The unintended legacy of Niger-Delta amnesty on contemporary peacebuilding discourse in Nigeria: An introspection

Abstract

The strategy of using amnesty as a mechanism for resolving conflict in war-torn societies and in societies where conflict seems intractable has become essential where peace is desired at all costs. As one of the tools of transitional justice system, amnesty has proved very useful in countries like Nigeria, Cambodia, Chile, Brazil, and South Africa to birth enduring peace in
the countries. In recent times, however, there are views that hold that amnesty is creating a contagious effect, a process which may foster culture of violence in a country. Using exploratory research design, an empirical method including interview among critical stakeholders. It adopts qualitative method including analysis of both primary and secondary data. This study examines amnesty in Nigeria and the argument that it might have encourage the spread of culture of violence in the country. The study seeks a relationship between the current waves of violence in the country and its possible connection to amnesty programme used as part of conflict management strategy in the country. The study will benefit from doctoral research that investigates the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria and continuous discourse of the post amnesty phase.