Celestina Atom is a final year doctoral researcher at the Department of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law, Teesside University, UK, exploring post-conflict reintegration in Nigeria. She recently attended the British International Studies Association (BISA) 2025 annual conference at Belfast this June of 2025.
In this blogpost, she reflects on her experience, sharing insights from her research, the panels that inspired her, and lessons drawn from the city itself.
I recently attended the British International Studies Association (BISA) annual conference, in Belfast, an amazing city whose walls whisper stories from one of Britain’s longest conflicts. Known as the Troubles, it spanned from the late 1960s to 1998, marked by violent clashes, political deadlock, and deep community division primarily between unionists (mostly Protestant, maintaining a close union with Britain) and nationalists (mostly Catholic, seeking Irish unification), and claiming thousands of lives.
BISA’s golden jubilee felt both timely and transformative. From walking the Peace Wall in West Belfast, to presenting my research on reintegration in North-East Nigeria, the conference was both intellectually stimulating and personally insightful. The city’s landscape, its murals, history, and visible reminders of division, offered a powerful setting for conversations on peace, conflict, and post-conflict transitions. It was a reminder that while the contexts differ, the emotional and structural challenges of rebuilding after violence, whether in Northern Ireland or North-East Nigeria, share striking similarities. Drawing these parallels enriched my reflections and highlighted the universal, yet deeply local, challenges of rebuilding after violence.
This year’s conference brought together academics, policymakers, and students from across the world to reflect on five decades of International Relations. The energy was electric, with lively sessions, cross-disciplinary dialogue, and a genuine commitment to reshaping how peace and security are studied and practiced.
Why I Attended: Motivation And Expectations
As a PhD researcher studying the reintegration of ex-combatants under Nigeria’s Operation Safe Corridor, an initiative introduced in 2016 by the Nigerian government, aimed at de-radicalising, rehabilitating and reintegrating former Boko Haram fighters, BISA 2025 provided a unique opportunity to share my findings and engage with others working on peacebuilding, disarmament, rehabilitation and reintegration (DDR), and post-insurgency recovery.
My goal was to connect my research with wider Global South discourses, test my ideas in new intellectual spaces, and build networks with scholars working on similar themes. This felt especially important, as peacebuilding efforts often struggle in contexts, marked by deep-rooted mistrust, weak institutions and lingering trauma. These are factors that frequently derail post-conflict recovery. Reintegration programmes like Operation Safe Corridor are central to addressing these gaps, offering ex-combatants pathways back into society while helping to prevent cycles of violence from repeating.
The conference offered more than just a platform to present; it was a place of dialogue, reflection, and critique. I left Belfast not only with useful feedback, but with deeper questions and new collaborations. Most importantly, I was reminded that reintegration – the process of supporting former fighters to safely and sustainably return to civilian life – especially in the context of violent extremism, is never just about policy frameworks.
It is about trust, about relationships, and about the lived experiences of those navigating the aftermath of the conflict, which is crucial for breaking cycles of violence, restoring community confidence, and fostering long-term peace.
My Contribution: Reimagining Reintegration in Nigeria
I presented two papers, both drawing from my doctoral research on post-conflict reintegration in Nigeria under Operation Safe Corridor (OSC), a state-led programme for the deradicalisation and rehabilitation of ex-Boko Haram combatants. Since 2009, Boko Haram, an extremist Islamist group based primarily in North-East Nigeria, has been responsible for widespread violence, kidnappings, and displacement.
The first paper, “The Role of Social Capital in Reintegration of Ex-Combatants in Nigeria,” explored how trust, communal relationships, and cultural leadership structures shape the success of reintegration efforts. Presented as part of the Peace and Conflict on the African Continent panel, the session highlighted how DRR (Deradicalisation, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration) programmes must be developed in partnership with communities rather than imposed upon them. I spoke with several scholars conducting impressive work across sub-Saharan Africa.
These conversations reinforced the idea that reintegration is not just a technical process but a deeply social one. In many cases, community acceptance can determine whether an ex-combatant successfully reintegrates or faces rejection and relapse. Cultural and religious leaders often act as gatekeepers of trust, and their involvement can make the difference between suspicion and support. The session reminded me that without meaningful community engagement, even the most well-funded programmes risk falling short of their goals.
Two standout presentations offered fresh insights into how peacekeeping works in Africa. One looked at how the African Union and United Nations work together, or sometimes clash, when trying to keep the peace presented by Daeun Jung, University of Warwick. Another focused on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which was presented by Cristina Conte, from the Australian National University. She showed how West African countries respond to crises in the region. Both talks helped deepen the conversation around what makes post-conflict recovery efforts succeed or fail.
Frontline perspectives in Nigeria’s Fight Against Boko Haram
My second paper, “Frontline Perspectives: Restructuring DRR Strategies in Nigeria’s Fight Against Boko Haram,” examined the lived experiences of Nigerian military officers involved in implementing the operation safe corridor programme. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, which focuses on how people make sense of their lived experiences, I unpacked the psychological burdens and operational ambiguities they face, such as how the programme motivates them (or not) in carrying out their duties.
This paper gave voice to the officers working directly with ex-combatants, whose experiences are often overlooked. Many shared feelings of stress, confusion, and being caught between roles without sufficient support. By sharing their stories, I hoped to show that successful reintegration also depends on supporting those on the frontlines.
Later, in the Q&A, one participant asked if playing dual roles as both protector and peacebuilder leads to burnout. It does, and it’s a serious issue. Security personnel are often expected to switch between using force and building trust, which can be emotionally exhausting. Yet this strain is rarely talked about in official policies, leaving a critical gap in support structures for those on the frontline of both security and peacebuilding. Both papers reinforced one truth: reintegration is not a linear process. It is emotional, relational, and should involve all the stakeholders involved – security actors, ex-combatants, victims and the communities as a whole.
Panels That Sparked New Ideas
Some of the most powerful insights came not only during my sessions, but also through conversations with others. A presentation by Tarela Ike (who is my director of Studies) also from Teesside University, titled Rethinking the declining state of democracy: A social constructionist thematic analysis of perceptions towards African and western international relations on the state of democracy in Nigeria, particularly struck a chord.
This paper argued that when democracy fails to reach the grassroots, it becomes performative rather than participatory, which fuels insecurity. Many civilians in Nigeria no longer view democracy as a lived reality, making them susceptible to extremist recruitment narratives. Tarela highlighted that some Nigerians described democracy as symbolic at best, and irrelevant at worst. This aligned with some of my findings on how the loss of faith in the Nigerian government to provide the basic amenities for survival has pushed some individuals to become easy targets for violent extremist recruitment.
Another standout presentation was by Nancy Annan, an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Trust Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University. She examined women’s agency in unarmed civilian protection in Cameroon. It validated what I had observed in Nigeria, and similar research in Ghana: women often act as informal peacebuilders and early warning agents, yet their roles and contributions remain under-explored and overlooked. These insights affirmed the centrality of gendered social capital in post-conflict recovery. I also drew comparative lessons from sessions on civil society engagement in peacebuilding efforts. Together, they helped contextualise Nigeria’s reintegration efforts within a wider regional and epistemological framework.
Beyond the Panels: Belfast as a Living Classroom
The learning did not end in the conference halls; it extended beyond academic discussions through two powerful excursions. The West Belfast Walking Tour brought the city’s conflict history to life, particularly along the still-locked Peace Wall dividing Protestant and Catholic neighbourhoods. The murals on Shankill and Falls Road offered raw, emotional storytelling, reminders that peace is not simply the absence of violence, but the presence of dialogue, memory, and healing.
These spaces brought “The Troubles” to life in a way no textbook could. As someone who teaches this particular history in my seminars, being on the ground offered a deeper understanding of “negative peace,” ‒ a state where there’s no active fighting, but the underlying problems like tension, injustice or fear still remain. It reminded me of the communities I study in Nigeria, where communal suspicion continues to linger amidst ongoing reintegration programmes.
Equally moving was my visit to the Titanic Belfast Museum. While best known for the story of the shipwreck, the museum painted a broader picture of Belfast’s industrial past and labour struggles. The final gallery, with digital projections of testimonies from survivors and bereaved families, was a solemn reminder of human grief, resilience, hope and the power of memory.
Final Reflections on BISA 2025
Attending BISA’s golden jubilee reinforced that peacebuilding is not only a policy issue, it is a human one. Reintegration does not just happen to communities. It must be done with them, through mechanisms that restore dignity, rebuild trust, and honour the complexity of identity after conflict. Whether in the marketplaces and communities in Northeast, Nigeria or the murals of Belfast, trust is the invisible thread that binds peace together. As I continue my research, I remain committed to spotlighting the everyday actors, particularly frontline officers, whose insights are too often excluded from mainstream conversations. BISA gave me space to elevate their voices and connect with others doing the same across the Global South.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Global South Colloquium Fund (GSCF) for awarding me a travel grant, which helped cover my accommodation in Belfast. This support made my attendance possible and meaningful.
About Celestina Atom
Celestina Atom is a Doctoral Researcher in Politics and International Relations at Teesside University in the UK. Her work focuses on conflict management, peacebuilding, and the reintegration of ex-combatants in Nigeria. She specialises in interpretative phenomenological analysis, drawing on extensive fieldwork in high-risk areas. Celestina holds an MA in Diplomacy, Law, and Global Change from Coventry University and a First Class BSc in International Relations from Landmark University. Her teaching experience includes courses on diplomacy, peacekeeping, and armed conflict. She has presented at academic conferences and has forthcoming publications on reintegration strategies in Africa.
