The Ife-Modakeke Conflict Resolution Program
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In the aftermath of Kaduna's May 2000 communal riots that left thousands dead, OTI supported a program to promote reconciliation and coexistence between Christians and Muslims. A media campaign using posters, T-shirts, and radio spots and organized by an inter-faith consortium, reminded followers of both faiths that they are called to live in peace.
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Conflict between the Ife and Modakeke in Nigeria's Osun State has been going on for over 150 years. Past attempts by police committees, state committees, and even presidential committees to resolve the conflict have had little, if any, success. In February 2000, OTI made a major commitment to help these two communities manage their differences without the use of violence.
In brief, the program began with a grant to the Modakeke Progressive Union, a community based umbrella organization that since 1948 has carried out development projects and community mobilization for development. The grant's objectives were to: create awareness of communal conflict resolution and management; identify causes and consequences of communal conflict; generate a corps of conflict mediators; import conflict resolution skills on vital stakeholders; and enhance peace and development in Osun State.
The first activity was a five-day visit to introduce the training program to key stakeholders in the Modakeke community including opinion and market leaders, leaders of road transport workers, youth leaders, and village heads. Following-on the visit, a three-day training program was held on alternative dispute resolution techniques. Two hundred participants attended, including representatives of groups of youth, professionals, artisans, villages, and community leaders. A parallel effort was conducted through a grant to the Ife Development Board, which had the same objectives and activities as the one to the Modakeke Progressive Union.
As a direct result of these two grant activities, joint Ife/Modakeke workshops were held on "Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Transformative Leadership." These workshops involved 15 representatives of the four critical stakeholder groups from each of the two communities. These four two-day workshops presented alternative dispute resolution theory and techniques, and most important, provided opportunities for each group of 30 Ife/Modakeke participants to identify the fundamental issues involved in the conflicts between them and to jointly offer solutions. Also during the workshops, a proposal was made and accepted to form an inter-community peace advocacy committee that would sustain the gains of the workshops. Since then the fighting has stopped and former adversaries are working together as members of the Inter-Community Peace Advocacy Committee.
To illustrate, The Modakeke Progressive Union reported an incident which, if not for the training workshop, would have degenerated into another round of killings and destruction between the two communities. In Modakeke on August 19, 2000, word was received that a member of their community had been killed. People rushing to the reported scene were stopped by the police. A short time later, emissaries of the community were sent to Oshogbo to ask for directions from their community leaders, who were at that very moment participating in the alternative dispute resolution training workshop. Using the conflict management techniques they were learning at the workshop, the leaders questioned the emissaries as to the circumstances of the incident. The leaders then conferred and decided to send a strong message that the people should return to their homes and not resort to violence. Their instructions were obeyed and a potentially violent confrontation was averted.
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