This article examines the experiences of Christian Church leaders about the contribution of peace education in Nigerian faith-based schools as a basis for a just and democratic society. The mitigating role of education during an ongoing conflict is pertinent, yet curiously under-researched (Davies, 2005). In conflict and challenging democratic context, peace and transformative education is argued to be appropriate as it challenges pedagogy that is rooted in hierarchical forms of power but rather seek to respond to democratic participation, freedom and social justice that surmount national limits (Basedau, 2023, p. 1, Magro, 2015, p. 109). Even though peace education understanding is complex, its overarching questions address inequality gaps, democratic processes of dealing with conflict and issues of global social justice (Jäger, 2015). There is however little empirical research about peace education in Sub-Saharan Africa that is hit by conflicts (Njobati, 2021), however existing studies mainly address wars, unstable governments and economy (Brunori et al., 2019, Babajide et al., 2021). For instance, little is known about the conflict in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria and its effects on education where schools have been attacked and children forced out of schools with girls violated (Opara & Inmpey, 2019, p.109). Meanwhile, Christian Church organizations are playing an important role in conflict resolution and peace education (Ilo, 2015, p. 99). This paper explores how peace education activities in the faith-based education sector in Nigeria is shaping learning conditions. The qualitative research was conducted in the Middle Belt region and included 13 semi-structured interviews with leaders of Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. Findings show the two-sided nature of the relationship between conflict and schooling. On the one hand, peace clubs in schools offer safe spaces for mediation. On the other hand, everyday school life is still characterized by social feedback that stir conflict. Moreover, peace education pays little attention to the conditions of learning. Aspects such as good learning climate, critical thinking and cooperative learning which have been identified by research as key elements of peace education (Burde et al., 2017, p. 620; Bajaj, 2015, p. 1-2), do not feature in the pedagogical framework of the schools. The paper concludes that further professional development for educational leaders is needed to enhance schools’ role in contributing to justice and peace education as a landscape of shaping safe learning spaces in conflict context.

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