Communal Conflicts in Central Nigeria: A Political Ecology Perspective

Okoli, Al Chukuma; Nnabuihe, Onyekachi E.

doi:10.1007/978-981-13-8215-4_7

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Hence, we find support for political ecology studies arguing that resources scarcity or ethnicity is not the main driver of the FHCs (Benjaminsen & Ba 2009;Benjaminsen & Ba 2019, 2021. From the Nigerian perspective, our study supports Okoli and Nnabuihe (2019) argument that the antagonistic ethnic, religious, sectional, or clannish relations are not the root causes of communal conflicts in Nigeria. It partially supports Vanger (2015) that herders' insurgency on farmers is produced by encroaching on farms, resource competition, climate change, and farmers' resistance to farm encroachment and crop damage.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…A very few studies of FHCs adopting the PEF in Nigeria focused on other regions. While Okoli and Atelhe (2014), Okoli and Nnabuihe (2019) and (Vanger 2015) have examined the political ecology of the FHCs in Central Nigeria, there is no such study in the SEN. Adopting a political PEF, we show how moral wrongs interact with indigeneity to produce FHCs in SEN.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Moral wrongs, indigeneity and the enactment of farmer-herder conflicts violence in South-Eastern Nigeria

Nwankwo

Okafor

2021

GeoScape

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Existing studies of the farmer-herder conflicts (FHCs) in Nigeria have not explored the political ecology of the conflict in South-Eastern Nigeria (SEN). Using the political ecology framework (PEF), the paper examines the nature of the FHCs in Nimbo and Awgu areas in SEN. Data were collected through field observations and in-depth interviews. The paper shows that resource scarcity or reduced farming and grazing spaces did not engender violent FHCs in the study area. Instead, actions of the actors that are perceived to be morally wrong are critical. Allegations of moral transgression such as rape, kidnapping by herders and claims that a herder was used as a sacrifice by villagers triggered the violent episode. The pastoralists are discriminated against on the ground of indigenous belonging only after being alleged to have morally transgressed by kidnapping and raping women. However, on the ground that a herder was allegedly used as a sacrifice, they felt also wronged. While the herders are discriminated against based on their non-belonging in the community because they are not indigenous, they have mount resistance by emphasising their citizenship rights and using force to maintain access to grazing spaces, thereby amplifying the farmer-herder tensions. Thus, while identity has contributed to the FHCs violence, moral wrongs enacted and amplified it. The paper contributes to the literature by arguing that while what triggers FHCs may be moral wrongs, moral transgressions can heighten identity constructions that get implicated in practices of exclusion.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral wrongs, indigeneity and the enactment of farmer-herder conflicts violence in South-Eastern Nigeria

Nwankwo

Okafor

2021

GeoScape

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“…These conflicts not only distorted peace, harmony, and peaceful coexistence, but also led to the loss of lives and properties and the total breakdown of trust amongst the people (Adesote and Peters 2015). This has not only broken societal trust, but has also created a sharp division between the people along religious lines (Okoli and Nnabuihe 2019). Therefore, the breakdown of societal trust, conflict, and insecurity not only affect democracy and peace, but also undermine all the principles and ideals of democracy and peace that people seek to advocate.…”

Section: How Does Religion Undermine Democracy and Peace? The Nigeria...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Democracy, Peace, and Religion in Nigeria: Can Religion Be Used to Consolidate or Undermine Democracy and Peace?

Jatau,

Maza

2023

Religions

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This study looks at the relationships between religion, democracy, and peace. It is based on this premise that this article examines how religion is used to consolidate democracy and promote peace in societies, using Nigeria as its framework of analysis. Using the qualitative method of analysis where emphasis is placed on primary and secondary documents, which involve articles, reports, and newspaper articles triangulating with key informant interviews (KIIs) and stakeholder analysis, the findings of this article suggest that religion plays a significant role in the consolidation of democracy and peace given its important place in advocating some principles and ideals of democracy, which involve equity, fairness, freedom, pluralism, respect for diversities, and defending minority rights, amongst others. However, challenges associated with the weaponization of religion to pursue selfish political agenda and interests by both religious and political elites in Nigeria has become more of a norm than what is expected between both variables. This has helped in the creation of a hostile and unstable political environment, and in the pervasion of democratic and political institutions and agencies responsible for promoting accountable leadership, good governance, representative governance, political interference, and repressive policies, limiting the rights and freedoms of citizens who continue to impede the enhancement of a strongly consolidated democratic culture and peace in transition democracies such as Nigeria. This article suggests the need for relevant actors to ensure that institutions of the state are strengthened to provide the dividends of democracy. This can be achieved by addressing the challenge of the negative use of religion by the elites to advance unholy political interests and agenda. It is also important to create machinery to address the structural problems that breed poverty; political, economic, and social exclusion; and human rights abuses, limiting political and electoral freedoms. Addressing these challenges also requires relevant stakeholders and actors to understand that the process is multi-pronged, which also requires acknowledging, accommodating, and accepting individual and group diversities and, above all, requires the patience and the political will of these actors to ensure its actualization. Addressing these concerns will significantly strengthen and enhance the consolidation of democracy and peace in fragile and transition societies.

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“…In Zamfara and Katsina states, crime lords sympathetic to nomadic Fulani herders have been at war with some settled farming communities and their vigilantes (Okoli and Ugwu, 2019). In the Benue–Taraba axis, forces loyal to Gana have been involved in the internecine Jukun–Tiv communal conflagrations (Okoli and Nnabuihe, 2019). In addition to their involvement in communal conflicts, crime lords have often rented out their mercenary services as combatants fighting for communal groups in places other than their own operational domains (Okoli and Lenshie, 2018).…”

Section: ‘Crimelordism’ In Nigeria: Implications For National Securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Crimelordism’: Understanding a New Phenomenon in Armed Banditry in Nigeria

Okoli

Abubakar

2021

Journal of Asian and African Studies

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Armed banditry is prevalent in Nigeria. It has competed with insurgency for the soul of Nigeria’s national security. Contemporary trajectories of armed banditry in Nigeria have been full of complications. One of the complications is the emergence of crime lords who engage in a self-aggrandizing but also socially sensitive criminal career. This paper seeks to explore the phenomenon of ‘crimelordism’ as a new trend in armed banditry in Nigeria. Utilizing a mixed qualitative method, the paper posits that the prevalence of grossly under-governed territorial spaces, especially in the countryside and borderlands of Nigeria, has created a vacuum of security that is being exploited by criminal kingpins to establish enclaves of criminality where they wield and exercise quasi-territorial powers. The paper submits that ‘crimelordism’ holds critical implications for Nigeria’s national security in view of its ruinous impacts.

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Communal Conflicts in Central Nigeria: A Political Ecology Perspective

Cited by 11 publications

References 7 publications

Moral wrongs, indigeneity and the enactment of farmer-herder conflicts violence in South-Eastern Nigeria

Moral wrongs, indigeneity and the enactment of farmer-herder conflicts violence in South-Eastern Nigeria

Democracy, Peace, and Religion in Nigeria: Can Religion Be Used to Consolidate or Undermine Democracy and Peace?

‘Crimelordism’: Understanding a New Phenomenon in Armed Banditry in Nigeria

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