Inevitable Interactions: Fostering Peace in the Context of Culture and ReligionThe inevitability of interactions among the Yorùbá as a community of people regardless of their religious differences is the focus of this paper. Here, the author presents how the Yorùbá have displayed a substantial evidence of freedom of religion and understanding of their neighbours to manage conflict and sustain their peace. One of the ways in which religion has been useful to maintain good relationships among the Yorùbá is its focus on tolerance, patience, and other virtues that heads of families and community leaders teach their members. Their social interactions at home and within their community are inevitable, and these helped to keep the Yorùbá in harmony and to settle conflicts and disputes more often than would have thought of in other communities. Note: This paper is a part of the author's research findings and contains some of chapter seven of the dissertation with a few amendments to suit this journal article requirement. 

This paper presents the roles the interpretations of religion (or texts) and understanding of religion play in the sustainability of peace among the Yorùbá people of southwest Nigeria. The Yorùbá’s way of interacting and practising religion has remained moderately amiable over the last two centuries when compared with other communities in Nigeria. With attention on Yorùbá Christians and Muslims, this author examines some specific religious concepts and values that have been useful in guiding the two religions to retain their peace or return to dialogue table to refrain from violence and keep the peace. The paper argues that the interpretations of some religious terms and values among the Yorùbá enhance their pursuance of peace.Please note: The bulk of this article is taken from chapter 8 of the author's doctoral dissertation with a few amendments to suit this journal.

This paper is a review of the southwest Nigerian Yorùbá and their recognized peacefulness in the context of Nigeria as a country. It attempts to address the peacefulness amidst the Nigeria unstable circumstances and in comparison, with the established peaceful societies (PS). The first part of the paper provides a concise discussion about peace and conflict studies as it developed in the West followed by an outline of conflicts in Nigeria and amongst the Yorùbá to identify a gap for this inquiry. The paper suggests the Yorùbá multireligious community provides some clues to how peacefulness could be retained in a society. Similarly, it suggests the roles informal peace education play in supporting people of different beliefs but same culture to retain their harmony. The author, nevertheless, left a challenge to move the study of PS beyond the agrarian and rural communities to investigate more modern societies for peacefulness. NOTE: This article is taken from part of chapter 2 and the conclusion of the author’s doctoral thesis, with a few amendments.

This paper presents the roles that religious heritage among the Yorùbá plays in sustaining their peacefulness. The Yorùbá use both formal and informal interactions to engage one another in discourses that enhance their togetherness but often faced with outside influences that can truncate their desired goals. This paper, therefore, places the Yorùbá by the established peaceful societies (PS) to see how they compare in their attitude to peacefulness and providing explanation to the Yorùbá’s effort to keep the peace despite the outside influences on their society. Please note: The bulk of this article is taken from chapter 8 of the author's doctoral dissertation with a few amendments to suit this journal. Keywords: Christian-Muslim relations, peace studies, Africa - Yorùbá, religious – ethics, culture – values, Covid-19.

Most works in peace studies concern interventions in conflict situations – such as conflict management – or projects seeking to sustain peace after a conflict, such as conflict resolution and peace education. However, using a peace lens, this study affirms culture as one of the means the Yorùbá utilize to sustain peace in their community. The paper ascertains the presence of conflict and proceed to discuss how some features of Yorùbá culture facilitate harmony. This article is based on a primary research among the Yorùbá within 2014 and 2020, the bulk of which is taken from chapter 5 of the dissertation.