Peace from the people? Identity, community and gender in peacebuilding in Plateau State Nigeria.

This thesis interrogates how intersecting ethnic and religious identities shape everyday experiences of conflict, marginalisation, and peacebuilding in Plateau State, Nigeria. Focusing specifically on Jos North and Jos South, the study explores how long-standing identity-based grievances rooted in questions of belonging, exclusion from political structures, and competition over land and resources contribute to the persistence of violence and the fragility of peace. While Plateau State is popularly referred to as the "Home of Peace and Tourism," this narrative often obscures the historical and structural inequalities that continue to shape communal relations and intergroup tensions. Grounded in a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm, the research prioritises the perspectives of local people from diverse communities who have been directly affected by conflicts in Plateau State. Drawing on data from 17 in-depth interviews and 12 focus group discussions involving 84 participants bringing the total to 101 individuals, including residents, peace actors, and civil society representatives. The thesis foregrounds local voices in order to understand how identity is mobilised, contested, and negotiated in everyday life. It highlights how peace and conflict are not simply outcomes of political processes or formal institutions, but are embedded in daily encounters, spatial arrangements, social memory, and informal governance structures. The thesis employs an Integrated Peacebuilding Approach (IPA) that draws from Conflict Transformation theory, Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Everyday Peace. These frameworks illuminate how structural and relational inequalities intersect with identity constructions to produce both exclusion and resistance. In particular, the analysis shows how local actors make sense of their marginalisation and develop grassroots peace strategies in response to ongoing violence, state failure, and broken trust. The research finds that individuals and communities in Jos North and Jos South adopt multiple strategies to cope with the realities of conflict and insecurity. These includes efforts to protect livelihood, maintain ethnic and religious identity, and engage in various forms of peace-making from everyday interactions that promote tolerance to participation in more structured peacebuilding initiatives. While some strategies focus on safeguarding boundaries such as limiting contact with other groups or reinforcing narratives of belonging others are oriented toward rebuilding trust and restoring communal relations. These varied responses reflect the complexity of navigating life in a contested and fragile environment. Highlighting these simultaneous and layered strategies, the study shows that local actors are not passive victims of conflict, but active agents whose choices reflect both survival needs and aspirations for a more peaceful future. By foregrounding lived experience and centring local knowledge, the thesis contributes to broader debates on identity-based conflict and peacebuilding in deeply divided societies. It argues for a shift from state-centric approaches to those that are responsive to local realities, inclusive of marginalised voices, and attentive to the everyday dynamics through which both violence and peace are produced.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Robert Gordon University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Shoda, Simi Maryam

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• N. Mueller-Hirth and S. Vertigans

• Peacebuilding
• Conflict transformation
• Everyday peace
• Identity-based conflicts
• Intersectionality
• Constructivist-interpretivist
• Nigeria (Plateau State)

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:3217957
https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-3217957

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:3217957