Military expenditure data in Africa: a survey of Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda

Wuyi Omitoogu

The national conference as a model for democratic transition : Benin and Nigeria

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Informal Channels for Conflict Resolution in Ibadan, Nigeria

IFRA The French Institute for Research in Africa / Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA) is a French government sponsored institute whose programmes are geared towards the promotion of research in social sciences and humanities in English-speaking Africa. It was first established in 1980 in Nairobi, Kenya, before a branch was opened in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1986. IFRA Ibadan, which is located within the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, was set up in 1990. IFRA's mandate includes subsidizing research programmes, granting research allowances to academics and scholars, publishing research results, holding workshops and symposia etc. It also includes facilitating university exchanges between scholars in France and Africa. Over the past few years, IFRA Ibadan's most salient programmes have revolved around problems of démocratie transition and urban sociology, especially urban violence in Africa. However, a large sample of disciplines has also been represented, ranging from history to musicology, économies, linguistics, etc. The institute also runs a library and publishes a Newsletter. IFRA Ibadan Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan U.I. P.O. Box 21540, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria Tel/Fax (234) 02 810 407

1. Introduction

1. Statement of the Problem This is a study of the informal channels of conflict resolution among people living in Ibadan. Although the informal channels of justice are generally preferred by the poor because they cannot afford to hire an attorney, this study has shown that informal channels are often the first choice of citizens who wish to solve their conflicts outside a court of law. Poverty is a global problem, but is more widespread in the developing nations. For any society to achieve s..

3. Conflict Resolution Models of Voluntary Associations

1. Introduction The combined influence of traditional culture and the high cost of legal proceedings in the formal judicial setting have made the informal settlement of conflict popular among the poor in Ibadan. The continued importance of this mode of conflict resolution is enhanced by the Yoruba love of and talent for organizing professional and social associations, and their intense religiosity, which accords special significance to churches, mosques and traditional religious institutions...

6. Conclusion and Suggestions

1. Conclusion The informal judicial channels , in a modem city like Ibadan fill some major gaps in the formal judicial systems which as a whole are less protective of the interests of the poor. In the absence of an efficient, corruption free and inexpensive formal judicial setting the only means of regulating conflict, inevitable in human interaction, is the informal channel. These channels are informal in the sense that they operate outside the recognized judicial system and the legislation ..

4. Mediators and the Media: Conflict resolution through television and radio programmes

1. Television Programmes There are three television stations in Ibadan: The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA); The Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS); and Galaxy Television (a private station which just started broadcasting in 1995). Both NTA and BCOS air programmes which may be termed open court systems where conflicts (real or imaginary) between persons are resolved by the employment of the Yoruba omoluabi philosophy. Agborandun is shown on NTA every Saturday at noon for one hou..