http://hdl.handle.net/10311/30 2026-07-11T06:35:32Z 2026-07-11T06:35:32Z Nkomazana, Fidelis http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2487 2023-04-05T00:00:16Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Ministry of the church to people with disability Nkomazana, Fidelis Jesus’ ministry on earth is meant to be a model of the ministry of the church. It affected all types of people regardless of their socio-economic and religious status. Jesus regarded all to be made in the image of God and did everything possible to minister to everyone. He particularly went out of his way to reach those whom society marginalized, neglected, rejected, and deemed worthless. This study aims at generally critically evaluating the ministry of the church today. It specifically attempts to examine the ministry of the church to people with disabilities. While the study largely depends on existing literature, it also refers to observation of the status of people with disabilities in the church today, which on its own may not provide adequate information for solid, conclusive findings. In the church’s ministry to people with disabilities, dealing with barriers to their inclusion is core. The article not only examines the challenges faced by the church in addressing issues of inclusion, but identifies specific areas of improvement in the status of people with disabilities.

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z ikpe, Ibanga B. http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1805 2018-02-21T00:01:24Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Mediating conflicts, promoting peace and preserving relationships: lessons from traditional African justice systems ikpe, Ibanga B. Why do Conflicts occur? Why do they recur? Why do conflicts escalate and why do they become protracted? These questions have been variously posed by scholars of conflict and there is a rich body of theory that answers them. Although these questions arise for those who intervene in African conflicts and the different conflict theories have been brought to bear trying to contain them, conflicts still occur, escalate, recur and sometimes become protracted. This paper is an attempt to understand why this happens, especially despite third-party interventions. It starts by looking at traditional African third-party conflict interventions and identifies the restoration of relationships as the most important objective of such interventions. It compares contemporary conflict intervention strategies with traditional African approaches and observes that their objectives are remarkably different. It argues that traditional approaches are more responsive to the ideals of society than contemporary approaches which place greater premium on curbing conflict behaviour. While acknowledging the shortcomings of traditional conflict intervention strategies, it argues that there are lessons to be learnt from traditional strategies especially as it relates to promoting peace and maintaining relationships.

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z ikpe, Ibanga B. http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1804 2018-02-21T00:01:26Z 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z

Between the just and the expedient: the problem of conflict resolution in Africa ikpe, Ibanga B. This paper is about African conflicts and their tendency to persist despite attempts to resolve them. Such persistence has in the past been attributed to various causes but it is the contention of this paper that African conflicts fester due to poor governance and thereafter persist and recur because the issues that led to the conflict are not adequately addressed in the course of resolving the conflict. To justify this position, the paper attempts a classification and analysis of what it considers to be recurring patterns in the conflict processes of some post-independence African states and also attempts a classification and analysis of efforts at resolving such them. It argues that the expedient is often promoted over equity in the management of African conflicts and that mediators and facilitators routinely disregard the underlying issues of the conflict in their haste to abstract an agreement from the parties. It posits that some of the compromises that are extracted from the parties fail to meet their basic expectations and thus force them into a temporary peace that is abandoned at the earliest opportunity. The paper concludes that lasting peace is only feasible when issues of justice and equity are given priority of place and the parties are accorded sustained assistance as they embark on national reconciliation.

2015-01-01T00:00:00Z Ikpe, Ibanga B. http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1803 2018-02-21T00:01:19Z 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

As it is in Heaven! Mimetic theory, religious transformation and social crisis in Africa Ikpe, Ibanga B. This article is an overview of Rene Girard’s mimetic theory and its application to and implications for conflict in Africa. It accepts Girard’s basic idea that imitation is a feature of all individuals but disagrees with his view that the Christian gospel can adequately eliminate mimetic rivalry and thereby lead to a non-sacrificial culture. Drawing from the concept of culture and the African experience of Christianity, it argues that the Christian influence in Africa has only produced a hybrid culture, which draws heavily from the traditional culture. Thus, instead of demythologizing the culture, the gospel has actually introduced new myths into the African setting, which generate a new type of mimetic crisis that traditional forms of intervention are incapable of ameliorating. It argues that the Christian gospel as the precursor of the new myths cannot, in its current form, diffuse the crisis. The article suggests a re-engineering of the gospel to cater for this new reality and thus diffuse the crisis.

2009-01-01T00:00:00Z