Category: Vol. 3 (II)

It is generally believed that the position, influence and commitment arising from the moral and emotional credentials of religious actors serve as advantages over other actors when it comes to third party intervention, particularly in the realm of mediation. The question then becomes to what extent can these qualities promote successful mediation i.e. conflict transformation, which is the ultimate goal of mediation efforts during conflict. This study is a qualitative analysis of the levels of success achieved by faith-based mediation in three outstanding conflicts – the Yelwa, the Jos and the Kaduna conflicts in Plateau and Kaduna States of Nigeria between 2001 and 2005. This analysis is anchored on the three levels of success, namely process or output level, outcome or short-term level, and impact or long-term level. The position, influence and experience of mediators, as well as other factors such as timing, neutrality, external influence and the process of mediation are some of the explanations for the potential success or failure of mediation efforts at the output level and short-term level in the three conflicts. However, beyond these two, mediation’s success at the level of long-term impact, as recorded in Yelwa, is tied to (i) the engagement of the real owners of the conflict and peace dynamics and (ii) the willingness of the latter to engage in peace. It is therefore the position of this paper that no matter the influence, appropriateness and acceptability of a religious actor involved in conflict resolution, the responsibility to transform conflict largely remains with the parties to the conflict.