IFRA / Nigeria Watch Conference

“Fieldwork, Statistics and the Body-Count of Violence in Nigeria”, October 6th, 2016

On Thursday 6th of October, 2016, IFRA-Nigeria organized an International Conference around the book “Violence in Nigeria: A qualitative and quantitative analysis, (published by IFRA Nigeria and edited by Professor Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos) at Conference Centre, University of Ibadan. The conference titled “Fieldwork, Statistics and the Body-Count of Violence in Nigeria” brought together specialists of violence and conflict management, among whom professors and researchers from all over the country as well as renowned scholars from the UK and the USA.

The Conference was the occasion to discuss the book in details and for several of the authors to present their work. Each presentation was followed by questions and comments of two discussants, who then shared their own analyse and expertise on the subjects:
 The patterns of fatal road accidents in Nigeria were discussed by Professor Isaac Albert (Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies) and Professor Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos (Université Paris 8, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement)
 The issues of violence in Oil production and the acts of violence involving the Nigerian Army were discussed by Nate Haken (Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta, Port Harcourt) and Dr. James Hentz (Virginia Military Institute, USA)
 Rural Conflicts and violences between farmers and pastoralists have been adressed by Dr. Adam Higazi (Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge) and Professor Kyari Mohammed (Vice-Chancellor, Modibbo Adama University, Yola)
 Surveys of violence in some particular local governments were discussed by Dr. Ukoha Ukiwo (Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme, Abuja) and Tanwa Ashiru (Bulwark Intelligence, Lagos)

The event ended with a dinner during which all the participants, IFRA and Nigeria Watch’s teams have continued sharing and discussing, while enjoying together the very pleasant setting of IITA (International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan).