Local Institutions and Peacemaking in Southwest Nigeria

ABSTRACT:This article discusses the peacemaking architecture within the scope of sociocultural processes in Southwest Nigeria. The study was carried out in Southwest Nigeria, focusing on a limited number of cases. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed using the content analysis method. It found that local institutions had a noticeable effect on the peacemaking processes on communal conflict; but they are, to a marked level, incapacitated owing to the lack of modern organizational powers to exert authority, poor access to detailed information about crises, and a conflict of interest. It therefore concludes that local institutional strength on peacemaking has not developed to the extent of overcoming inter-communal and inter-ethnic crises. Rather, its strengths and successes lie more in dealing with intra-communal and micro-conflicts.