The urgent need to critically examine the challenges posed by ethnic and religious xenophobia in Nigeria, strengthen existing structures and put in place new mechanisms to promote ethnic diversity and religious tolerance in the country is what informed this project. A series of important questions demanding urgent and effective answers included: What are the underlying and root causes of religious and ethnic bigotry in the country? Why is it that successive governments have not been able to address this problem effectively? Who are forces behind the perennial ethnic and religious violence, which has caused so much havoc in the country? What can the Nigerian government do to promote good neighbourliness and stem the infiltration of religious fundamentalists from other countries to foment trouble in the country? How can we beat the ethno-religious swords, which have cost so much havoc in the country, into ploughshares, etc?  Finding lasting answers to these questions would involve the efforts of government and civil society forces both inside and outside the country. It is imperative to create effective channels of communication and to embark upon extensive public education and sensitization programs that would emphasize the virtues of a multi-ethnic society.

Locations

• Kaduna State: (Kabala West, Tudun Wada); Kano State: (Fagge and Tarauni LGAs).

Sector/Area

• Conflict.

Sponsor

• Ford Foundation.

Outcomes/Achievements

1. This project brought various community groups together to discuss the very sensitive issues of religion and ethnicity that lie behind many of the ‘civil unrest’ in Nigeria.

Project Files