Education for Peace and Justice in Nigeria: A Critical Analysis 1999 – 2015

Abstract

The arrays of violent conflicts in Nigeria, and government’s reaction to them, through the application of adversarial
hard powe, call for a review of governments, conflict handling styles. Since the advent of civilian administration in
1999, education for peace and justice has not got the required impetus, and it should be at the bedrock of any
developing country’s master plan. The theory of pacifism, coined by the French peace campaigner, Emile Armand
(2016), that peaceful, rather than violent or belligerent relations should govern human intercourse, was applied. This
paper observed the prevalence of conflict in Nigeria, ranging from ethic and relations violence, Niger Delta crises,
Boko Haram insurgency, communal conflicts, political violence, kidnapping, as well as the bombardment of courts
with political litigations among others. Lack of awareness of other non-adversarial methods of resolving conflicts has
led to its unabatedness, which has cost the country so much loss in human and material resources.
This paper recommends that education peace and justice should be designed in a number of ways such as in
workshop and awareness campaigns. The formal channels must be well staffed with people grounded in peace and
conflict studies, to be complemented with train-the trainers approach, in order to ensure suitable knowledge transfer.
Government must exhibit good governance. As the level of illiteracy is high in the country, informal education for
peace and justice must be given greater emphasise. The use of internet and other means of information technology
will promote the dissemination of education for peace and justice in Nigeria.