‘I Respect My Imam, But I Can’t Fight Even if He Tells Me to Fight. I am Peaceful for Myself and My Family’: Are We Overestimating Religion in Peace Dynamics?

Ossai, Emmanuel Chiwetalu

doi:10.1080/09596410.2021.1893998

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 54 publications

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“…6 Several extant studies also revealed that other prominent religious clerics, such as Ustaz Yusuf Inuwa, the late Sheikh Abba Aji, Sheikh Dahiru Usman, and the Supreme Head of the Islamic Council of Nigeria-the Sultan of Sokoto, continue to counter and denounce the various hateful and extremist messages of Boko Haram, describing their actions as not only being barbaric, but as acts of evil that should not be condoned and allowed to continue (see Olojo 2013;Clubb and Tapley 2018;Nnam et al 2018). Recent studies further revealed that leaders of faith-based organizations continue to collaborate and provide platforms, alongside civil society organizations, that counter the various radical messages used by Boko Haram, intended to perpetuate their ideology (Olojo 2020;Ossai 2021). Moreover, the FBOs continue to engage with other sectors in venturing into the acquisition of various skills such as tailoring, artisanship, apprenticeship, and other technical vocations in order to reduce youth restiveness, and also to prevent them from being targets of recruitment by Boko Haram.…”

Section: What Are the Efforts Of Faith-based Organizations In Counter-radicalization In Nigeria: The Boko Haram Challenge?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Counter-Radicalization in Nigeria: The Case of Boko Haram

2021

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This article examines the role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in counter-radicalization in Nigeria, with emphasis on the Boko Haram terrorist group operating in northeast Nigeria and the greater Lake Chad region. A qualitative methodological approach is employed that makes use of primary and secondary documents, key informant and stakeholder interviews, and focus group discussions with critical religious actors and organizations. The findings of the article suggest that FBOs play a critical role in the disengagement and deradicalization process of countering the ideological and radical messages of Boko Haram. However, challenges such as the lack of effective stakeholder involvement in the various initiatives by the state in counterterrorism, fear of reprisal and attacks, lack of unison by various FBOs and clerics in countering these negative messages, and the inability of relevant stakeholders in addressing structural factors such as poverty, social and economic exclusion, and unemployment that give rise to radicalization amongst other challenges, have impeded the effectiveness of the FBO sector in its counter-radicalization efforts in Nigeria. To address these challenges, the article proposes a bottom-up approach to counterterrorism that provides room for the multi-sectoral involvement of major stakeholders, especially FBOs, to complement pre-existing initiatives and other measures to counter the negative weaponization of religion by radical and rogue clerics, and also to prevent Boko Haram from expanding its frontiers.

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Section: What Are the Efforts Of Faith-based Organizations In Counter-radicalization In Nigeria: The Boko Haram Challenge?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Counter-Radicalization in Nigeria: The Case of Boko Haram

2021

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The Social Dynamics of Peaceful Christian–Muslim Relations in Nigeria

Ossai

2024

Religion Compass

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With roughly equal Christian and Muslim populations, Nigeria has experienced various degrees of Christian–Muslim conflict. However, numerous Nigerian Christians and Muslims coexist peacefully. With Scopus and Web of Science, this study finds that recent studies which explored concrete cases of peaceful Christian–Muslim relations in Nigeria are minimal. Previous research has examined the collaborative de‐escalation of tensions in violence‐prone communities; partnerships among the informally employed; positive interfaith encounters amid crises; peaceful relations in Yorubaland; and cooperation between Christian and Shia Muslim minorities in the north. The studies show that civilian agency, political power‐sharing, and inclusive governance have enabled peace.

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COVID-19 and Peace in Conflict-Affected Areas

Ossai

2022

Encyclopedia

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The relationship between COVID-19 and peace has been considered from a variety of perspectives. In addition, different empirical studies on the link between the pandemic and peace in conflict-affected areas exist. However, little work has been performed on examining these studies to highlight key findings on the theme of COVID-19 and peace in conflict-affected areas. A conflict-affected area is a country, or part of a country, where widespread violence or armed conflict was present when COVID-19 emerged in December 2019, or that was transitioning from recent armed conflict to peace by the time the disease arose. What do we know, so far, about how peace has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in conflict-affected areas? To address this question, this paper begins by recognizing the multidimensionality of peace and clarifying that the main aspects of peace in conflict-affected areas being considered in the article are relations between conflict parties, peace efforts, and peace processes. Afterwards, the paper discusses existing evidence regarding the impact of COVID-19 and state responses to it on these components of peace in conflict-affected areas. The conflict-affected areas considered include Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria, the Philippines, Yemen, and other zones. The central finding of the article is that the existing studies on COVID-19 and peace in conflict-affected areas present mixed findings. On the one hand, the virus generated opportunities for cooperation between conflict parties in some cases, such as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip of Israel-Palestine. However, on the other hand, it created conditions that enabled conflict and impeded peace efforts and processes in many or most conflict-affected areas. The paper explains that two factors that determined how the disease affected peace in conflict-affected and non-conflict-affected areas are the pre-COVID-19 political and socio-economic conditions in an area, and how state and non-state actors responded to the pandemic. The article closes with a summary of the discussion and identification of its major limitations.

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‘I Respect My Imam, But I Can’t Fight Even if He Tells Me to Fight. I am Peaceful for Myself and My Family’: Are We Overestimating Religion in Peace Dynamics?

Cited by 3 publications

References 54 publications

The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Counter-Radicalization in Nigeria: The Case of Boko Haram

The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Counter-Radicalization in Nigeria: The Case of Boko Haram

The Social Dynamics of Peaceful Christian–Muslim Relations in Nigeria

COVID-19 and Peace in Conflict-Affected Areas

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