Social Studies Education: A Vehicle for Conflict Resolution and Peace Building in Nigeria's Heterogeneous Society

Abstract

Nigeria is a heterogeneous society bifurcated along ethnic, religious, cultural and regional lines. It is the manipulations of diacritical and other social characteristics by the Nigerian elites in their contest for power and resources that is responsible for the endemic violent conflicts which this country has been witnessing since colonial times. The paper tries to examine how social studies education can be used to resolve conflictual relations among Nigerians that often leads to violent destruction of lives and properties. The purpose of this paper is therefore to use social studies education to help the young learners acquire basic societal ethos and appropriate attitudinal dispositions capable of diminishing cultural ethnocentrism and promote peace, cooperation and national pride. This calls for the restructuring of social studies curricular content to dwell extensively on conflict resolution as well as the application of relevant pedagogical knowledge by programme implementers (teachers) to instill values and skills for effective living in a democratic society. The paper revolves around conceptual issues, the root causes and effects of conflicts in Nigeria, the challenges of social studies education and the role of social studies education as a means of conflict resolution and peace building and recommendations.