The peaceful relations among the Senegalese are like those among the Yorùbá. Kukah, a Roman Catholic bishop in northern Nigeria writing on the strength of the interaction between Christians and Muslims in Senegal, suggests, ‘[a]s history has shown us, any system that is not anchored on the realisation of the good of all is doomed to fail’ (2007, p. 163). Hence, Senegal has come to attention in recent years among scholars of anthropology and communication, due to the peaceful relations among the Senegalese Christians and Muslims. Other attributes observed among the Senegalese are their culture of hospitality, referred to as teranga ; mixed marriages; Muslim children accepted in the Catholic school and thereby coming to understand the other’s beliefs, and the adults’ participation in both Christian and Muslim festivals (Senegal-UW-Collaboration, 2009). Also, the Senegalese religious leaders engaged in dialogue at the community level and have mutual concern for one another. Research among the Senegalese is ongoing and open for contributions, asking questions such as:
What do you think of Senegal’s model for interfaith peace? Is it a special case or can some parts of it be replicated in other countries? What else can be done to increase mutual understanding of Muslims and Christians? Senegal-Collaboration. (Collaboration)
In another section, they asked:
What role can religious leaders, Muslim or Christian, play in promoting interfaith harmony? Will Senegal’s model work in your community? (Wisconsin).
These are relevant questions, like those in this study among the Yorùbá located in peace and conflict studies, relevant to dialogue, anthropology as well as communication studies. Yet, it is not simply a matter of replicating the Senegalese case, but of discovering other communities that already exhibit such [inter-religious] harmony. This is not only to ascertain the means of increasing mutual understanding among religions but also to analyse what is currently being done to sustain the peace and manage their disputes. Similarly, leaders’ roles are as important as the contents of the teachings and the religious interpretations they provide their followers and the accepted cultural grounds for accommodating such quest for harmony. So, ongoing discourses about accommodating religious interaction contribute to the knowledge of peace in religious society.

Formal and Informal Theological Discourses

The study in Ògbóm̀ọṣọ́ suggests that family relationships and family bonds help to resolve disputes when they arise. While the interaction at this level is mostly informal, it becomes formal when the family head or designated person is involved to settle the disputes. Akinjogbin’s theory that the harmonious relationships among the Yorùbá based on theirẸbí connections was initially evident in FGD1 until the FGD1a and FGD1c presented a deeper view on the theological issue of the Yorùbá Christians eating Muslims’ festival meals. A closer attention to FGD1 reveals that disputes sometimes occur over the question of whether Christians should accept Muslims’ festival meals.
While some Christians eat such meals, some do not. Those who reject the meals support their claim by their belief that Jesus Christ’s final atonement (see Hebrews Chapter 7 and 8) indicating no further requirement for a compulsory animal slaughtering in a regulated feast or sacrifice for worship purposes, which they believe the Muslim festival constitutes. Discourses along this line are often informal while it becomes formal only when the family head is involved to present the reasons for their position about the meal. Either way, the outcome is always peaceful, understanding each other better for the future possible engagements.
Rich in FGD1a, Fúnmiláyọ̀ and Sàngó in FGD1c (2016; 2016; 2016), all being Christians saw nothing wrong with eating a festival meal offered by Muslim friends or neighbours. Wùmí (2016) in FGD1a and Oyè (2016) in FGD1c also reject the festival meal as it negates their Christian beliefs. To the latter, Jesus Christ is the final atonement, and animal slaughtering for spiritual purposes (implied from the Muslim Eid Al-Adha festival) are no longer required or demanded by God. Yet, FGD1 unanimously agreed that, when offered such festival meals, Christians who do not want to eat should be politely in declining the offer, rather than receiving and disposing it off. A similar discussion emerged in FGD3, when Wọlé (2016), a Muslim leader who was also the research assistant at that site expressed his displeasure at non-Muslims (like Christians), throwing out the meals given to them.
This theological discourse occurs in informal settings among the Yorùbá, usually unplanned but often well managed. Christians who want to eat would have made up their minds prior to the festival, as would those who do not want to eat. Some might change their minds through dialogue and intelligent discussion either way. In most cases, the Muslim celebrants will, over time and through years of interaction, identify the Christian neighbours who will partake in their feast and those who will decline. As examples, Wùmí, Ọmọbọ (2016) and Oyè will not, while Fúnmiláyọ̀ and Sàngó will.
There are also instances of Muslims politely declining non-halalmeals as it does not fall in line with the tenets of Islam. Yorùbá Christians do not knowingly offer such to their Muslim friends or neighbours. Both religions get along through honest dialogue.
Most formal theological discourses among the Yorùbá take place in their communities, higher institutions of learning and as organized by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). One example of an institutional dialogue was mentioned at FGD1a, where an Islamic Imam and a Roman Catholic priest were invited to a university to address the students on understanding their neighbours and peacefulness. A student FGD1a participant, Ronke (2016), said she was elated that the clerics expressed the commonalities of the two religions and highlighted the need for mutual understanding and love. Similarly, one of the notable NGOs that oversees Christian-Muslim dialogue and understanding in Africa is the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA), formerly known as the Islam in African Project. PROCMURA was formed by Christians to educate interfaith communities through dialogue. It often organizes programmes that include leaders and scholars from both religions, and sometimes engages in community awareness and developmental projects [see (PROCMURA-Witness, n.d.)]. PROCMURA lists its ‘Christian and Muslim joint programmes of action’ to include: “Peace and peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims and … [c]arrying out Christian mission and Muslim da’wah in a manner that respects the spirit of good neighbourliness’ among others.” (Witness).
The author had served as an Associate Area Adviser for PROCMURA in western Nigeria from 2002 until 2007 and participated in leading seminars in Ibadan and Maiduguri. These were formal discourses in seminar fora with topics around the theological bases of peacefulness among Christians and Muslims. It has offices in western and northern Nigeria, and Ibadan (southwest Nigeria) as its headquarters until 1997 before it was moved to Nairobi, Kenya, (PROCMURA-Nigeria, n.d.). PROCMURA’s operations among the Yorùbá for many years could have contributed to their peaceful relationships. Both formal and informal dialogues are common among the Yorùbá, which they often use to improve their understanding of one another’s expectations to strengthen their unity.

Intolerance and Outside Influence

Another theme relevant to religion supporting harmony among the Yorùbá is their ability to manage intolerance and outside negative influences. This theme may appear negative, but the community’s ability to handle the situation determines the outcomes on individual cases. According to Kúnlé (2016) in the FGD2 (2016), poor teaching and hatred expressed in Christian sermons and Islamic da’wah (preaching) by Muslims guest preachers, when not well handled can cause conflict. Like Kúnlé, Mako, a Muslim respected cleric suggests Muslim da’wah (preaching) should not be confrontational. Mako adds that insults and assault should not be condoned in the interaction between Christians and Muslims, and provocative statements about one another’s religion should be avoided. These are the leaders’ ways of mediating in conflict situation within the Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí community as an example.
Moreover, the FGD2 participants in Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí expressed dismay at the interactions between the two religions that turned sour since a Yorùbá Muslim trainee (Ọ̀jẹ̀labí) returned to Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí from Cairo and spread antagonism and disunity among the people. They argue that Ọ̀jẹ̀labí taught some Muslim residents of Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí the art of violent jihad , encouraging attacks on Christians and teaching a mode of dressing, and methods of naming and burial. Some Muslims who became his followers were violent towards the Christian community. The Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí general community could not bear the intolerance that followed, which led to violence, arson, arrests, and court cases. Gideon (2016) provides the names of those responsible for the spread of the conflicts between Christian and Muslim residents who have all died through natural causes (their names are withheld in this writing). He states:
In 1952, the Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí Improvement Union (SIU) was founded by the elites, without any Muslims then. [And] thirty years on, there has been harmony in Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí. You could hardly see any difference in the ways the traditionalists, Christians, and Muslims lived. [But] the Christians seemed to be more prosperous. Suddenly, some kids [young people] began to behave differently. […] Some encouraged certain boys to cause a problem for leading Christians so that Muslims might rise, (paraphrased).
One does not know the reason why Muslims were not involved in the SIU, but it was claimed they all welled together in unity. Gideon further accused Ọ̀jẹ̀labí33All the names used are either pseudo names or reworded in a way to keep the anonymity of the participants. of teaching Samex, who burnt down a Baptist Church in Shaki, a few miles from Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí. Ọ̀jẹ̀labí, according to Gideon, falsely accused some Christians of violence when Christians were exercising self-defence. Ọ̀jẹ̀labí also was later caught in another violent act and arrested by the police. All these bother on the education Ọ̀jẹ̀labí received from outside of the community which did not support tolerance. The problem was aggravating, breeding ‘hatred and individualism’ according to Kúnlé. He adds: ‘[…] After the death of the King, the town found it difficult to install a successor because the Christians were careful of accepting a Muslim king that will sanction Islamic domination over Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí town.’ The negative image of Islam presented by Ọ̀jẹ̀labí put the Christians off, although the deceased king was a friendly Muslims, they no longer want a Muslims king during the time Ọ̀jẹ̀labí continued to have influence in their town. Leadership and learned behaviour that prevails in the community has impact on the societal peacefulness.
Another report Gideon presented concerns the inter-state underground (outside) plans to cause violence against the Yorùbá people:
17 May 2015. I was at Tagita, the Republic of Benin in my guest house. In the next (adjacent) room, the occupant, a Fulani who had taken his father for hospital treatment spoke to me. The man talked about Kaiama in Kwara State of Nigeria. He inquired about a man who built a big mansion in Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí whether he was a Christian or a Muslim. When he heard the man was a Christian, he warned that he (the Fulani young man) has been invited to KMS Islamic village near Iseyin (Ọ̀yọ́ State) for a lecture. There, he met many people, including two people from Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí, training for a Boko Haram type of mission. Their focus was to burn down Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí and spare only Muslims.
Gideon informed his church, on his return to Nigeria about the above narration. The Deputy Governor of Ọ̀yọ́ at that time was informed by an Ìgbòho indigene (name withheld).
There are many topics being discussed at various levels and problems being spotted and resolved. The level of religious provocation, however, grew when some members of the community tacitly or willingly co-operated with the outside influences engineered by Ọ̀jẹ̀labí’s strange teachings to become intolerant. The provocation by the intolerant group took root in the area due to a lack of proactive leadership. At the same time, without the insiders’ co-operation, it would have been difficult for intolerance to blossom, which authenticates the Yorùbá saying, olè ilé ní ńsí ìlẹ̀kùn fún tòde (‘the thief in the house opens the door for the burglars’).
One of the reasons for the militants’ rebellion can be attributed to their not being involved in development projects as could be inferred from the earlier Gideon’s quote, even when Gideon could not see this as important. However, the responsible way of rectifying the imbalance should not be Ọ̀jẹ̀labí’s led violence, which has some economic undertone. Nevertheless, the supposed leaked planned training to attack the unsuspecting Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí Christians negates the act of ọmọlúàbí , the Yorùbá ethic of human relation.
To further provide space between the two communities for peace to be restored, many Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí Christians have begun to send their children to privately own fee-paying schools where the hijab is not allowed, as the hijab becomes violently enforced rather than being a simple spiritual or religious attire. The Muslims who prefer thehijab for their children put them in the hijab -approved government-funded schools. A few who wanted a more quality fee-education for their children kept them in the fee-paying schools, while tolerating the non-acceptance of the hijab .
On a positive note, Mako is known for his religious toleration and many Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí Christians speak well of him. This implies that not all Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí Muslims are violent towards Christians and the violent individuals are in the minority. The intensity of the intolerance and the responses of the responsible religious community determine its peacefulness. Good examples are the welcoming disposition of Mako in Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí and the Sọ̀ún of Ògbóm̀ọṣọ́land, both Muslims and both showing love and support for Christian and Muslim communities together. In 2017, the Sọ̀ún released the formerly leased land as a gift to the Nigerian Baptist Convention, the site of the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Bowen University Teaching Hospital Ògbóm̀ọṣọ́. This is a kind of gesture towards Christians by a Muslim leader in Yorùbáland.
In short, a violent fanatical group threatened the peace of the Sẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀rí residents while a lack of development among the Muslims being one of the reasons assumed for the aggression. However, when the operators of some of the town projects like the fishpond were forced to leave because of the violence and the project deteriorated with no competent committed hand to take over. Violence does not serve the right purpose to correct a perceived economic inequality. Another cause of violence was the outside adverse learned behaviour alien to the community. The ability to stop such often helps to keep the peace. The two communities, Christians and Muslims, however, learned to balance their preferences about their children’s use or non-use of the hijab in schools through understanding and tolerance.
In general, the Yorùbá are peaceful, trying to avoid conflict that has a connection to religion as they seek to treat each other as family (Ẹbí ). It is, however, unclear how the supposed harmonious Yorùbá communities will handle the underground attempts of the outsiders’ influence on their peacefulness. That is the influence of unfriendly education received from outside of the community and any other outside influences in the context of what the Yorùbá refer to as the olè ilé ní ńsí ìlẹ̀kùn fún tòde (‘the resident thief [outlawed] that has potential to open the door for the burglars’). Or put in another way, bí kú ilé kò bá pani, tòde kò lè pani , meaning if your household security is strong, the outside invaders will find encroaching impossible.

2.3 Peaceful Societies and Fear of Strangers (Outsiders)

Considering the peaceful societies’ corresponding attitudes to strangers in already established scholarly works, I refer to the Paliyans, Semai, and Chewong as examples here. There are various situations that mend the frequency and seriousness of disputes among the Paliyans, but often they maintain non-violence as they avoid external pressure or influence, other possible causes of violence like alcoholism and a lack of respect (Gardner, 2000). The Semai had suffered enslavement in the hands of the Malays their neighbour as well as being kidnapped, raided, and killed. The Semai, thus teach their children to fear strangers through the teaching of terrifying stories of strangers’ violence. Such early childhood training influences the later life of Semai people, (Dentan, 2001, pp. 89, 90). The Chewong also fear outsiders like the Malays and Chinese. Brave people with the potential to harm falls outside of the Chewong ‘moral universe’ (Howell, 1989, p. 53).
One may ask for how the PS cope with life and what are their attitudes to modernity? The PS’s knowledge often informed the reasons for their fears as they often leave the site of danger or strangers based on their previous experience. Sometimes, they assess the situation or ideas being introduced to them for its value contents and if it does not contradict their community values. Although they maintain their values and appear as closed groups, some PS appear to be selective in what they consider relevant to their well-being. Bonta reports that the Canadian Hutterites respond well to the recent coronal virus (covid-19) outbreak by restricting other colonies’ access to their community. They also stopped the eating together in their communal dining hall as they used to do before the outset of the global pandemic. They go out only for the essential commodities and use hand sanitizers, gloves, and masks. Being Christians, they have reduced the number acceptable for each worship service to 15 and do that in turn to accommodate all the people in their colony, (Bonta, 2020). Furthermore, the Inuit use radio communication to air complaint, educate their community, and express warmth for social interaction, yet with a few traditional groups who prefer privacy rather than bringing concerns on the public radio, (Briggs, 2000, p. 122). As reserved as most PS appear to be, some are open to modern societies, although selective on what they consider beneficial without jeopardising their interest and valued life choices. The Yorùbá also find the use of radio useful in propagating their values through talks, music, jokes [àwàdà ], drama and cinemas.
Most of the PS live in underdeveloped communities as the Ju/’hoansi live in the desert, lacking medical facilities, with their life expectancy and fertility rates low, and child mortality high, (Biesele and Howell, 2015). A helping hand will be relevant yet, the PS’s worldview must be studied with carefulness by non-residents. For instance, many of them lack electricity, but may not feel the lack as much as those in the modern societies would think they do because some never had it and would not feel its absence so desperately as researchers might think they do.

2.4 Religious Heritage and Socio-Cultural Values: The Meeting Point

An average Yorùbá cherishes religious consciousness and the concept of eternal judgement. They socialize through celebrations such as weddings, baby naming, birthday parties, new house opening, funerals and other areas considered an essential part of living that calls for rejoicing. They interact through family connection and community meeting. Muslim neighbours, for instance, attended Ọpẹ́’s wedding ceremony (2016) and joined in the wedding reception, where people ate, drank, and danced to the provided music. In the Senegalese context, UguccioniI mentions the Muslim leaders’ request for prayer from the Christian priest:
Relations between Christian and Muslim religious authorities are also very friendly. Father Flavio cites, among many, two episodes that he considers key: ‘Some time ago a boy came to tell me that the imam of the neighborhood wanted to see me. When I came to him I discovered that he had been ill for a week: he had called me because he wanted us to pray together. Another imam, two years ago, when his third son was born, asked me for the courtesy of reaching him because he wanted me to bless the newborn’. (UguccioniI, 2018).
This shows the level of trust that people can have for one another in times of need. In this research, Ronke (FGD1a) expresses how a Muslim landlord often requested prayer from herself, a Christian university student tenant while going to church or Christian student fellowship meeting. This is a common practice among the Yorùbá, requesting prayers during Christian worship. Muslims participated in the cooking during the graduation ceremony of Sàngó from the seminary as a trained Christian minister, and Wọlé travelled from southwest to northern Nigeria for the wedding of a former colleague’s daughter, even though they do not practise the same religion. Both Christians and Muslims were present at the funeral service of an 81-year-old Christian clergyman in Ògbóm̀ọṣọ́ during this study. These are some of the social-religious occasions where members of the two religions meet for positive engagements, in addition to their daily encounters at work and in the neighbourhood.
With reference to the 81-year-old’s funeral mentioned earlier, the deceased was a Christian minister from a Muslim background. The author interviewed two women cousins of the deceased. The Muslim woman was with her hijab on while the Christian dressed in the Yorùbá woman’s attire with a neck and headscarf both walking towards the church for the funeral. Christians and Muslims were present at the funeral. The Muslim men who were not willing to remove their caps as the Christian Yorùbá men do at worship sat in the company of other worshippers and sympathisers under the canopy outside the church building, as the inside hall was full. The Muslim women present wore the hijab and sat throughout the service. One can see that the Yorùbá people see beyond their religious differences and celebrate with one another, doing so without necessarily compromising their individual faith. The Yorùbá describe their coming together for social celebrations asaárẹ̌misé , a social concept rooted in the Yorùbá culture. Social interaction is a binding force among many Yorùbá as well as the PS.