Violent conflict between native communities and migrant herdsmen is one of Nigeria’s most ubiquitous security challenges in the age of climate change. It accounts for an increasing number of human and material losses which is not only surpassed by the country’s ongoing counter-insurgency, but also threatens unity among its regions. It has therefore gained attention in the legislative arm of government. In response, lawmakers mainly of northern Nigeria extraction have proposed a Grazing Bill which seeks to expand and legalize nationwide access to grazing land for pastoral farmers in defiance to agitation in host communities for legislative protection. A cardinal principle of federalism is the premium placed on preservation of local interests that are peculiar to component units while harnessing strength in areas of concerns common to federating units. Against the backdrop of Nigeria’s federal system and its social, ecological and historical diversity, this paper examines the implications of the proposed Grazing Bill for managing farmer-herder conflict. It argues that frameworks which downplay the country’s diversity will further aggravate conflicts and insecurity in the fragile federation. The paper therefore advocates for sedentary system of cattle ranching.
The Niger Delta region in Nigeria is
Thus, the discriminatory tendencies over the years have led to buildup of accumulated grievances and tension among the Egungun worshippers in Kisi and the constant violence was just a trigger of long years of anger, frustration and animosity. The crises usually lead to death, disruption of economic activities and destruction of properties worth millions of Naira. Nigeria is prone to conflicts owing to Abstract: The Nigerian history is laced with obstinate conflicts mostly constructed around differences in political, cultural, ethnic and religious identities. There has been an upsurge in such conflicts since May 29 1999. While much of the conflicts revolve around struggles for the political control, others are hegemonic religion contests that are usually driven by fanaticism and involve claims or denial of the rights to use public spaces for religious purposes. The contestation is wide spread and involves Christianity, Islam and Traditional Religion Worshipers. The paper focuses on religion conflicts involving Muslims and Egungun (Masquerade) Worshipers in Kisi, Irepo Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. The study utilized descriptive approach to examine the implications of religious fanaticism for citizenship and conflicts in Nigeria. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The study revealed that in Kisi, some "Muslim fanatics" see and treat public spaces as the exclusive preserve of their religion and thus block the Egungun worshipers from using them for their annual festivals. The forceful resistance usually results to conflicts with severe consequences. The paper recommends continuous inter-faith peace dialogue and intensification of formal and informal civic education on religious tolerance in Nigeria.
Democracy as a concept has become a common term among the generality of Nigerian citizens as a result of its frequent usage in the media. Although in the real sense of it, it has brought little dividends to Nigerians. In spite of its popular acceptance as the most favourable form of government in the world, the media in Nigeria has portrayed democracy in an uninspiring manner because of the greed, corruption and nepotism of Nigerian politicians thereby making the political communication of democracy as government of the people by the people and for the people unimpressive. Therefore, this paper examines the linkage between the media and democratic governance in Nigeria. It seeks to understand the ills that the media had caused to the democratic governance in Nigeria through sensational coverage of political events. The paper relied on secondary sources of data collection; and it is descriptive and explanatory in nature. The study anchored on Political Communication theory and Agenda-Setting theory to explain the influence of the media on democracy. The findings showed that Nigerian media is faced with myriads of challenges in fulfilling its duty as the watchdog of the society due to the issue of ownership, economic problem, and lack of adherence to professional ethics. It therefore recommended that adequate training that will reflect the ethics of the profession be given to media practitioners and other relevant stakeholders. Also, media practitioners including owners of medial houses should be exposed to an all-embracing political education that will enhance medial professionalism and appreciation of democratic values in Nigeria.
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