Herwa CDI has been a key partner of the British Council in implementing projects under the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) and the Managing Conflict in North East Nigeria (MCN) to enhance community early warning and response and encourage reintegration of people affected by the insurgency.
Background
Understanding the conflict dynamics at the outset of the project is of paramount importance, a baseline analysis in the project areas indicated that the Boko Haram insurgency, political thuggery, drug abuse, and other vices had compromised community governance and social structure. The traditional institutions were identified as playing an important role in dispute resolution but it fails to reach their full potential due to their poor capacity and technical expertise. This is despite massive intervention by development partners.
The project was meant to anticipate, analyze and resolve conflicts in the project area peacefully before they become violent. The project adopted advocacy initiatives, regular dialogue meetings, town hall meetings, and community sensitization to highlight and resolve community issues and concerns through dialogue.
Farmers’ and herders’ disputes, youth restiveness related to politics, irregular adoption practices, child abuse/abduction, and drug abuse were among the key conflict categories in the intervention areas. All of these issues were typically reported to traditional authorities, who were limited in their ability to analyze the conflict.
Objective
The overall objective of the MCN program is to enhance state and community-level conflict management capability to prevent the escalation of conflict into violence in selected locations in North Eastern Nigeria
- To strengthen community early warning and response
- Promote reintegration of persons affected by the insurgency.
To facilitate effective management, documentation of results, and lessons and facilitate processes for the sustainability of the Community Peace and Safety Partnership (CPSP) in Jere, MMC, Biu Bayo, and Kwaya Kusar LGAs, Borno State.
Implementation Strategy
The project’s implementation strategies included engaging with key community stakeholders, holding Pre and Post project-planning meetings, monthly CPSP meetings in the focal LGAs, implementing agreed action points, documenting results and challenges, disseminating results, training replicated CPSPs at the community level, documenting lessons learned, and advocating for policy and practice change. As an exit strategy, the project has prepared ahead of time to guarantee that the project’s gains are made sustainable by ensuring that stakeholders have committed to continuing to support the platform and its aims well into the future.
Locations of Deliverables:
The Herwa CDI CPSP intervention in MMC, Jere, Biu, Bayo, and Kwaya Kusar LGAs was funded by the EU and supported by the British Council Managing Conflicts in Nigeria Program.
| Activities | Jere | Kwaya Kusar | Bayo | Biu | MMC |
| Advocacies | 15 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 3 |
| CPSP Meetings | 38 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| Town Hall | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Initiative; Round Table Meetings | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sub-Committee Meetings | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Handover event | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Action Points/Arising Issues
| Location | Issues received | Issues Mitigated | Issues Referred |
| MMC | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Jere | 26 | 26 | 0 |
| Biu | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Kwaya | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Bayo | 10 | 10 | 0 |
Stakeholders Reached
Disaggregation by Gender
Results of the Activities
- Trained 37 community peace platforms.
- 8 Memorandum of Understanding have been signed between conflicting parties
- 2 communique were signed and implemented
- Facilitated 5 LGA policy changes
- Disarmed more than 250 violent youth groups in Ngomari Costain and Gomari Airport
- Engaged more than 2500 people in an initiative that bridges divides, virtually (in terms of video conferences, WhatsApp calls) and physically.
- Reached more than 350,000 people with peace and policy change information (through print circulars, MoU, Market places, media houses, and social gatherings).
Policy and Practice Change
Regulation of Mandiri Music band and DJ (in Jere and MMC LGAs)
The Mandiri Musical Groups and political thugs in Jere have been identified by stakeholders as the main drivers of bloody fights in the LGA. To re-establish peace in the LGA, the Jere LGA CPSP platform discussed extensively the recurrent attacks which are associated with the hosting of Mandiri musical performances across Jere and Environs. Through a high-level advocacy visit to the Executive Chairman (Late Honourable Umar Jidda Tom), the Jere CPSP platform successfully convinced the Chairman to publicly pronounce the banning of the staging of any Mandiri Musical performances across Jere LGA early in January 2022. The pronouncement was viewed by stakeholders as the most significant measure to control youth gangsterism and violence across Jere LGA of Borno State. Currently, all Mandiri and other types of musical performances in Jere LGA must be approved by the DPO, the ward head. Security at the venue of the performances is provided by the Police and CJTF members in the community.
Consensus over hate preaching by the Major religious leaders in Kwaya Kusar LGA of Borno State
As a result of the consensus reached by all religious leaders in Kwaya Kusar LGA, a widely accepted arrangement has been reached by all religious leaders that all visiting preachers must report to the chief Imam of Kwaya Kusar to be briefed on the dos and don’t for preaching in the area agreed by the CPSP platform. Similarly, for the followers of the Christian Faith, visiting preachers must also get written permission from the CAN chairman before preaching. The religious leaders have all agreed that there shall be no more hate preaching among the resident religious leaders. The security Agencies in the area have agreed to treat any contravention of the consensus as an offense.
MoU signed between farmers and herders, which serves as a guide to manage future conflicts.
Considering the importance of preventing Farmers and Herders conflict, The project has successfully engaged the two parties to sign a memorandum of understanding to govern the farming and animal-rearing activities in Bayo and Kwaya Kusar LGAs. The practice change has enabled the Youths among the herders to form themselves into groups that now advocate newly arriving herders on how to conduct themselves and the new measures that have been put in place to prevent bloody conflict in the project areas. The practice has been welcomed by all stakeholders in the LGAs including the Emir of Biu and the two Council Chairmen.
Beneficiaries’ feedback from the focal LGA
Bayo:
- Idrisa Sule Balbaya (0803662151) has confirmed that since the intervention by the CPSP platform on the concern over the use of land/water by the migration patterns of the Fulani pastoralists, no case of destruction of farmland reported by the farmers
Jere:
- I am happy that many violent youths were transformed, some of them have joined the Nigeria Army and police service. Most of the youths have also started trading and skill work……… Zanna Lawan Shuaibu
Kwaya Kusar:
- Steps have been taken to stop the occurrence of conflicts between the farmers and the Herders. For example, in recent weeks, the CPSP Chairman, and conflicting party leaders paid an advocacy visit to the Executive Chairman of Kwaya-kusar LGA to discuss how to tackle the seasonal clashes between farmers and herders. With respect to the above initiative, feedback from the Emir of Biu has quoted the Emir as having said, ‘‘this is the first time that people from his Emirate have come together to suggest measures to be taken to forestall the possible occurrence of farmers/Herders conflict within the Emirate.’’
Sustainability
Replication of The Community Peace Safety and Platform
Desirous of leaving behind a viable and sustainable structure to promote peace in the project area, the project has trained 57 community leaders (12 from Jere, 22 from Bayo, and 20 from Kwaya Kusar LGAs) were trained to replicate the CPSP platforms in Jere and Bayo LGAs. The 37 platforms are all functional in their respective communities. They have to date reported been sending their reports to the which are duly filed with the MCN program. Good practice by the replicated platforms is that they are properly documenting their proceedings.
Furnishing of Two Community Dialogue Centres to Contribute to Peacebuilding in MMC
Following an advocacy visit to the Chairman of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council in August 2022, the project discovered that the Council has already constructed 9 no community Dialogue Centres in 9 wards of MMC. According to the Chairman, the Centres are to serve as an avenue for conflict resolution in the respective wards. The Centres will also be available to Development partners free of charge to carry out their community engagement activities. The Chairman concluded by asking for assistance from the British Council/MCN program. The request was approved and two out of the nine centers were furnished. The Executive Governor of Borno State is expected to commission all the centers soon.
Lessons Learnt
- The lack of citizens’ trust in traditional institutions undermines conflict management response efforts, including implementations of circulars and MoUs.
- NGO respondents often enjoy higher levels of trust than government actors
- Diversity in and collaboration between response stakeholders can improve trust.
- Community-led structures are better recognized by government stakeholders.
Recommendation/Conclusion
The introduction of the Community Peace Safety platform was thus a positive development in all the communities where the project is being implemented because it introduced effective methods of conflict resolution while also utilizing untapped local resources prior to the project’s commencement.
It will be critical to replicate this project in other areas, particularly newly resettled towns, due to the current ongoing reintegration of ex-combatants, the transition of political power (upcoming elections), youth restiveness, and so on.