The Epistemology of Peacebuilding Research in Nigeria: A Critical Methodological Review

This study offers an original critical methodological and epistemological review of peacebuilding research production in Nigeria, examining dominant research paradigms, methodological choices, knowledge gaps, and the structural conditions that shape what is known and not known about conflict and peacebuilding in the Nigerian context. The epistemological foundations of peacebuilding research in Nigeria have not been subjected to systematic scholarly scrutiny, representing a significant meta-level gap that undermines the field's capacity for self-reflection and methodological innovation. Employing a systematic literature review methodology supplemented by original interviews with 40 leading Nigerian conflict studies scholars across seven universities and five research institutes, the study analyses 280 peer-reviewed articles and theses on Nigerian conflict and peacebuilding published between 2015 and 2024. The theoretical framework draws from critical research methodology, post-colonial epistemology, and the sociology of knowledge. The theoretical contribution is a Nigerian Peacebuilding Research Epistemology Critique, which identifies six structural biases in Nigerian conflict research, including donor-driven agenda setting, urban and capital city concentration of research activity, masculinist ontologies of conflict, methodological nationalism, and the systematic underrepresentation of marginalised community voices in conflict knowledge production. Recommendations include establishing peacebuilding research ethics frameworks that centre affected community epistemologies, creating funding streams for locally determined research agendas, training Nigerian doctoral researchers in critical and participatory methodologies, and building university-community research partnerships in conflict-affected areas. Keywords: epistemology, peacebuilding research, methodology, Nigeria, critical inquiry.