Fulani Herdsmen and Farmers Conflicts in Nigeria

This chapter explores the media coverage of violent conflicts and climate change issues in Nigeria from the perspective of human rights journalism. Nigeria has had a chequered history of violent conflicts, especially since it achieved self-rule from Britain in 1960. These conflicts have been wide-ranging and cross-cutting (political, ethnic, religious, communal, among others). The Nigerian media have equally had a long history of the coverage of these violent eruptions across the country. However, the mainstream media's approach to the coverage of these issues have tended to be on the physical coverage of the conflicts to, almost, neglect of some of the underlying causative factors, such as climate change. The phenomenon of climate change globally is significant, especially in developing countries, such as Nigeria. In recent times, the threats that are posed by climate change have been enormous. Some communities across the country have been sacked by its devastations, especially from the norther corridors of the country. This has therefore necessitated the forced migration of some of these communities, especially the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle to other parts of the country for greener pasture. This situation always resulted in conflict, which is often violent. This chapter argues that, although the federal government of Nigeria through its Ministry of Environment have come out with programs and policies/initiatives aimed at combating the menace of this phenomenon, and the media, apart from the fact that they have not fully keyed into these programs to step them down for the audience, there is the urgent need for them to review their approaches toward the coverage of these conflicts. This chapter advocates a human-rights-journalism-based approach to the coverage of these conflicts because of its diagnostic approach, which gives a critical reflection of the experiences of the victims of human rights violations in all its ramifications.

Krieg oder Frieden. Auf der Suche nach einem Tertium Datur

There is a consensus on war: violent conflicts are out. But they continue to happen. One likes to exclude violent conflicts and to avoid them. But they could happen. Avoidance of wars appears not be sufficient. International relations presuppose an international anarchy. Anarchy does not exclude wars, but reduces them to exceptions. The present essay attempts to argue in favour of a categorical exclusion of violent conflicts which easily could destroy vital conditions of human survival.

Drug cartels respond to the pandemic

More than 13.6 million Brazilians live in large poor communities known as favelas. Historically, these territories suffer due to social rights insufficiency and violent conflicts orchestrated by the police and the drug cartels. In this context, the dismantling of the public health care system and denialism of the pandemic by the federal government increases the vulnerability within the favelas during the COVID-19 crisis. Although the federal government failed to take up measures to control the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a criminal organization that dominates the trafficking of drugs in several Brazilian favelas, known as Comando Vermelho, instead dictated those protective actions. This study aimed to discuss the ethical aspects of the relationship between primary health care professionals and the drug cartels in order to promote health care in the favelas.

d) Colombia: Extreme Negative Case Study

The vital role of Roman Catholicism in establishing the social, political, institutional, and religious status quo in Colombia is plainly evident and well-documented. Since the Middle Ages, no other country has enforced such a complete integration of church and state (ideal medieval Christendom), as reflected in Colombia’s Concordat. In Colombia, liberal attempts failed repeatedly and resulted in violent conflicts in which the Roman Catholic Church-State closed ranks with conservatives and imposed a corporatist medieval-like state. The largely successful project pursued by the Roman Church-State in Colombia (so-called Christilandia) consists of three pillars: (1) political (a confessional state); (2) economic (a corporatist state); and (3) cultural (a Catholic and conservative “Hispanicism”).In the 1991 Constitution, Protestantism allied itself with liberal forces. This alliance made it possible to finally introduce religious freedom, among others, by removing most of the contentious articles from the Concordat (nevertheless, the Concordat remains valid, as does institutional corporatism). In spite of these reforms, the Colombian government is still required to pay a fee to the Roman See. Religious instruction in public schools according to the Roman Church Magisterium for Catholics also remains firmly in place. Colombia remains one of the most inequitable and dangerous countries in the world.

Economic Impacts of Violent Conflicts in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

The study analysed the impacts of violent conflicts on the economies of rural communities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from the respondents using a structured interview schedule, while focus group discussions (FGD) sessions were employed to assess effects of conflicts on communities. Data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics, alternative resource cost estimation (ARCE) and content analysis while the Likert scale was used to measure the perception of respondents towards the causes of conflicts. There were six (6) major categories of conflicts identified in the area. These categories were communal conflicts, ethnic conflicts, resource conflicts (most often land conflicts), politically motivated conflicts, conflicts due to traditional chieftaincy, and the conflicts between state forces and militia groups. Expansion of agro-pastoralism (4.6) and Extensive sedentism (4.5) were very serious factors that were perceived to lead to conflicts. A total of ₦2,289,859,549 worth 30.28% of the State’s 2018 IGR (Internal Generated Revenue) were lost in these conflicts. It was recommended that laws regarding people with diverse backgrounds and socioeconomic needs and population growth in relation to limited resources should be developed with great care and attention paid to all the parties involved in the process. Participatory approaches to problem identification, conflict management and resolutions need to be established in the communities with regular interactions between and among locals periodically and frequently.

The Politics of Eco-violence: Why Is Conflict Escalating in Nigeria’s Middle Belt?

Competition for natural resources has intensified in recent years between nomadic Fulani herders and sedentary farmers in Nigeria's Middle Belt. What were initially sporadic conflicts over cropland and water resources have transformed into daily occurrences of mass violence. While extant research centres on the root causes of such conflicts, the reasons for their escalation remain insufficiently understood. This article examines how political developments have contributed to the escalation of conflicts in the region. Using Homer-Dixon's model, the findings show that changes in Nigeria's 'political opportunity structure' since 2014 were catalysts for escalating the conflicts. The consequences were the unvarnished adoption of nepotistic domestic policies and alliances between elites and militia members, which escalated the violent conflicts. It advocates the devolution of natural resource and security governance to prevent leaders from leveraging shifts in political opportunity structures to favour a specific demographic group.

Environment-Conflict Nexus: The Relevance of Thomas Homer-Dixons Environmental Conflict Theory in Africa

Using practical examples, the paper examines the relevance of Thomas Homer-Dixons Environmental Conflict Theory within an African context. It outlines that Homer-Dixon’s Environmental Conflict Theory is to some extent valid, but it suffers significant shortfalls that make its applicability and generalizability questionable. The paper has shown that the abundance of resources in Africa contributes more to violent conflicts than their scarcity. Resources in Africa are vast, and so are environmental conflicts. The paper underscores factors that aggravate environmental conflicts such as depletion, degradation, social cleavages, population growth and environmental scarcity and recommend solutions on how they can be redressed.

The Gendered Dimension of Violence and the Role Played by Masculinities in African Conflicts

The paper examines the gendered dimension of violence in violent conflicts. It examines the theoretical position that violence in conflict is more likely to affect women more than men. This argument is emphasised by examining previous conflict contexts around Africa but primarily referring to Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The paper underscores the role played by masculinity in spearheading violence towards women during and after conflict. However, the paper also discusses how men are victims of violence in conflict, albeit at a lower rate than women.