At the heart of Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation is the promotion of humaneness, which broadly promotes our common humanity and idea of kindness towards others. Hence, the modern notion of human rights can be subsumed, though arguably, within the idea of Ubuntu. Human rights are rights to which everyone is inherently entitled to (APA, 2016). Globally, December 10^th has been designated as Human Rights’ Day. The day is used to remind and make loud calls on governments and all stakeholders to respect the socio-political and economic rights of others. One of the core values for maintaining humanness in the context of interpersonal relationships is the recognition that our shared values and collective humanity do not obviate individual differences. Aptly, Ubuntu demands solidarity which respects the other; thus, the violation of human rights is an abuse which triggers stress in every sense of it.

Accordingly, the four articles on offer and personal reflections presented in this edition of the Ubuntu Journal articulate in different ways the psychological stress arising from the violation of human rights. Predominantly, the discourses in the papers feature post-traumatic stress symptoms such as anxiety, mistrust, and lack of locus of control (self-efficacy) that arise from the infliction of psychological wounds within the context of interpersonal relationships and governance style. Together, the articles provide a consistent illustration of some of the psychosocial stresses of conflict and war associated with violations of human rights, which if not addressed may have lasting impacts on human psychic and behaviour in the post-conflict period.

Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to both good and bad experiences that can be beneficial to mental health and safety but traumatic stress brought about by the abuse of one’s human rights has far more negative impact on mental health and common humanity. Its impact on mental health includes the ailing effect on the body’s nervous system, wherein the body in the process of ‘fight or flight’ is compelled to release extra hormones in defense (Klein, 2013). The demand to produce these extra hormones pressurizes the body’s system in a way that can impact negatively on the digestive system, the respiratory organs, the immune system and in some cases, might even lead to hypertension and all other related cardiovascular problems. In other words, stress is a risk factor for healthy living including possible exposure to many opportunistic diseases and infections. Stress can also stretch the time an affected person takes to recover from illness or injury. This happens when individuals located in stressful environments feel oppressed and unable to attend to their bodily needs.

Consequently, the individual becomes despondent reflecting some behavioural characteristics such as hopelessness versus hopefulness, distrust versus trust, anxiety versus self-control, aggressiveness versus peacefulness, and inferiority versus superiority. The multiplicities of characteristics are indicators of how both the perpetrators and victims of stressful environment might behave. These characteristics emerge from a stimulus response condition, which is a by-product of the self-in-relationship with itself and the other (Gergen, 2001; Hermans, 2003; Hermans & Kempen, 1993; Herman & Hermans-Konokpa, 2010; Hermans & Salgado, 2010). In consequence, the emerging self-concept of individuals located within post-conflict can become pathological. Not surprisingly, neither of such swings of behaviour promotes the ideals of human advancement and social cohesion. In consequence, the human resources available for transformative national development over the short and medium terms are maimed or negatively affected; thus, leading to poor productivity. 

Collectively, the articles in this volume of Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation present a common theme of anxiety, distrust and tensions in post-conflict environments arising from interpersonal relationships and their impacts on individual and national development. For example, Chris Ojukwu and Oni Ebenezer Oluwole argue in their paper titled, June 12 Saga and the re-visitation of Igbo-Yoruba cold war in Nigeria, that the annulment of the presidential election of June 12, 1993 by the then military government not only pushed the whole country into socio-political and economic depression but also sowed seeds of distrust among the different ethnic groups.

Similarly, Jideofor Adibe’s paper tackles the impact of one of the deadliest and most devastating insurgencies currently in the world – Boko Haram. Addressing the attacks of the terrorist group on communities in Nigeria (and neighbouring countries), Adibe asserts that such wanton display of violence not only have lasting effects on the level of trust by Nigerians in one another but also shapes the way Nigerians relate with and trust their  government.

In similar vein, Robert Obiyo’s paper emphasizes that the antidemocratic practices of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party in South Africa has the net effect of compelling the citizens to mistrust each other. The psychological risk manifests through the perceived level of individual and collective suffering as people grapple to make sense of ‘who they are’.

Equally, Chika Eze’s paper argues that gender-based violence is an antecedent of distrustful interpersonal relationships wherein all parties involved are forced to perceive themselves in competing relational terms; for instance, as either superiors versus inferiors, or as independent versus dependent. The irony is that both victims and perpetrators of human rights violations experience concurrent psychological trauma/wound. As a result, there is a need to address these relational issues, which the paper discussed at length.

Lastly, the personal reflection of Victor Ezaga emphasizes that humans need not only to continuously monitor their desires but also to strive for complementarity in order to ensure that they do not dominate or despise others. Indeed, the self in-relationship with itself and the other notion suggests the obligation to promote equity wherein everyone is respected and valued in order to bring the best that is invested in that self. Optimistically, such reverential relationships will minimise stress. This is an assignment for the individual, community, school, Church and government at large and its realisation would ensure that humanity maintain its humaneness – the ideal of Ubuntu.