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On January 22, 2009 Coexistence International sponsored a seminar entitled "Faith, Ethnicity, and Governance: Coexistence Sensitive Policy and Partnerships in
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Framed by a belief that the lens of coexistence can help promote more inclusive, participatory and sustainable governance in divided communities in Nigeria, the seminar convened 56 participants who work on issues of interfaith conflict, conflict prevention, and governance in Nigeria. Participants are leaders in their field, and included members of the Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives, advocates from the Muslim and Christian communities, representatives from national and international non-governmental organizations, and conflict resolution experts from the United States.
In panel discussions, plenary sessions, and small group work, seminar participants explored interfaith conflict along the Muslim/Christian divide and how government public policy, non-governmental organizations, and civil society activities impact the ability of the two communities to coexist.
The seminar objectives included: (1) identification of specific government policies and faith-based civil society activities that have positively or negatively impacted inter-faith coexistence in Nigeria; (2) surfacing of specific reasons why these efforts have had the impact they have had; (3) identification of policy goals around social inclusion for the Nigerian government including advocacy objectives for faith-based CSOs that can contribute to positive coexistence and broaden all faiths’ sense of social inclusion; and (4) fostering future collaboration between CSOs of different faiths with each other, government officials, international bodies, and other key policy actors.
The first panel included members of religious institutions and faith-based civil society organizations, and the second included presentations from members of the Nigerian legislature and representatives from governance-focused civil society. During these panels and the discussion that followed, a range of issues were raised.
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Though a diversity of opinions were shared, some common questions and issues emerged generating the most discussion. Among others, these included: 1) weak leadership in the federal government – political leaders often exploit religious differences or hide behind scripture, actively contributing to tensions; 2) questions of personal and national identity – is one a Muslim/Christian first, or a Nigerian first? Similarly, is Nigeria’s national identity secular or sectarian? How one answers these questions impacts how the faiths relate to one another; 3) response to crises after-the-fact instead of taking action to prevent crises proactively; 4) the use or abuse of scripture both by faith community and political leaders to antagonize constituents and increase the divide.
Following the panel discussions, participants met in small groups for further discussion and to develop recommendations for strengthening a more positive vision of Christian and Muslim communities coexisting with one another. Though some of the specific recommendations were considered debatable by some participants nor wholly accepted as solutions by all, they represent first steps in a direction of continued dialogue. Some of the recommendations included: eliminating the indigenization policy; instituting an early warning and early response system; increasing local control of police forces; and developing government policies that view citizens as Nigerians, not whether they are Muslim or Christian. One key success of the seminar was not only the surfacing of these issues and the development of recommendations, but also the respectful and healthy dialogue participants shared despite their disagreements.
The seminar built upon research undertaken by Coexistence International (CI) on the extent to which coexistence-sensitive programming (i.e. conflict management and peace building processes) is incorporated into the policies and activities of organizations working on democracy and governance. A workshop report will be available on this website shortly.
For more information on the seminar, please contact Coexistence International at coexistenceintl@brandeis.edu
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