Thank you so much for that question. I appreciate the time given to be able to elaborate on that.
I grew up in Jos, Plateau state. I am actually American-born, but I spent a lot of my time growing up in Jos, Plateau state, and I visit the middle belt regularly. I have been directly impacted by this. I see and I am really deeply aware of how this also impacts once-vibrant communities over time. You see that it is layered by politics and by differences and growing mistrust in communities. These conflicts are protracted. They have gone on for many years.
It's extremely important that we ensure that in the narrative or how we look at this issue, we're able to take into account the layers and the complexities that feed into the issue. Simply looking at it.... As I've often cautioned, it is never wise in the case of Nigeria to say that religion isn't part of a conflict. It's also unproductive to label a conflict in Nigeria, knowing how complex the society is, as solely driven by religion. It makes it difficult for us to be able to address the key root causes of this conflict, which are multi-faceted and overlapping with issues, including the lack of response from the government.
In many years, the government's lack of response has also created room that has fed a narrative. It's important to understand what the institutional challenges are within the government that are driving that lack of response and what the challenges are within communities that are also driving the lack of ability to come together to try to address this issue.
It is a very complex issue. It's one that requires us to be able to cut through the layers and, as one of the witnesses has actually highlighted, go down to the grassroots and connect with the people in these communities. They are directly impacted by these conflicts. They know where it hurts. They understand the changes in their community. I think that when we begin to do that—when we begin to understand the complexity of Nigeria—we will be one step closer, or even closer, to addressing the challenges that we see.