Democracy and the November 2008 Ethno-Religious Conflict in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria: An Empirical Survey

Abstract

This study explored the impact of democracy on the November 2008 Ethno-Religious conflict in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau state, Nigeria. It espoused the role of ethno-religious identity construction, the indigenesettler question and socio-economic marginalization on the November 2008 Jos North conflict in Plateau state. The survey research design was adopted for the
study. The population of the study was put at 429, 300 in the 2006 Census. A total of 300 respondents were administered the questionnaire out of which 272 were returned completed. It was found that the nature and pattern of social cleavages even under democratic regimes can determine in profound measure the irreconcilability of conflict. The three null hypotheses formulated to test the relationship among the November 2008 Jos North conflict and the indigene-settler question, socio-economic marginalization and ethno-religious identity were respectively rejected. Findings showed that the indigene-settler question, socio-economic marginalization and
ethno-religious identity construction were at the root of the November 2008 Jos North conflict and other conflicts in the area. Accordingly, the paper advocated the promotion of good governance, the reduction of poverty, and the expansion of the political space, the deconstruction of primordial identities, the strengthening of security institutions and the amendment of the constitutional provisions on citizenship as necessary measures for mitigating violent conflict in Jos and Nigeria
generally.