Religion, Identity and Conflict in Northern Nigeria
Conflict in northern Nigeria is once again on the rise. For more than three decades, clashes between different ethnoreligious communities have killed thousands of people, displaced countless others and wreaked havoc on local markets and livelihoods. From intercommunal conflicts and pastoralist-farmer violence in the Middle Belt to banditry in the Northwest, the most recent round of violence threatens to further destabilize the country and region if effective measures to prevent and mitigate conflict are not implemented.
On September 9, USIP and Mercy Corps hosted a discussion of new research and evidence that examines the complex linkages between the political, economic and identity-based conflicts that are driving broader conflict in northern Nigeria — as well as the implications for policy and programmatic interventions. The conversation paid particular attention to the multiple overlapping cleavages related to identity (including ethnicity and religion) and livelihood activities (such as farming and pastoralism) that continue to animate violence in the region.
Continue the conversation on Twitter with #NorthernNigeriaConflict.
Speakers
Oge Onubogu, moderator
Director, West Africa Programs, U.S. Institute of Peace
Kaltumi Abdulazeez
Program Officer, Community Initiative to Promote Peace (CIPP) Program, Interfaith Mediation Center
Jason Klocek
Senior Researcher, Religion and Inclusive Societies, U.S. Institute of Peace
Assistant Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham
Emmanuel Ogbudu
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager, Mercy Corps
Ryan Sheely
Director of Research, Mercy Corps
Mukhtari Shitu
Conflict Program Specialist, USAID
