Pluralism and African Conflict: Towards a Yoruba Theory of African Political Ethics of Neighbourliness

Abstract

This chapter argues that pluralism in Africa could be positively managed through African political ethics of neighbourliness (APEN), derived from monistic pluralism (MP), the African metaphysics that the diverse entities in nature are ultimately united. There are three basic claims. First, many African states have largely failed, managing their pluralism for peacefulness and cohesion. On many occasions, at the micro level of intra-state citizenship relations, there has been a conflictual gap between the political leadership and the people (vertical incohesion); the leader is perceived as more deeply committed to an ethnic/religious affiliation than others, and among the people, who are deeply committed to different ethnic/religious affiliations (horizontal incohesion). At the macro level of inter-state citizenship relations, different African peoples, separated by morally arbitrary territorial boundaries, have also largely failed to build on the MP, as instantiated by the recent extrajudicial killings of some Nigerians in South Africa. Second, this substantially undermines/inverts cohesion among Africans. Third, suchlike anti-neighbourliness could be creatively addressed through a Yoruba theory of APEN.