Centre for Conflict Management and Peace Studies

About the Centre

The Centre for Conflict Management and Peace Studies (CECOMPS) of the University of Jos was established as an academic Centre to conduct teaching and research by the Senate of the University of Jos in the 2002/2003 session. CECOMPS began as a collaborative venture with international agencies like the British Council, USAID/OTI, the University of Bradford (UK), the United Nations mandated University for Peace, among others. The Centre was also appointed the West Africa regional hub of the University for Peace. It commenced a full-time Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Peace and Conflict Studies in 2005/2006 session, a Master’s Degree (MSc) in the 2010/2011 session and a PhD programme during the 2018/2019 session.

CECOMPS was established with the mission of being a leading Centre for excellence in the global academic community engaged in studying the human, normative, institutional, political, social, economic, psychological, cultural, and religious dimensions of conflict transformation and strategic peace building. The vision of the Centre is to prepare leading scholars with ability to link sound intellectual capacity with praxis in the increasingly dynamic world of conflict. It uses these skills to see the transformation of these conflicts from potentially destructive to constructive engagements at the local and global levels.

In the pursuit of its mission and vision, CECOMPS has undertaken several researches corporately and by individual staff members which have been published in various journals and books. Between 2009 and 2011, the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria funded CECOMPS activities and interventions towards building peace in Plateau state the tune of N50, 562, 000. 00. These included peace advocacy visits in conflict flash points in Jos and environs which became turning points in the conflict situation in Jos as the Centre’s activities in so-called “no go areas” of the metropolis began to open up for inter communal relations. There were also researches that resulted in the publication of two books: Causes and Effects of Conflicts in the Southern Zone of Plateau State, Nigeria (2008) and Architecture of Peace in Jos City (2013). From 2012 to 2016, CECOMPS carried out cohort researches for the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) funded by British Council amounting to N22, 679, 650.00. Most of the other researches have been undertaken by individual staff or in collaboration with others in various institutions.

In each session, our post graduate students undertake researches with focus on conflicts arising from farmers and herders, resources, governance, ethnic and religious pluralism etc which are supervised by the faculty. The alumni of the Centre occupy many strategic positions in government, the security forces and especially in NGOs addressing peace and conflict issues. CECOMPS is poised to have a greater impact that it has had so far in the University community, Jos metropolis, Plateau state and beyond.

At the present time, the Centre has 21 academic staff and five non-academic staff.