Journal of Global Peace and Conflict

Conflits inter-religieux, associations confessionnelles et construction de la paix dans le bassin sud du Lac Tchad: le cas du Northern Nigeria
Ouba Abdoul-Bâgui, Ph.D

Abstract
The conflicts between the followers of the two main monotheistic religions of Northern Nigeria, Islam and Christianity, have become by their recurrence almost trivial facts. They are, for the most part, the products of the manipulation of religious and political leaders engaged in the pursuit of usually personal goals. The Muslim and Christian masses are then regularly mobilized to satisfy rather private and hidden agendas. Meanwhile, the seriousness and the effects of the clashes ended up calling many actors to the urgency of the dialogue and the necessity of peace. Among these actors, civil society has taken a very active part in promoting peaceful coexistence between groups, through the deployment of strategies and pedagogy that, in the long run, have produced very interesting results. Faith-based associations, Muslim and Christian, have become involved in this endeavor. They have taken initiatives, individually and collectively through inter-religious dialogue. This study has two objectives. At first, she wants to understand the real causes of inter-religious conflicts in Northern Nigeria by taking into account their recurrence and their persistence. In a second step, it analyzes the role played by faith-based associations and governments both in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts between followers of Islam and those of Christianity and in the construction of peace in an area, which obviously, seems to be particularly unstable.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jgpc.v6n1a1