another kind of physical
violence observed among the Yorùbá is associated with national politics
during their elections. These occur periodically during the political
campaigns and at election time. Similarly, structural violence is common
but when its cause is beyond the control of the individual, the
community often meet to socialize and help one another to ameliorate the
negative effects of such violence. Examples are the use of co-operative
societies to cater for one another’s needs like giving loans for part
payment of their children’s education cost, trading support and
provision of social amenities in their communities.
Positive peace is difficult to attain globally, even in the current
Nigeria situation, bearing in mind the contributions of the political
actors and leaders to the structural violence among the people. However,
where do we place a [West African] community that met some of the PS
criteria, a people that seem to cope under structural violence and
retain some level of harmony despite all odds?
Looking at the complex nature of Nigeria, it is not free of conflicts,
however, religious-related conflicts with fully blown violence are less
common among the Yorùbá as some scholars have testified in their
literature (Goddard, 2001; Ibrahim, 1991; Laitin, 1986). This is not to
exaggerate the Yorùbá’s peacefulness but to identify a reasonably
harmonious sample to explore how they manage their concerns and often
able to retain their peace. In the following section, I want to provide
a survey of Yorùbá history covering from the last half of the 1800s
onwards before peace studies emerged in the West, and prior to the
Nigeria independence.
A Brief History of Yorùbá in the Nigerian Context
The Yorùbá are a large ethnic group with a distinctive language and
culture that are found in southwest Nigeria, some other parts of West
Africa, Cuba, and South America. While Falola & Heaton suggest Ilé-Ifẹ̀
and Benin33Edo people from Benin are known to originate from the
Oba of Benin, one of the sons of Odùduwà, the Yorùbá’s progenitor. as
central to the Yorùbá history before 1500 CE (2008), Eltis and Roberts
add that the Yorùbá are also found in the Americas because of the
movement to the New World during the slave trade (2004; 2004).
Historically, the Yorùbáland included the Tsekiri people (Law, 1991, p.
5) and extended to the west in Dahomey (Law, 1991, p. 130) and to the
east in Benin44Edo people of Nigeria are different from Dahomey
which is in the Republic of Benin. (Law, 1991, pp. 4, 130). Other
scholars support the idea of the extension westward to the Republic of
Togo, Benin, Ghana, and some parts of Sierra Leone (Atanda, 1996, p. 4;
Eltis, 2004, p. 232; Falola, 2006; Parrinder, 1947, p. 122).
Olupọna further suggests that the Yorùbá inhabiting southwest Nigeria,
Togo and Benin are more than 30 million (Olupọna, 1993, p. 241), while
Abiodun puts the figure at twenty-five million (Abiodun, 2001, p. 16).
This figure probably represents the Yorùbá in Nigeria. By comparison
with the figures of the World Population Review, the population of
Nigeria in 2015 was an estimated 183.5 million. With a Yorùbá population
21% (2012), the 2015 southwest Nigerian Yorùbá population would be
close to 37 million. However, the total figure for all people with a
common historical and linguistic connection to Yorùbá ancestry is far
higher and difficult to ascertain.
Parrinder (1959) earlier discussed the difficulties in obtaining
accurate figures of religious population among the Yorùbá in southwest
Nigeria. He argued that the researchers obtained their inaccurate
figures from the interviews of the family heads, while churches that
keep more correct records only focus the baptized members and those
under religious instruction to be baptized. Likewise, Parrinder suggests
the indigenous religious practitioners did not want to be counted as
animists or pagan, which the researchers and government often put on
their list for the census (1959, p. 133). The difficulty in getting
accurate figures has not abated. Ogen lately noted the Akoko-Ikale
people are grouped among the Edo-Benin but has maintained the
Akoko-Ikale are among the Yorùbá mainstream (2007). This implies the
figure the earlier researchers and/or commentators have provided were
smaller than the population of the Yorùbá. In general, however, the
southwest Nigeria region is home to the Yorùbá people and are one of the
three widely spoken languages in Nigeria along with the Hausa and Igbo.
The idea of peacefulness began to come to limelight by late
19th and early 20th century to raise
human dignity. The British abolished the slave trade and established
other forms of trade around 1861 from their base in Lagos, the area
later named Nigeria (Sklar, 2004, p. 16).55See Sklar 2004, p. 16
on the role of the King of Benin and the West in the slave trade.
Slavery was brutal, a complete absence of positive peace. Peace
studies began to take root in America and Europe during the twentieth
century (Boulding, 1978; Kelman, 1981), and some states in West Africa
began to struggle for self-determination and independence from
colonialism. Around the same time in the 1900s, Nigeria was born as a
nation (Coleman, 1958, 1960, p. 4), described as the amalgamation of the
northern and southern areas of the Niger in 1914, headed by Lord Lugard
(Adamolekun, 2013; Sklar, 2004, p. 18). By the mid-1900s, some eminent
Nigerians began to form nationalist movements, calling for the
independence of Nigeria and forming political parties, which ended in
ethnic segregation. Sklar suggests that this started in 1946 (2004),
Coleman claims it began in 1952 (1958, 1960), while Peel puts the events
between 1945 and 1951 (2000, p. 966).66See Coleman 1958, 1960,
p. 1 on the struggle for national identity and independence around
1920s in Asia and the Arab world, calling for independence from their
‘colonial status’. The identity of Nigeria as a nation, could have
evolved over a period of time and was defined by ethnicity, culture, and
language before independence (Falola, 1998; Falola & Heaton, 2008).
Otite put the number of ethnic linguistic groups in Nigeria at a range
of 200 to 250, while the dialects will even be more than this figure,
(Otite, 1991, p. 16).
The Yorùbá identified here are located where human archaeological
remains have been traced to around 900 BCE (Falola & Heaton, 2008).
Yet, some hold that the Yorùbá journeyed from Egypt (Olupọna, 1993, p.
243) to the present location. Recent linguistic studies reveal that
somewhere around the confluence of the River Niger and Benue is the
original home of the Yorùbá before they migrated southwest to Ilé-Ifẹ̀
(Atanda, 1996). Thus, there are multiple sources of historical
traditions of origin, archaeological and mythological discourses of the
Yorùbá nation. Yet, Falola and Heaton suggest Ilé-Ifẹ̀ as the cultural,
political, and religious locus, (Falola & Heaton, 2008, p. 24) while
the Yorùbá often maintain their cultural practices and good
interpersonal relationships as well outside Nigeria (Cole, 2004; Peel,
2003; Roberts, 2004).
Looking at Nigeria as a whole, Falola and Heaton (2008) describe the
pre-colonial Nigeria as being significant, including ‘hundreds of ethnic
groups’ living as neighbours ‘without boundaries’ (Falola & Heaton,
2008, p. 19) while religion was ‘integral to the state’ (Falola, 1998,
pp. 1, 2). While I agree that religion is important to the Nigerian way
of life, I must define ‘without boundaries’ in Falola and Heaton’s work
as meaning without long-term boundaries. There were boundaries
known as odi ìlú (town or city gate) and boundary disputes often
resulted in inter- and intra-tribal wars. However, there were no
cultural boundaries as the Yorùbá socialise together and give their
youth out in marriage as a way of uniting themselves across their
various dialectal settlements, villages, and towns. To ascertain dispute
over land, Osaghae and Suberu’s work came to mind about the Ilé-Ifẹ̀ and
Modákẹ́kẹ́ towns’ dispute which ended in a war last decade, (2005, p. 20).
In as much as works on PS have focused mostly agrarian societies, the
author wants more variant communities be studied for peacefulness.
According to Falola, the Yorùbá are among the best-educated Africans and
include those whom Falola described as ‘prominent Yorùbá intelligentsia
outside of the academy’ (1991, p. i). Olupọna (1993) and Abiodun, (2001)
mention the Yorùbá as the most studied ethnic group in Africa as Olupọna
reteirates the Yoruba’s developed ‘arts, music, religion and oral
literature’, (1993, p. 241).
The Yorùbá were enthusiastic about literacy, translation, mathematics,
and publications in their language, even in resistance to British
colonial authority by winning the support of the Christian Missionary
Society (CMS) for their publications (Adetunji, 1999; Akinjogbin, 1996;
Atanda, 1996). Ajiboye suggests that, although many languages including
the Yorùbá have the additive and multiplicative methods, Yorùbá’s
subtractive mechanism is a unique contribution to the numeral system
(2016). What Abioye means is this: while eleven is calledmọ́kànlá , it literally means (10 and 1), méjìlá means (10
and 2). However, sixteen is called mẹ́rìndínlógún meaning 20 minus
4, and seventeen is mẹ́tàdínlógún (20 minus 3). This counting goes
on to multiple of tens and multiple of hundreds.
With their wealth of history, enthusiasm, and exposure to the outside
world, how have the Yorùbá kept their harmony or handled disputes over
the years? The claim of good interpersonal relationships and tolerance
mentioned by some scholars is taken further in this study as it sounds
distinct from the religious violence often reported in northern Nigeria
and other parts of the world. A study about the Yorùbá could offer a
viewpoint about conflict management strategies among non-offensive
valued cherished communities.
Yorùbáland compared with other Regions of
Nigeria
There are published data on the global peace index, Nigerian mineral
resources, population, and Nigerian policing that the author wants to
engage with in this discourse. The sources speak on the Nigerian
situation regarding peacefulness, violence, and their natural resources.
4.5.1 Nigerian Peace Index and Violence Levels
The Global Peace Index (GPI) ‘measures peacefulness across the domains
of safety and security, ongoing conflict, and militarisation’
(Editorial, 2019). Nigeria ranks 148th out of the 163
countries in the GPI indicators in 2019. In the GPI where 5 is the worst
score, Nigeria is rated worst – 5 in the perception of criminality, 5
in political terror, 4.4 in terrorism impact, 4.5 in death from internal
conflict, 5 in internal conflicts fought, 4.6 in United Nations
peacekeeping funding, 3.1 in external conflicts fought, 2 in
militarization, 3.3 in Safety & Security, and 3.1 in domestic and
international conflict, (Global-Peace-Index, n.d.). At least two points
came up clearly here:
1. The militarization that has a score of two can rise higher in the
coming years if the security situation continues as it is, and the
citizens are presented with no options other than to defend themselves
if they have the means.
2. Nigeria is not a peaceful nation when compared with many other
countries globally. From the same source above (GPI), by comparison with
another West African country, Senegal, although smaller in size and
population was 58th while Nigeria ranks 148th out of the 163 countries
on the list. Iceland in another continent has been the most peaceful
country in the entire universe since 2008 followed by New Zealand,
Austria, Portugal, and Denmark.
It has been observed, ‘[o]ver the last ten years, the average level
of global peacefulness has deteriorated by 3.78%.’(Statistic-Times). A
Newspaper editorial argues that many farmers stopped farming due to the
fear of armed bandit attackers, (Editorial, 2019). The general situation
of Nigeria security is alarming as it has begun to affect the local
agricultural productivity when people fear going to farm in southwest
and the north is affected by terrorism. Of recent, over forty fishermen
were literally slaughtered in Borno State by Boko Haram terrorist group
(Marama, 2020). The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (UNOCHA) reports, ‘7.1 million people in Nigeria need urgent,
life-saving humanitarian assistance in 2019 and 6.2 million are targeted
to receive aid […]’ (OCHA). Going by the intensity of the
violence and instability in Nigeria, the situation does not seem to be
abating as 1.8 million are internally displaced, (OCHA). The three
Nigeria regions are subjected to kidnappers, while the south in addition
has armed agitators for resources control.
The peace associated with the Yoruba by some academics is not absolute.
The region also has experienced harrowing situations as kidnapping has
been on the increase while some parts of the Ìbàdàn, Ifẹ̀, Oǹdó, and
Èkìtì roads have become abductors’ hideout. The editorial suggests that
Nigeria is being ranked amongst the failed states, (2019). Nigeria as a
country, therefore, is far from being grouped among the global PS.
However, can a local community that is working hard to keep the peace be
enlisted as a PS? The author further examines the claim of a lack of
resources the Yorùbá could fight to protect, hence have been relatively
peaceful.
4.5.2 Southwest Nigeria Mineral Resources
The scholarly debate on violence and insecurity in Nigeria has a soft
spot for the Yorùbá. They found some level of peacefulness and suggest a
lack of mineral resources that the Nigeria Federal government can
exploit as a reason for the absence of serious agitation and community
generated violence among the Yorùbá. Such arguments do not go far as
Yorùbáland has many natural resources. Going by the major mineral
resources in Nigeria southwest, Ọ̀yọ́ State is listed as having
‘Aquamarine, cassiterite, clay, dolomite, gemstone, gold, kaolin,
marble, silimonite, talc and tantalite’ (Government-Agency). The state
also has tantalum, quartz, iron ore and laterite, (Oyo-State).
Some States including Èkìtì has extra in addition to the above list.
Ògùn has Bitumen, Oǹdó – [bitumen, limestone & oil/gas etc.], and
Ọ̀sun [Columbite, Gold, and etc] (Government-Agency). All the
southwestern states have families raising livestock and growing both
food and cash crops like yam, beans, soya-bean, kolanut, cocoa etc.
(Osun-State). Arguments for a lack of mineral resources the Yorùbá can
fight to protect cannot, therefore, be sustained. Yet, the reason why
the federal government seems not to show interest in such minerals at
present is unclear.
4.5.3 Structural Infrastructure and Related
Violence
The infrastructural development that has slowed down for many decades in
Nigeria is attributed to uncoordinated military and political leadership
of the country, which has led to serious structural violence on its
citizens. The world population review puts the percentage of people
having access to clean water at 68.5% (Nigeria-Population, 2019) while
the Federal Ministry of Water Resource put access to basic water at
67.9% in 2018 (Federal-Ministry, 2018). The first put the figure of
those struggling to get clean drinking water at 31.5%, while the latter
put it at 26.7% (which I think is more than that). However, the author
agrees with the data that as much as 71% are struggling to have
‘improved sanitation’ (Nigeria-Population, 2019). Only about 42% have
personal household sanitation not shared with non-residents or
outsiders, 19.2% used safely managed sanitation services and 24.4% do
not have toilet facilities but practise open defecation, and it is
estimated that half of the Northern Central Nigeria zone practice open
defecation, (Federal-Ministry, 2018, 2019; Obiezu, 2019).
There have been continuous agitations in the country on the need to
increase the minimum wage from 18,000 naira (about £36) to 30,000 naira
(about £60) a month (if the exchange rate is 500 naira per British
pound). One can imagine the level of structural violence being imposed
on the ordinary citizens as they struggle for basic life necessities
like food, social amenities and good health for themselves and their
families in such conditions. Thus, structural violence in Nigeria does
not exclude the Yorùbá, but they often manage the situation to reduce
its effects on their lives through social interaction, family
connections and cooperative ventures.
4.5.4 Policing
Police records obtained from the Nigeria Crime Statistics on reported
offences in 2017 shows a little lower level of crimes among the Yorùbá
when compared with those in the north, but significantly lower when
compared with the south/east. The author examines here, the level of
violence recoded by the police in six states from southwest Nigeria
[excluding Lagos],77I left out Lagos, because it has mixed
cultural influence of both other Nigerians and non-nationals and may
not truly represent the pristine Yorùbá culture just as Abuja capital
city cannot truly represent the Gbagyi (Gwari), Hausa, and Fulani
people. and six states from each of the other two regions, north and
south/east Nigeria. The crime in Lagos state alone amounts to 37.85% of
the national record, so, for a better examination of the crime
distribution as reported within the regions, I dwelt on the selected
eighteen (6 x 3) states below excluding Lagos, with reference to the
National-Bureau-of-Statistics (2018):
- Yorùbá southwestern Nigeria: Ondo 2.76%, Ọ̀yọ́ 2.2%, Ogun 1.19%,
Ekiti 1.02%, Osun 0.66%, and Kwara 0.62% (Total = 8.45%)
- Northern region of Nigeria: Kano 4.24%, Niger 1.98%, Plateau 1.94%,
Borno 1.18%, Kaduna 0.8% and Zamfara 0.39% (Total = 10.53)
- South/eastern Nigeria: Abia 9.21% Cross Rivers 9.17%, Delta 5.31%,
Ebonyi 3.13%, Anambra 1.4% and Rivers 1.17% (Total = 29.39%).
Some states which are projected by the media as experiencing violence,
arson, murder, retaliatory attacks, and displacement of people in the
north such as Kaduna, Borno and Zamfara invariably have lower police
crime reports documented, which poses the question of what reportable
conflicts to the police are in Nigeria.
Regardless, the cumulative records for each six selected states among
the Yorùbá (8.45%) show a lower crime rate than the Hausa/Fulani north
(10.53%), while the south/east has the highest reported crimes
(29.39%) in the nation. The weakness of this figure, however, is based
on the States not the population of the residents, and the Federal
government’s stance against some Southeast region’ militant groups,
which might increase both the violence rate and the reportable offences
in the region. That weakness notwithstanding, the crime record in each
state provide material to make a representation for an informed verdict
on the spread of violence within the selected states or Nigeria as a
whole.
Going by serious violence leading to death, Campbell, through the
Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), presents research suggesting a higher
death record in the northeast, while the least occurrences are in
southwestern Nigeria:
The Nigeria Security Tracker (NST) tracks violence that is both causal
and symptomatic of Nigeria’s political instability and citizen
alienation. The data are based on weekly surveys of Nigerian and
international media. (Campbell, 2020)
The cumulative death records from 2011 to 2020 are classified as
originating from Boko Haram (17,115), Boko Haram and the State Actor
(19, 096), Sectarian Actor (10, 591), State Actor (9,173) and other
Armed Actor (5,489) (Campbell, 2020). The author decided to add up the
number of recorded deaths in Campbell’s research from the six states per
region already used above. The cumulative number of deaths in the north
(while excluding Borno known for terrorists’ violence, which is
exceptionally high 30, 269) is 10, 410. The number of recorded deaths in
the southeast within the same period is 2, 849, while the death record
in the southwest is 1,152. If Lagos that has the highest police recorded
of violence is added to the death record in the southwest, the total
will be 1,816 that is still the lowest of all the three regions mapped
out here. The southwest Yorùbá still appear more peaceful than the rest
of the country. However, could evidence from the published literature on
disputes and conflicts provide further clues for this investigation?
5 Some Local Religious
Disputes
There are reports of occasional religious conflicts among the Yorùbá
that have been resolved amicably. Mu’azzam and Ibrahim (2000) noted a
conflict among Yorùbá Christians and Muslims in Ọ̀yọ́ State when the
Christians held a religious event on government-funded school property
and objections were raised by some Yorùbá Muslims. A Muslim
organization, the National Council of Muslim Youths Organization,
disrupted the event and its leader was arrested by the police. Another
Muslim group intervened to stop the conflict from escalating and pleaded
with the Christians for Sanni’s release from police custody (Mu’azzam &
Ibrahim, 2000, pp. 76, 77). The crisis did not escalate further and the
Christians and Muslims in the town are still able to manage their
concerns to keep the existing harmony. This is evidence of dispute
resolution on display among the Yorùbá (alternative dispute resolution
ADR).
In 2013, the Ọ̀sun State Government mandated the use of the hijabby Muslim female students in the State, which some schools pioneered by
Christians raised an objection to. In 2014, both Makinde and Olarinoye
reported how this led to some Muslims protesting at the Baptist High
School in Èjìgbò for banning Muslim girls from wearing the hijabto the Christian led school. They said this resulted in attacks on some
of the teachers and the school principal in November 2013. During that
same period, a similar conflict occurred among Ọ̀sun State students in
Ìwó and the Christian students protested by putting on their church
choir robes, while some indigenous worshipers put on their masquerades
to their schools (Makinde, 2014; Olarinoye, 2014). The community leaders
had to come in to manage the situation (Niyi, 2014) and the former Lagos
State governor, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinumbu also visited the Ọ̀sun State
Government House to meet Christian leaders to mediate in the crisis,
(Makinde, 2014; Olarinoye, 2014).
The Ọ̀sun State government’s meddling in the religious matter led to the
crises in the state while religious leaders and the party leadership
managed the crises. The Yorùbá intra-ethnic religious conflicts and the
way they are handled provide a contribution to conflict management and
the conflict de-escalation process within their community. In that
light, how peace is sustained in the Yorùbá community is worth studying
further as well as any other seemingly peaceful communities as a
contribution to peace and conflict studies.
In this kind of interaction, the Yorùbá manage their crises from
escalation especially in the religious sphere, which provides a template
for sustaining peace among a religious or cultural community in general.
In a study of this nature, current empirical data are essential to
update the available literature.
Amiable Peacefulness.
There is an amiable commitment found among the Yorùbá Christians and
Muslims with theological correlations for peacefulness. An appraisal of
such within a community becomes a potential contribution to
peacefulness. This study has referred to the trends and assessment of
the Yorùbá culture over the years and how it has positively accommodated
Christianity and Islam and the extent to which it has enhanced peaceful
relationships. I refer to Wiberg’s concepts of detribalization and
retribalization (1981), and whether they offer clues to the question on
how the Yorùbá Christians and Muslims sustain the peace in their
communities. Some values within the Yorùbá culture as presented in this
study enhance the peacefulness between Christians and Muslims. While
Christians seek to be tolerant and kind, the Muslims apply the concept
of social interaction promoted in Islam, which the author describes asal-qai’dah-muamalat-darar [Q-M-D] to interact with their
neighbours. There are situations in which Christian families care for
their Muslim cousins through the idea of fúnmi lọ́mọ wò (children
looked after by an extended family member). There are examples of Yorùbá
Muslims showing kindness to their Yorùbá Christian cousins and
neighbours. Significant to note is that while the source of peacefulness
in Christianity is traced to their approach to the Bible with a focus on
love, the Muslims reciprocate this with Kọ̀ídà-Doruuri a local
transliteration for al-qai’dah-muamalat-darar (Q-M-D), the act of
practising Islamic rights as much as the situation permits without
making life difficult for neighbours, the qualities not strange to the
Yorùbá culture. The Yorùbá are known for being accommodating on
religious grounds, as their kings generously offered land to build
places of worship, schools, and hospitals for new religions since around
1800.
Cultural bases for peacefulness are also highlighted among the Yorùbá.
Some non-Yorùbá cultures like foreign languages and dressing, have
influenced the Yorùbá over the years. Yorùbá remains in competition with
other Nigerian languages. While English is used as the official
language, it has not been seen to threaten the peace enjoyed by the
people. The use of Yorùbá is strong in markets, social functions, music,
on the radio and television, and this is known to promote the Yorùbá
virtues as media of dissemination of information. As a result, the
Yorùbá have not been ‘detribalised’ in the sense of completely losing
the values of their language, sayings, drumming and music, as they are
still supported and promoted by the local media, albeit in competition
with other Nigerian languages and English. The virtues expressed in the
Yorùbá language translate into harmonizing the Yorùbá’s interpretation
of their religions by stressing the contexts of love, harmony, and care
for one another. This supports Laitin’s description of the Yorùbá’s
‘unnatural toleration’ (1986, p. 9), which is ideally known to the
Yorùbá Christians and Muslims as ‘natural’, although currently under the
threat of structural violence experienced across the country. Wiberg,
considering ‘peaceful cultures’, asks:
What characteristics do they have in common that seem to make for their
peaceful qualities? On what dimensions do they differ, hence
demonstrating that a given variable value is not a necessary condition
for peace? To what extent do they contain what forms of structural
violence? (1981, p. 113).
As the author considers a religiously tolerant community like the
Yorùbá, Wiberg (1981, p. 113) comes to mind calling for a multi-layered
inquiry on peaceful cultures.
This study provides an answer to Wiberg’s questions. One, the Yorùbá
culture, as expressed in their tolerance and use of language, the way
the culture is communicated through music, sayings and interpersonal
relationships and their understanding and respect, all work together to
harmonize the Yorùbá. Regarding Wiberg’s second question, the Yorùbá are
a mono-ethnic language group considered to live in harmony. Even though
the common language has made contributions to community harmony, the way
the Yorùbá use their language, sayings, stories, and music have all been
found helpful in educating and promoting harmony and virtues among the
people, irrespective of religion. It is the richness of the Yorùbá
language that is profound – that is, its dynamics, usage, and structure
– rather than just being unique. The Senegalese in a separate study
(Senegal-n.a., 2009; UguccioniI, 2018), have many languages and live
harmoniously. The harmony is produced by the way the Senegalese
languages utilize the common values of hospitality (teranga )
prevalent in the Senegalese communities. It is the use of the
language(s) and contents that matter to peacefulness.
On Wiberg’s question of structural violence, my data reveals both
physical and structural violence among the Yorùbá. This is not strange
as one form of violence or the other are found among the acclaimed PS
(Kemp, 2004), although often being able to manage it. This, study, as
well dwells more on the Yorùbá’s coping strategies and maintenance of
peace, especially between Christians and Muslims within the Yorùbá host
culture. The way the Yorùbá manage their occasional religious conflicts
is seen in their consciousness and references to eternal judgment and
other aspects of their valued culture. This research, therefore, like
PS, presents the need for appraisals of the positive values in
relatively peaceful communities to enhance positive peace and
de-escalate conflicts. Empirical inquiries among peaceful communities
have the potential to provide further findings that can move conflict
transformation and peace studies forward into the ideals of positive
peace.
6.1 Beyond Ẹbí/Family
The Yorùbá have been studied in many academic works and found to be a
people who consider themselves a family. Akinjogbin’s (1966) Ẹbítheory is a significant work in this area. Ẹbí has become the
Yorùbá linguistic tool for harmony and the maintenance of peace. This
study, however, shows that the concept of family has been revolutionized
among the Yorùbá to embrace people outside of their close relations to
include neighbours across culture and religious line, Christians, and
Muslims alike. This takes the Ẹbí theory forward into a new
realm, a comprehensive Ẹbí theory.88The author discusses
more on his findings about the Ẹbí theory in an article
submitted for peer review titled: Culture (Yorùbá) as a Means of
De-Escalating Conflict and Maintaining Peace, Journal of Peace
Research , 30/12/2020.
Similarly, the most recurring of the 80 generated nodes in the study
data shows how peace is sustained through the culture, religion, family,
social interactions, communal lifestyle, and leadership. Furthermore,
regular community and leaders’ meetings strengthen harmony and help in
identifying stress points to nip conflict in the bud and unite the
Yorùbá to positively engage and use their common values to resolve their
conflicts and maintain their peace. The elders’ roles, alternative
dispute resolution (ADR) and complaints procedures are found to be
helpful. Equally, the harmony among the Yorùbá that has endured for a
long time was initially ascribed to their perceived family ties
(Ẹbí, or Ọmọ ìyá kannȃ ) but now is seen as ingrained in
their broader culture, values, social interactions, and religious
hermeneutics.
While cross examining this study, some scholars like Lateju and Akinade
had identified culture and religions as paramount to the Yorùbá’s
peacefulness but the components of the culture and the practices of the
religions are added values relevant to the Yorùbá’s peacefulness from
this study. Religion in general as a cause of peace is undermined as
religion has played some roles in violence in other parts of Nigeria and
globally. So, the way religion is interpreted (hermeneutics), practised
and projected are the keys to the Yorùbá’s peacefulness. This theory can
be extended to other cultures and communities, where the interpretations
presented and promoted in each community define how peaceful such a
community is or will become.
A further cross-referencing of relevant literature and the Nigeria
police reports with the author’s findings affirm that the Yorùbá are
relatively more peaceful as they possess, display, and often utilize
certain features like social interaction already mentioned above within
their community to enhance their peacefulness. They often broadcast or
display these features through their media like radio, and oral
tradition in their community. The author needs to quickly mention here
that the Yorùbá are not the only one using media like radio to propagate
their peaceful values; the Inuit, one of the PS, is another example.
Features like social interactions found among the PS are prominent among
the Yorùbá. The PS maintain their peacefulness through a closed
community interaction and returning to their local areas to maintain
their harmony even when they had a reason to contact the outside world.
Conversely, the Yorùbá have travelled far and wide, and often interact
with people of other religions and cultures. Many Yorùbá communities
have been identified making efforts to retain their cherished peaceful
values despite their exposure to modern civilization while the PS often
retain their closed community interactions. While the currently
recognised PS comprise mainly of the agrarian communities that socialize
through their culture utilizing their limited access to the modern
world, the Yorùbá mingle with other cultures and civilizations, even in
their homeland. So, by comparison, the Yorùbá are more educated and more
exposed to modern civilization with their first university established
in Ibadan about 72 years old (1948) and television 60 years (1959). The
Yorùbá’s example of peaceful features is an indication that the idea of
peacefulness in human community should not be restricted to the agrarian
community (as in the case of most of the identified PS) but can be
further explored among modern societies like the Yorùbá.
With the similar peaceful features identified among the PS and the
Yorùbá like social interactions and leadership roles in sustaining peace
at the community level, the idea of humans, being helplessly violent, as
often presented in the West requires a reassessment. In support of human
potential for peacefulness, Sponsel’s extensive reviews became useful,
probing the works on conflict and war with little attention to peace or
nonviolence, which Sponsel describes as reducing peace to the avoidance
of war or violence (1996). From the study, Sponsel suggests humans are
not just historically predisposed to violence contrary to ideas often
projected by the West. This provides a clue to the query of the
sustainability of peace in human community. Peace is sustainable in
human society, although requires a hard work.
The harmony in human society has to do with many features promoted by
the community, mostly championed by their local leadership (cultural and
religious). Education, both formal as in literature being used, and
informal as promoted in the community thus play a major role in the
societal peacefulness. Continuity in the form of education plays a
significant role in the sustainability of any cherished value.
6.2 Informal Peace Education informing the Peaceful
Society
A long-term peace advocacy or education, not necessarily as an aftermath
of war or conflict, but embedded within the social, religious, and
cultural milieu, often delivered informally via a daily engagement using
music, idioms, stories, literature, and legends have helped to sustain
the peace among the Yorùbá. The make-up of the culture [the language,
dressing, stories, music], leadership, social interaction, religious
understanding, family unity, and the media, all communicate values and
virtues to the wider community and comprise features that support the
Yorùbá to sustain their peace. These are a form of informal peace
education embedded in Yorùbá practices, an embodiment of rewarding and
peace education themes not necessarily as an aftermath of war. On peace
education, Harris and Morrison suggest: ‘[E]ducators […]
influence the important values and beliefs of their students [who
are] taught about peaceful responses to complex conflicts in the
post-modern world’ (2013, p. 3). The important words in that definition
are ‘influence’, ‘values’, ‘beliefs’ and ‘taught’. Other ideas of peace
education both authors mention include the goal that future conflicts
‘are resolved non-violently and build a sustainable environment’,
followed by attributes of ‘love, compassion and reverence for all life’
(2013, p. 11). In this study, values and beliefs are found in various
contexts, seeking to resolve disputes before it escalates through
communal efforts with the goal of sustaining the existing harmony. This
type of intervention is an informal education that enhances peacefulness
also found among the PS like the Paliyans, Semai, Ifaluk, Chewong. This
idea of maintenance of harmony re-affirms Bond’s suggestion describing
peace, not as an end, but rather as a continuing process, (2014).
Similarly, the PS are described, not as utopian in themselves but
displaying abilities to defuse tension. The Yorùbá practise an informal
kind of peace education in an informal setting, with known but often
unwritten curricula embedded in their daily activities. This education
does not have to be in the aftermath of a serious conflict or civil war
but a continuous learning process capable of sustaining harmony in a
community.
While many scholars affirm the harmony of the Yorùbá as being based on
their shared idea of family (Ẹbí ), this research provides
evidence of the Yorùbá’s proactive support for peace through other
features in their culture, social setting, and religious milieu. Even
though both formal and informal peace education can have written
curricula, the method of delivery could differ: the formal in a
structured setting following a war or conflict situation, whilst the
informal is provided within the structures of the society such as homes,
communities and through the media to maintain peace not necessarily as
an aftermath of a conflict.
Harris and Morrison have suggested the benefit of peace education as its
‘potential for inner transformation’ and ‘social change’, which is
taught in different settings (Harris & Morrison, 2013, p. 11). They add
a pertinent feature, its ‘commitment to the way of peace’ (ibid, p. 12).
The maintenance of peace among the Yorùbá also involves constant
learning in different settings, including the home, areas, and townships
through the radio, immediate family, friends, in-laws, elders, and
responsible older people in the vicinity. This takes place informally
and is potent for educating their community. This is a venture in which
everyone learns, and all learners subsequently trains others. This
provides an insight into a harmonious society sustaining its peace
through features they know to have the credibility to resolve disputes,
de-escalate conflicts and retain their harmony towards positive
peacefulness. This resembles the communal life among the PS
(Peaceful-Societies, 2019). The author suggests a proactive support for
this venture as informal peace education, a lifestyle of learning during
peacetime. So, how do the Yorùbá manage their conflicts and retain their
peace? It is through a lifelong informal education utilizing various
features of their culture, religions, and social values as they reject
aberrant intrusions.
Conclusion
This review on peacefulness and the correlation with the Yorùbá
community focus the dissemination of values to the society. The Yorùbá
emphasize certain aspects of their values and religions to strengthen
their harmony. Just as scholars have identified the essence of
peacefulness among the Senegalese as teranga meaning hospitality,
so, complimentary values are found to harmonise the Yorùbá communities.
Most peaceful societies (PS) are not exposed to modern education and
civilization and where they do, often seek to return to their
communities to keep their culture. However, the author presents the
southwest Nigerian Yorùbá that are more exposed to modern education and
civilization along with their peace conservation features. Could the
Yorùbá’s peacefulness be studied further towards achieving positive
peace and development; and could modern or Western societies be studied
for elements of peacefulness for more contributions to peace discourse?
References
Abiodun, R. (2001). African Aesthetics. Journal of Aesthetic
Education , 35 (4), 15-23. https://doi.org/10.2307/3333783
Abu-Nimer, M. (2001). Conflict resolution, culture, and religion: Toward
a training model of interreligious peacebuilding. Journal of Peace
Research , 38 (6), 685-704.
Abu-Nimer, M. (2008). A Framework for Nonviolence and Peacebuilding in
Islam [Muis Occasional Paper Series, Paper No. 6]. Journal of
Law and Religion , 1-42. (Journal of Law and Religion, vol 15,
(2000-01), pp. 217-265)
Adamolekun, T. (2013). A Historical Perspective in the Christian-Muslim
Relations in Nigeria since 1914. Journal of Arts and Humanities ,2 (5), 59-66.
Adegoke, K. A. (2012). Issues of Co-Existence among the Faiths and
Faithfuls in Nigeria: An Islamic Perspective. In Christian-Muslim
Relations in West Africa . West African Association of Theological
Institutions WAATI.
Adele, B. J., & Oloruntele, A. (2001). Ethnic Agitation and Conflicts
in Nigeria, 1999-2000. Development Policy Management Network
Bulletin , XIII (3), 35-36.
Adetunji, L. A. (1999). The Glory of Yoruba Nation . Lagos :
Lichfield Nigeria Limited.
Afejuku, T. (2020, 20 November 2020). Nigeria’s Weakest Goverment.The Guardian Newspaper .
https://guardian.ng/opinion/nigerias-weakest-government/
Agboluaje, R. (2020, 19, Novermber 2020). Makinde Declares Amotekun
Operational with 1, 500 Officers in oyo. The Guardian Nigeria .
https://guardian.ng/news/makinde-declares-amotekun-operational-with-1500-officers-in-oyo/
Agency-Report. (2020). Police Arrest 15 Suspected Cultists in Ogun.Leadership .
Ajiboye, O. (2016). The Yorùbá Numeral System. In O.-m. Ndimele & E. S.
L. Chan (Eds.), The Numeral Systems of Nigerian Languages (pp.
1-26). M & J Grand Orbit Communications.
AKINADE, A. E. (1996). Christian-Muslim Dialogue in Yorubaland: An
Ecumencial (sic) Study (Ondo-Yoruba Nigeria, African people) Union
Theological Seminary]. United States.
Akinade, A. E. (2002). The Precarious Agenda: Christian-Muslims
Relations in Contemporary Nigeria Professor Jane Smiths’ ”Essentials of
Christian-Muslim Relations” Summer Class,
<http://hartsem.edu/precarious-agenda-christian-muslim-relations-contemporary-nigeria>,
04/04/2014
Akinjogbin, I. A. (1966). The Oyo Empire in the 18thCentury - A Reassessment. Journal of the Historical Society of
Nigeria , 3 (3), 449-460.
Akinjogbin, I. A. (1996). The Growth of Yoruba Studies in the
Western Region of Nigeria 1955-1965 . Ibadan University Press.
Alabi, D. T. (2002). RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA: A CRITICAL
ANALYSIS. India Quarterly , 58 (3/4), 273-302.
Alemika, E. E. O., & Chukwuma, I. C. (2000). Police-Community
Violence in Nigeria . Centre for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN) and
the National Human Rights Commission Abuja, Nigeria.
Alkana, L. K. (1984). Amy Swerdlow, ’Women Strike for Peace: Traditional
Motherhood and Radical Politics in the 1960s’ History: Reviews of
New Books (Preview) , 23 (1).
Atanda, A. (1996). The Yoruba People: Their Origin, Culture and
Civilization. In Ọ. O. Ọlátúnjí (Ed.), The Yoruba History, Culture
& Language . Ibadan University Press.
Azumah, J. (2012). Evangelical Christian Views and Attitude Towards
Christian-Muslim Dialogue. Transformation: An International
Journal of Holistic Mission Studies , 29 (2).
Balogun, K. (1985). Government in Old Oyo Empire . Apapa, Lagos,
Nigeria : Africanus Publishers.
Barash, D. P., & Webel, C. P. (2009). Peace and conflict studies(2nd ed. ed.). Los Angeles ; London : Sage.
Barsky, A. E. a. (2014). Conflict resolution for the helping
professions : theory, skills, and exercises (Second edition. ed.). New
York : Oxford University Press.
BBC-News. (2014). Nigeria: Police Probe Ibadan ’House of Horror’ .
BBC NEWS. https://bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26707586
Bond, C. J. (2014). Positive peace and sustainability in the mining
context: beyond the triple bottom line. Journal of Cleaner
Production , 84 , 164-173.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.033
Boulding, K. E. (1978). Future Directions in Conflict and Peace Studies.The Journal of Conflict Resolution , 22 (2), 342-354.
Campbell, J. (2020). The Council on Foreign Relations: The Nigeria
Security Tracker (NST) in Africa Studies . Retrieved 22/02/2020 from
<https://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-security-tracker/p29483>,
Cole, G. R. (2004). Liberated Slaves and Islam in Nineteenth-Century
West Africa. In T. Falola & M. D. Childs (Eds.), The Yoruba
Diaspora in the Atlantic World (pp. 383ff). Indiana University Press.
Coleman, J. S. (1958, 1960). Nigeria: Background to Nationalism
University of California Press, 1958, 2nd Printing
1960
Dungen, P., & Wittner, L. S. (2003.). Peace History: An Introduction.Journal of Peace Research , 40 (4), 363-375.
Editor. (2020, 22, October 2020). Full Speech: Buhari’s Address on
#EndSARS Protests. Nigeria Punch Newspaper .
https://punchng.com/full-speech-buharis-address-on-endsars-protests/
Editorial. (2019). Nigeria and the Global Peace Index.
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/06/28/nigeria-and-the-global-peace-index/
Eltis, D. (2004). The Diaspora of Yoruba Speakers, 1650-1865 Dimensions
and Implications. In T. Falola & D. M. Childs (Eds.), The Yoruba
Diaspora in the Atlantic World . Indiana University Press.
Fabbro, D. (1978). Peaceful Societies: An Introduction. Journal of
Peace Research , 15 (1), 67-83.
Falola, T. (1991). The Yoruba Wars of the Nineteenth Century .
[Madison] : African Studies Program, University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Falola, T. (1998). Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious
Politics and Secular Ideologies . University of Rochester Press.
Falola, T. (2006). THE YORÙBÁ NATION. In T. Falola & A. Genova (Eds.),Yorùbá Identity and Power Politics (Vol. 22, pp. 29-48). Boydell
and Brewer.
Falola, T., & Heaton, M. M. (2008). A History of Nigeria .
Cambridge University Press.
Federal-Ministry. (2018). Federal Ministry of Water Resources in
Collaboration with National Bureau of Statistics: Water, Sanitation and
Hygiene .
Federal-Ministry. (2019). The Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
Making Nigeria Open-Defecation-Free by 2025: A National Road Map .
<https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/media/1491/file/Nigeria-making-Nigeria-open-defecation-free-by-2025.pdf.pdf>,
Galtung, J. (1985). Twenty-Five Years of Peace Research:Ten Challenges
and Some Responses. Journal of Peace Research , 22 (2),
141-158.
Galtung, J. (2000). Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means (the
Transcend Method) (Participants’ Manual, Issue.
https://www.transcend.org/pctrcluj2004/TRANSCEND_manual.pdf
Galtung, J. (2007). Peace by Peaceful Conflict Transformation – the
TRANSCEND Approach. In C. a. Webel & J. Galtung (Eds.), Handbook
of Peace and Conflict Studies . Routledge.
Galtung, J. (2010). Do Peace Studies Reach Out, Including Others?Dilemata (3), 129-132.
Global-Peace-Index. (n.d.). Vision and Humanity: Global Peace
Index. h ttp://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/global-peace- index /.
Goddard, H. (2001). Christian-Muslim Relations in Nigeria and Malaysia.
In L. Ridgeon (Ed.), Islamic Interpretations of Christianity .
Routledge.
Government-Agency. Nigeria Natural Resources: Nigerian States and
Their Natural Resources . Nigeria Natural Resources:
http://nigeria.gov.ng/index.php/2016-04-06-08-38-30/nigeria-natural-resources.
Griggs, J. (2013). Beyond the Polemics of Christian-Muslim Relations:
Exploring a Dialogical Approach. Transformation: An International
Journal of Holistic Mission Studies , 30 (2), 128-140.
Groves, G. E., Resurrection, C. B. P., & Doneys, P. (2009). Keeping the
Peace is Not Enough: Human Security and Gender-based Violence during the
Transitional Period of Timor-Leste. Journal of Social Issues in
Southeast Asia , 24 (2 ), 186-210.
Harris, I. M., Fisk, L. J., & Rank, C. (1998). A Portrait of University
Peace Studies in North America and Western Europe at the End of the
Millennium. The International Journal of Peace Studies ,3 (1).
https://doi.org/http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol3_1/Harris.htm
Harris, I. M., & Morrison, M. L. (2013). Peace education (Third
edition / foreword by Tony Jenkins. ed.). McFarland & Company, Inc.
Huff, L. M. (2004). The Crusades and Colonial Imperialism: Some
Historical Consideration Concerning Christian-Muslim Interaction and
Dialogue. Missiology , 32 (2), 141.
Ibrahim, J. (1991). Religion and political turbulence in Nigeria.The Journal of Modern African Studies , 29 (1), 115-136.
Kelman, H. C. (1981). Reflections on the History and Status of Peace
Research. Conflict Management and Peace Science , 5 (2),
95-110.
Kemp, G. (2004). The Concept of Peaceful Societies. In G. K. and &
Douglas P. Fry (Eds.), Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and
Peaceful Societies around the World, . Routledge.
Laitin, D. D. (1986). Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Change
among the Yoruba . University of Chicago.
Lateju, F. T. (2012). Religious Conflict and Peace Building Initiatives
in a Multi-Religious Nigeria. In F. T. Lateju, N. Samwini, & D.
Ayegboyin (Eds.), Christian-Muslim Relations in West Africa . West
African Association of Theological Institutions WAATI.
Law, R. (1991). The Ọyọ empire, c.1600-c.1836 : a West African
imperialism in the era of the Atlantic slave trade . Aldershot : Gregg
Revivals.
Lyons, S., & Reinermann, D. (2003). Nigeria Strategic Conflict
Assessment Methodology, Key Findings and Lessons Learnt .
www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02468
Makinde, F. (2014, 12 February 2014). Tinubu meets CAN over Osun
schools’ crisis. PUNCH .
http://www.punchng.com/news/tinubu-meets-with-can-over-osun-schools-crisis/
Marama, N. (2020, 5 December 2020). Revealed: How Boko Haram Slaughtered
our People - Survivors. The Vanguard .
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/12/r-e-v-e-a-l-e-d-how-boko-haram-slaughtered-our-people-survivours/
Marriage, Z. (2006). Not breaking the rules, not playing the game
: international assistance to countries at war . Hurst & Co.
Melko, M., Hord, J. K., & Weigel, R. D. (1983). PEACEFUL SOCIETIES
REVISITED. Peace Research , 15 (3), 39-42.
Montiel, C. J. a., & Macapagal, M. E. J. (2006). Effects of Social
Position on Societal Attributions of an Asymmetric Conflict.Journal of Peace Research , 43 , 219.
Mulimbi, B., & Dryden-Peterson, S. (2018). “There is still peace.
There are no wars.”: Prioritizing unity over diversity in Botswana’s
social studies policies and practices and the implications for positive
peace. International Journal of Educational Development ,61 , 142-154.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2017.12.009
Mu’azzam, I., & Ibrahim, J. (2000). Religious Identity in the Context
of Structural Adjustment in Nigeria. In A. Jega (Ed.), Identity
Transformation and Identity Politics under Structural Adjustment in
Nigeria . Nordiska Afrikainstitutet and Centre for Research and
Documentation.
National-Bureau-of-Statistics. (2018). ‘Nigeria Crime Statistic’
(June 2018), Reported Offences by Type and State 2017. (The National
Bureau of Statistics, Issue.
http://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary?queries[search]=crime.
Nbete, A. D. (2012). Ogoni as an International Colony: A Critique of
Imperialism, International Journal of Humanities and Social
Science International Journal of Humanities and Social Science,
Special Issue. , 2 (10).
Nigeria-Population. (2019). Nigeria Population (2019-07-11) .
World Population Review: h
ttp://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/nigeria-population/.
Niyi. (2014, 5 February 2014). Tension in Osun as Religious Crisis Looms
in Secondary School. Information Nigeria .
http://www.informationng.com/2014/02/tension-in-osun-as-religious-crisis-looms-in-secondary-school.html
Nolte, I., Rebecca Jones, and, K. T., & Occhiali, G. (2016). Exploring
Survey Data for Historical and Anthtopological Research: Muslim –
Christian Relations in Southwest Nigeria. African Affairs ,115 (460).
O’Reilly, M. (2016). Inclusive Security and Peaceful Societies Exploring
the Evidence. PRISM , 6 (1), 20-33.
Oba, A. A. (2002). Islamic Law as Customary Law: The Changing
Perspective in Nigeria. The International and Comparative Law
Quarterly , 51 (4), 817-850.
Obiezu, T. (2019). Nigerian Authorities Launch Campaign Against
Open Defecation . Voice of America (VOA). <https://www.voanews.com/africa/nigerian-authorities-launch-campaign-against-open-defecation