Background: As part of the Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding Fellowship, Christopher O'Connor interviewed Ajayi Ayobamidele and Robert Abuul, employees of Catholic Relief Services Nigeria (CRS Nigeria) directly engaged in the organization’s peacebuilding efforts in Nigeria. Ayobamidele is the team leader for the Peacebuilding, Emergency and Governance Unit and the HIV/AIDS relief transition coordinator. Abuul is a peacebuilding officer. In this interview Ayobamidele and Abuul discuss the role of religious identity and faith-based institutions in Nigerian society, as well as their roles in implementing CRS Nigeria's peacebuilding programs. The following statements are the expressed views of Ajayi Ayobamidele and Robert Abuul and do not necessarily represent the views of Catholic Relief Services.
How did you get involved with Catholic Relief Services (CRS)?
Ayobamidele: I joined CRS in 2004. Prior to this, I consulted for CRS in 2002 in Benue state. I was working on community access to HIV/AIDS information. CRS had a vacancy for their national HIV program, but unfortunately I did not get this job. Despite this setback, consulting for CRS had really sparked my interest, and I started to read more about the organization. During this time I got my M.A. in international relations to improve my resume, making myself a more competitive applicant for any future openings with CRS. In 2004 they had another opening, this time for an emergency preparedness and response position. This time, I got the job. For three years I was a program manager before being promoted to team leader for peacebuilding in 2008.
Why were you drawn to CRS?
Ayobamidele: Prior to getting involved with CRS I had been working with the Catholic Church for sometime as a prison apostolate. At one point I had been training to be a priest. I realized however, that this was not the path for me, but I still wanted to continue in line with the good work of the Catholic Church. CRS offered an opportunity to pursue a career that is guided by Catholic social teachings, specifically solidarity, the common good, and poverty alleviation. Through CRS I knew I would be able to live life daily fulfilling those principles. In brief, CRS’s global objectives align with my own personal objectives in life.
What are the drivers of conflict in Nigeria?
Ayobamidele: Conflict in Nigeria is driven by a whole host of interrelated issues that compound one another. Generally speaking, each of the regions in the country is plagued by a somewhat unique mixture of challenges. In the north, there is political and religious conflict. In the Middle Belt, there is interethnic conflict. The Niger Delta is engulfed in violence because of resource allocation. The South East [geopolitical zone] suffers from high levels of crime. And in the South West there is a struggle between chieftaincies.
How and why is religion tied into conflict in Nigeria?
Ayobamidele: Religion has unfortunately become a yard stick for everything in Nigeria. Appointments and opportunities are dictated by religious identity at times. Since Nigerians strongly identify with their faith, religion can come into play in politics, employment, and even education. It is a very sensitive issue.
What unique contributions do faith-based organizations have to make to peacebuilding efforts in Nigeria that other institutions cannot provide?
Abuul: Faith-based organizations have a tremendous role in Nigeria. We are involved in almost all aspects of development, because the government so often fails to fulfill its obligations to the people. Everyone in Nigeria is a member of one faith or another, so it is quite easy to work through religious organizations. Many Nigerians have more faith in these organizations than in the government, a government often characterized as exploitative and lacking in accountability. All the religions technically promote peace. There is a level of acceptability, of willingness to speak out to religious organizations about problems. This is not true of interactions with the government. The government officials are often viewed as biased, whereas Nigerians are willing to turn to their own religious leaders. Government efforts to promote peace have been weak, whereas religious efforts have attempted to involve all stakeholders so that no one is left out. Politicians also have many interests, not just religion, and not just peace. People are therefore suspect of their true intentions.
How did peacebuilding become a focus area for CRS, which is traditionally viewed as a development organization?
Ayobamidele: Peacebuilding became a core area for CRS Nigeria in 2004. The transition to democracy in Nigeria has been very rocky, and conflict has engulfed almost the entire country at one time or another since the transition. With democracy, people saw a chance to voice their concerns about political and economic marginalization. These issues have long plagued many Nigerians, but under military rule Nigerians had a limited ability to express their grievances. A lot of interrelated sociopolitical and ethno-religious tensions came to a head. For example, northern states started to declare sharia law for everyone, Muslims and Christians alike. In our opinion, enforcing sharia law goes against the secular foundations of Nigeria, especially since no state in Nigeria is 100 percent Muslim, or Christian for that matter.
With these tensions mounting, and with the outbreak of violence from 2001 onwards, CRS decided to organize a strategic planning process in 2004. This process invited partners from all of the Catholic dioceses in Nigeria to help identify the root causes of the widespread violence throughout the country. It ended up turning peacebuilding into a core focus area for CRS, at the same time that governance was emerging as a topic of concern.
Prior to 2004, CRS had just organized emergency response efforts. Since 2004, however, CRS has come to realize the value of an established peacebuilding unit that goes beyond merely responding in an ad hoc fashion. Now we have consistent funding for established operations that work not only to respond to outbreaks of violence, but that also work to prevent the outbreaks in the first place, while also working to reconcile communities in the aftermath.
How have peacebuilding operations evolved within CRS Nigeria?
Ayobamidele: In the developmental stages of the peacebuilding focus, we did not have clear cut strategies, and efforts were largely ad hoc. In 2008, however, CRS established three sectors around which to base the peacebuilding efforts: interethnic and intercommunal dialogue; community-based conflict early warning; early response. Since then, we have added a fourth focus: conflict sensitive planning.
With regards to intercommunal and interethnic dialogue with religious undertones, we initiated a two-year pilot program in Plateau state. This pilot program dealt predominately with two ethnic groups that aligned by religious affiliation. Additionally, we attempted to implement an interreligious dialogue program in Maiduguri, in Borno state, but the project failed as we could not achieve much without buy in from the Muslim majority community. As you might know, Maiduguri was the center of rioting in the wake of the Danish Muhammad cartoon crisis. When we conducted an emergency assessment, the Christians knew that the Muslims would react negatively to the cartoon. Since the Christians were aware of this fact, we thought that we might be able to initiate a dialogue with the Muslim community. Unfortunately, while our Catholic partners were able to mobilize the Christian groups, we were unsuccessful at mobilizing our Muslim counterparts.
Our peacebuilding efforts are now also meant to be viable as both stand-alone programs and as integral portions of our other projects. Realizing the value of our peacebuilding efforts, especially intercommunal dialogue, we have tried to mainstream them into all our development projects.
In 2009 we initiated our community-based conflict early warning system. To prepare for this system, I attended Kofi Annan’s Peacebuilding School, where I studied early warning and early response. After the special training, I designed a proposal for an early warning pilot program that lasted for three months. CRS Nigeria was impressed by the pilot and decided to fund an early warning program for Benue and Kano states for the duration of two years. In Benue the conflict is characterized by interethnic/inter-clan rivalry over resources and land. In Kano the conflict is more political and religious in nature. We wanted to see how early warning networks would work in two different conflict contexts. The project is still in its infancy, and it is arguably too soon to complete a full assessment. As part of the project, we trained community members as conflict monitors. We have expanded the program to eight conflict-prone communities, and so far we have trained 160 conflict monitors. By the end of the second year we hope to have trained 320 conflict monitors. The conflict monitors are mixed by faith, gender, and community. We have equal representation of Muslims and Christians, and 40 percent of the participants are younger women. Having people from different religious groups promotes interaction and increased understanding. The end result is not only that we now have numerous conflict monitors, but that through the process we are also helping to promote interreligious dialogue and cooperation. Additionally, in Plateau state religious leaders have challenged preachers to talk more about tolerance. NGOs are promoting peacebuilding in education (both secular and religious), and youth groups. Women, Muslims, Christians, elderly, youth are all involved.
Does CRS coordinate its peacebuilding activities with other organizations from both the Christian and Muslim communities?
Ayobamidele: CRS’s primary partners are Catholic institutions. We try to get our partners to work with organizations from other faiths to mobilize their followers. Through the 2004-2008 Emergency Preparedness Response Training Project, with the help of our partners we mobilized 10 NGOs mixed by faith and gender in Plateau state. We have tried to build up local participation and buy-in through community mobilization and advocacy. We train all of our partners in these skills so that they can identify key persons from the traditional and religious leadership. If these leaders can be brought on board, it is much easier to mobilize their constituencies, and thus to promote widespread participation from all of the stakeholders in a community.
Abuul: CRS has built an image, an image of an organization that works with other religions. There is always one individual, one leader on the other side that is willing and open to work with someone from a different religion. CRS employs Muslim staff members, and they are invaluable, acting as a bridgehead to the Muslim communities that we seek to work with. Additionally, through the Catholic bishops CRS has representation in the Nigerian Interreligious Council (NIREC). For the most part, the Muslim communities in the north tend to be more accepting of Catholics and Catholic organizations than they are of other Christian churches. The Catholic bishops have a good working relationship with the sultan of Sokoto. This relationship is the result of personal connections and possibly similarities in religious doctrine. In Jos there is also considerable coordination between Catholics and Muslims as the local emir and the bishop have consistently worked together.
How would you assess the general level of interreligious cooperation as it relates to peacebuilding efforts in Nigeria?
Ayobamidele: Let us start with the Nigerian Interreligious Council. NIREC is one initiative that has sought to build bridges between the Muslim and Christian community in Nigeria. Unfortunately, it is widely viewed as dependent on the government for resources, which are not always forthcoming. Consequently, NIREC is viewed as a toothless dog, all bark and no bite. NIREC has the religious leadership meeting at the federal level, but this level of cooperation is not replicated down at the local community level. There is a lack of integration and coordination at the community level where this violence is actually occurring. There is a disconnect between the coordinated efforts at the top level and the disjointed efforts at the community level. Currently, I am unaware of any efforts to further streamline and integrate these efforts across the board so that they do penetrate down to the local community level. Recently, CRS applied for a grant to fund an effort to remedy this coordination problem, but unfortunately our application was rejected.
You mentioned that CRS’s religious affiliation imposes limitations on the scope of your work. Could you elaborate on these limitations?
Ayo: Only in the north do we ever run into issues with our work.
Abuul: In some areas Christians and Muslims intermarry. Family functions, weddings, and social events are attended by members of both faiths. In the north this is not the case. Muslims have traditionally been more tolerant in the southern states and less tolerant in the northern states.
Ayobamidele: Christians in Nigeria are more tolerant and more accepting than Muslims from the north. Religion’s role in society varies depending on the state. What is happening with religion in the north in many ways is deliberate, but Muslims elsewhere are not as hostile towards Christians.
Abuul: In the north, religion is used as a political weapon. It is used as a weapon to entrench the historically privileged, to maintain the status quo. Religion is used to ensure that select elite remain in control of the political, economic, and security apparatuses. The current state of the Nigerian military is a reflection of this manipulation of religion.
Right now in areas where the population is evenly split between Christians and Muslims, however, both sides are willing to work for a better and more peaceful solution. In Muslim majority areas we run into issues with our work.
Ayobamidele: Even in areas of relative religious parity, cooperation is hard-won and fragile. Initially we had issues establishing links with Muslim organizations in implementing our programs. There was a level of resistance fueled by a suspicion that as a Christian organization we were really there to seek converts. In some of the areas in which we are working, churches have been bombed and demolished. Officials have denied churches permits for construction. These officials have also stripped numerous churches of their certificates of occupancy, necessary for operations. Furthermore, Christians have been displaced, with indigenous Christian minorities suffering political and economic marginalization. We have made progress, but we do have setbacks even now. It is still difficult to coordinate efforts at times, most especially during the height of a conflict. This is one reason in particular that we have placed so much emphasis on conflict prevention in our work. Without cooperation from both sides however, we will get nowhere.
How will recent political developments affect CRS’s Peacebuilding work?
Ayobamidele: The steps that Goodluck Jonathan has taken since assuming the presidency appear to be in the right direction for Nigeria on the political, economic, and social fronts. I hope he continues along this path. I am cautiously optimistic because he has signaled that he is concerned with the needs of both Nigeria and Nigerians. He has set up a committee to look at the electrical grid system, showing that he is concerned about the development of the state. Furthermore, Nigerians in general approve of his appointee for chairman of the Independent National Election Committee, viewing him as an honest broker. On the legislative front, President Jonathan has pushed for approval of an anti-terror bill in the Senate, while also working to provide assistance to the post-amnesty programs established by his predecessor for reformed former militants. There is even a level of support for him at the community level in northern states. Despite these developments, many politicians are involved in politics for their own good, and these few will continue to hold the nation captive until we have a reformed political system with greater accountability. These corrupt politicians do not want things to change for the better, because they benefit from the status quo. They want to continue to feed on the fat presented by political opportunities.
What are some important lessons that you have learned from your work?
Ayobamidele:
- First and foremost, the lesson that most stands out from my work is the importance of involving women in the peacebuilding and reconciliation work. Without them we can achieve very little.
- In most cases it is absolutely vital to involve both the religious and the traditional leadership. While they are often secondary stakeholders they are very influential in their respective communities.
- Peacebuilding requires a big-tent approach. It is important to have buy-in from a wide range of stakeholders.
- Do no harm. It is vital that our work only have a positive impact. We try to ensure that all of our programs, both peacebuilding and otherwise, are extraordinarily conflict-sensitive. We do not want to improperly train people and end up being responsible for additional conflict. Peacebuilding must be integrated into all development programs.
- Look for commonalities. For all that divides us, there is much more that unites us.
- Everyone needs to focus more on the community level of their work. Much is being done at the higher levels, but this is not being replicated in local communities.
- It is imperative that we differentiate between peacebuilding training and peacebuilding activities. More emphasis needs to be placed on activities. We must be able to give resources to those who need them. Resources often get held up with the middlemen, when they could be best used to fund the development of local action plans that have the most potential for positive and constructive impact in local communities.