Description
In the local peacebuilding literature, the question of who, what, and where the local in peacebuilding remains inadequately addressed. Through an empirical case of the Sulhu approach in Northern Nigeria, this article analyses local peacebuilding in Nigeria’s terrorist rehabilitation and reintegration efforts. The article presents a two-fold argument; first, the Islamic precept of Sulhu and its tenets of reconciliation and forgiveness are fundamental capstones that constitute peacebuilding efforts through DDRR measures; the importance attached to Sulhu is rooted in the contextual supremacy of religion and religious peacebuilding in Northern Nigeria. Secondly, the article also highlights that the current practice of Sulhu discounts local community nuances due to the hierarchal gap between religious elites and actors who implement the practice on the ground, facilitating elite control by religious and traditional rulers and opening the approach to issues of local ownership and lack of inclusivity- dominant arguments in critical peacebuilding scholarship. The article further contends that while attempting to be emancipatory, Sulhu becomes susceptible to being bureaucratic in practice and disrupts the localism embedded in local peacebuilding. The article cautions against an uncritical admiration of local peace as the Sulhu approach to local peacebuilding matures.
