DEPA - Nigeria Oral Histories

The main objective of the Oral Histories Project was to record recollections of stories, songs and dances that represented Glavda culture from Borno state, prior to the Boko Haram insurgency. Since displacement by Boko Haram, many Glavda speaking communities have been livening in IDP camps in Abuja. The living conditions in these camps are enormously challenging, and the context of displacement has meant that the youth growing up in Abuja at risk of losing their traditional language, and with it the stories, songs and dances that have been passed down from one generation to the next for centuries. These stories carry numerous insights and understandings related to peace and conflict resolution and have underpinned order and harmony for numerous generations. By creating a repository of these traditional stories, songs and dances, the Oral Histories aspect of the project aimed to facilitate collaboration between elders and local teachers in order to incorporate this traditional knowledge into educational resources that explores the idea of peace from a traditional perspective.The 14 files in this item are the transcripts of elders relaying stories and recollections from their lives in Borno state. There are twelve transcripts of individual oral histories and there are transcripts of two focus group sessions of elders relaying stories and recollections together. In particular, they recall experiences and stories that contain insights about how disputes between individuals and communities arise, and what traditional mechanisms and practices were deployed to manage and resolve them.The Nigeria project was one of the original Proof of Concept projects with DEPA (Decolonising Education for Peace in Africa). DEPA was a 4-year project funded by the Arts and Humanities Council (AHRC) addressing the question: What are the different knowledges and values underpinning peace and how can these practices be connected and compared across countries to create curriculum content and mode of delivery in informal and formal settings, Secondary and Higher Education (HE), in order to decolonise peace education?