Ontological Security and Protracted Conflicts in Nigeria’s Middle Belt: A Critical Inquiry

This study conducts a critical inquiry into the role of ontological security, the human need for stable, coherent narratives of identity and continuity, in sustaining protracted conflicts across Nigeria's Middle Belt region, specifically in Benue, Plateau, and southern Kaduna in the North Central geopolitical zone. While material grievances such as land, resources, and political representation have been extensively studied in Middle Belt conflict literature, the psychological and ontological dimensions of conflict perpetuation remain theoretically underdeveloped. Employing a critical constructivist research methodology, the study gathered narrative data from 80 community members representing both conflict parties through deep listening interviews and community storytelling workshops conducted in Gboko, Jos, and Kafanchan. The analysis employed narrative discourse analysis and critical ontological security theory. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in applying ontological security theory, primarily developed in international relations, to the subnational Nigerian context, arguing that many Middle Belt conflict parties fight not merely for material resources but to preserve ontological security in the face of existential threats to ethnic and religious identity. Findings demonstrate that peace agreements that fail to address identity threat narratives generate minimal reductions in conflict recurrence rates. The study proposes an ontological security-based conflict resolution model that integrates identity affirmation processes into formal peace mediation architectures. Recommendations include training Middle Belt mediators in ontological security facilitation, developing peace agreement templates that address identity security provisions, and funding identity-affirming cultural programs as structural conflict prevention investments. Keywords: ontological security, protracted conflict, Middle Belt, identity, Nigeria.