2021 was a year of academic accomplishment, we witnessed the PhD and Masters graduation ceremonies of two of our colleagues. The first was by Malam Ibrahim Bello, who in July 2022 completed his Master of Arts degree from University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, and the second was Dr Safiya Ahmad Nuhu, who in December, graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa with PhD in Law. Interestingly, both colleagues’ additional expertise and specializations are in fields of great interest to Green Horizon, with their areas of research focusing on peace and conflict studies and its intersectionality with law and development.
Ibrahim Bello’s thesis, titled Exploring INGO roles in the emerging trend of convergence of liberal peace and “local turn” in peace building approaches in post conflict African society: A case study of Nigeria” explored different peace building approaches in post-conflict African societies, and the use of ADR to amicably settle interpersonal and inter communal disputes and manage conflict. This is particularly an important component of several GH services and projects in various parts of Nigeria. For over a decade, GH has carried out numerous trainings and capacity building interventions, including mentorship, setting up support mechanisms for traditional justice institutions, and developing and establishing groundbreaking ADR software to improve record keeping by traditional justice institutions. In this regard, GH has worked for several Federal and State institutions and the FCT, as well as development partners such as the UK the British Council, UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Union (EU).
Dr Safiya’s thesis, titled The Kampala Convention on Internally Displaced Persons: exploring a coherent implementation approach through existing peace and security structures of the African Union (AU) and its Sub Regional Organizations (SRO) explored strategies for implementing the Kampala Convention on IDPs to effectively address the crisis of displacement in Africa. As a case study, the research also explored the migration spectrum in Nigeria, including scale, response mechanisms, legal and institutional structure, etc, and recommended some important steps to address the increasingly challenging and complex migration environment in Africa. Indeed, the research has a strong nexus and relevance with GH’s projects in the North-east since 2009. Since the start of the Boko Haram Crisis, GH has been involved in a wide range of activities on forced displacement including research, response/interventions, IDP and host- community sensitization. In 2015, two GH experts conducted research for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) titled Internal Displacement in North-East Nigeria: Operationalising the Kampala Convention in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. GH has continued to provide services that support peacebuilding and strengthening resilience in conflict affected communities in Nigeria.
Indeed, the additional expertise that has been brought in by these academic achievements of our two colleagues will further enrich and add to the overall value of services offered by GH.
