Description
Sixteen years ago, the Nigerian government launched a disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) programme called the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) to end decades of resource conflict and unrest, as its host communities absorbed most of the national budget in the Niger Delta region. Thirty thousand ex-combatants were registered as beneficiaries of PAP. Unfortunately, child soldiers were not included in the registration. Any child involved in regular or irregular fighting units is considered a child soldier. The problem is that when child soldiers are excluded from DDR processes, as seen in PAP, they are compelled to self-demobilise, become invisible to formal reintegration. Thus, they self-reintegrate by depending on informal support systems.
Given this context, family and community support for child soldiers often wrestles with ethnic politics. While they aim to foster a sense of belonging that facilitates access to education, skills training, and mental health support, the region's ethnic politics may influence how child soldiers access reintegration. This dynamic is shaped by power relations that can create tensions and limitations, thereby affecting self-reintegration efforts. The study examines three ethnic groups in the Niger Delta states of Delta, Edo, and Rivers, namely Ijaw, Ogoni, and Urhobo, to understand the factors crucial to reintegration. The study investigates, employing Roger Mac Ginty’s “Everyday Peace theory” through qualitative interviews with 71 participants, how ethnic politics can deepen the hindrance and marginalisation of reintegration for child soldiers in post-conflict contexts, or improve access to reintegration. Thus, affecting the circumstances of rebuilding their lives in Nigeria.
Keywords: DDR, Child soldiers, Self-reintegration, Ethnic Politics, and Niger Delta.
