CONFLICT AND ITS RESOLUTION AN EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH

Lapai Sociology Review, 2011

The pursuit of a safe, secured and egalitarian society in Kaduna state has since 1980 to date been challenged by the occurrence of series of conflicts with ethnic, religious and political coloration which over the years defied solutions evolved by government to check them. This paper argued that mitigating the tense and conflicts situation must start with social integration as a means of curbing social distance that has become the face of post conflict 2000 and 2011 crisis in Kaduna state. The consequence of these conflicts lay not in the destruction of lives and property but has led to an emerging trend of "social distance" among groups that has resulted in the populace of the state divided (including settlement) along religious and ethnic lines. This paper using a documentary method discussed the causes of violent eruptions; the method used for managing conflicts such as the use of force via security operatives, curfews, institution of boards of enquiry among others and the challenges that had impinged on the inability of the government to effectively manage those conflicts. This paper recommends the genuine balancing, protection and inclusion of the interests of all the divergent groups in the governance process as well as evolves a just and fair methods in the process of resource allocation among the divergent groupings in the state. There should also be the adoption and utilization of the ADR methodology in setting conflict in Kaduna state as a way forward for peaceful social groups integration in the state.

An American economist, Ludwig Von Mises, made the following well founded observation…''Society has arisen out of the works of peace; the essence of society is peacemaking. Peace and not war is the father of all thing''. Nigeria have experienced the absence of peace for decades, series of conflicts and crisis have bedevilled it, these conflicts have drastically hindered its growth economically and otherwise. These conflicts are often between Muslims and Christians, or Farmers and Herders, some other times it arises from clash between tribes. For dacades, Nigeria have recorded numerous clashes which had either resulted from Biafran agitation or from insurgent attacks by Boko Haram also known as ''Jama'atu Ahl as Sunnah II-Da'awatu wal-Jihad and other Islamic insurgent groups or from banditry in the northwestern part of Nigeria or from the disastrous farmer-herder conflict. Conflict destroys, eliminates and leaves the society in ruins. Coser (1956) aptly captured this in his definition of conflict. He wrote… '' Conflict is a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralise, injure or eliminate the rival'' the definition of conflict rendered by Coser simply reveals that every society experiencing conflict will lose a great deal of people and properties, and will unequivocally be devoid of development. On the flipside, peace in its very essence, is the state prevailing during the absence of war, conflict and unrest. Little wonder philosophers defined peace as the Absence of war, armed conflict, violence or instability. When there is peace in the society, there is development. Generally, a peaceful environment fosters human potential, creativity, and teamwork, all of which contribute to the general advancement of society.

Jalingo Journal of African Studies, 2025

The primary causes of conflict around the world have been territorial claims, ideology, religion, and natural resources. Even though the influence of some of these is diminishing, communal conflicts have been a recurring phenomenon of national and international events for decades. The task of the paper was to cross-examine the management of intractable communal conflict between Ife and Modakeke, Osun State, Nigeria. The study employed the quantitative method of research. The paper found retaliation, domination, the implementation of the 1886 treaty of peace, increase in royalty (isakole), partisan politics, creation of local government, and different political structures of the warring communities among others as the causes of the conflict. The work concluded by recommending a post-conflict peace-building programme, training and orientation of law enforcement agencies, and establishing a kingdom based on the principle of peaceful coexistence. The government should also desist from politicising the conflict and pursue policies that encourage social integration thereby discouraging ethnic cleavages.

There are different ways in which conflicts can be handled. However, people's attitudes, behaviour and root causes or contradictions must be addressed in the light of genuine commitments of all parties engaged in the peace process. The management of conflict involves a careful mapping of the conflict in order to identify the dynamics involved. Conflicts having dynamic root causes or are protracted, need the involvement of all stakeholders in their management process. The study was undertaken to examine the management mechanisms of the Nkonya-Alavanyo conflict in the Volta Region of Ghana. The study analyzed the management process with particular focus on the selection process of the mediation committee members, the mechanisms and approaches adopted by the mediation committee as well as the challenges that became associated with the mediation process. The research utilized qualitative approach and purposive sampling method to examine the management mechanisms of the conflict. The study concludes that various conflict management mechanisms have been employed in the Nkonya-Alavanyo conflict. However, the conflict management processes imparted knowledge which gave more credibility to the Multi-Track Diplomacy theory of conflict management as the appropriate mechanism for this

Article Writing, 2019

Society being a web of social relationship, it is fundamental to understand the network of these relationships which exist among a group of individuals. Each member in group is important and the role he plays in the group remains important. No society can exist without a proper organization of its parts. Individual comprise these parts. Hence it is essential to train individuals to perform their tasks to the satisfaction of his fellows in order to help the society persist in spite of hindering time to time. The major reason of conflict is discrimination. It is a negative term in everyday life, but it is not a negative term. In fact, conflict is a positive and healthy sign in a society. Conflict needs to be analyzed through measures, flaws, capacity, and policies, good or bad. It must be resolve because violence comes in between the conflict. This study aims to protect the human rights and helps the victims of violence and war. Methodology includes primary and secondary data both. Different journals, articles and books are employed.

2014

The early economists and political punter foresaw a more promising future for Nigeria as an emerging black power but the country has now experienced its ownparcel of political upheavals due to largely lack of tolerance, compromise, good judgment and willingness to stand by the rule of law and fair play in governance, leading to political instability engulfing the nation since independence to present contemporary day.Political conflict currently radiates in almost every part of the country.This article delineates the elements that contributed to the political disputes in Nigeria and the methods use in the management and prevention of conflicts.The study conducted through established documents in current Studies that have dominated discussions on Nigerian politics and challenging crisis now experienced within the country.The paper concludes with some recommendation that proffer solutions to these problems.

Abeeb Muhammed Abideen, 2020

Nigerian governments have over the years made several attempts at resolving various conflicts and peacebuilding in various and different ways ranging from reconciliation, arbitration and mediation employed immediately after the civil war (1967-1970) to the use of negotiation, dialogue and amnesty. This paper posit that Peace-building and conflict prevention is the main antidote to conflict eruption and crises. Content analysis is the method adopted in this research. It is the belief of this paper that there is the possibility of resolving the NorthEast crisis provided the government and the people of NorthEast , Nigeria can diligently pursue peace-building it will forestall or limit violent conflicts and enhance peaceful coexistence.

IKENGA International Journal of Institute of African Studies, 2023

The paper underscores the nature of conflict and examines ethnic and communal conflicts in Nigeria. It proposes a mechanism for resolving ethnic conflicts, which melds the theory of conflict, conflict resolution, and peace-building with traditional African values. It also highlights the importance of empowering local community leaders with appropriate skills in conflict prevention, management, and resolution without recourse to external intervention. Given that the abandonment of ‘utility-laden’ traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution for foreign models mostly gave rise to the myriads of avoidable violent conflicts all over Africa, it becomes a desideratum to revive and promote hitherto traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution in Nigeria. The paper adopts the historical and analytical method of research deploying secondary data to achieve its aim. The paper in its little form contributes to the trajectory of alternative conflict resolution process of ethnic and community ...

American Journal of Arts and Human Science, 2023

The literature on conflicts in Nigeria largely implicates socio-economic, political and governmental deficits as the major causes of violent conflicts in Nigeria. The paper interrogates the challenges and prospects of managing protracted social conflicts in Nigeria by examining the socio-economic and political dynamics of the Nigerian State within the framework of the current security challenges in Nigeria. A careful evaluation of data from the field was supplemented with a desk review of secondary sources and integrated into the content analysis of the issues that arose from the subject matter under study. Findings indicates that the root causes of conflicts in Nigeria are located ethno-religious intolerance, struggle for power and scarce resources, bad governance, insincerity and haphazard approach towards the resolution of these conflicts. The paper concludes that there is no alternative to good governance in the fight against violent conflicts in Nigeria. Good governance is congenial to the promotion, reign and sustenance of peace. Therefore, it is the contention of this paper that to effectively manage protracted social conflict, strategic approaches anchored on good governance that will guarantee sustainable peace and security in Nigeria must be evolved.

Journal La Sociale, 2023

Westernisation and globalization have almost eroded this culture and left in their trail an alien culture of conflict resolution which, in most cases, is at variance with our African ethics and cultural values. The replacement of our grand African methods of conflict resolution with the European methods of conflict resolution has particularly done harm rather than good to our group cohesion as one Nigeria, and generally to our group cohesion as Africans. There is doubtless the fact that an alien culture of conflict resolution on an African soil necessarily undermines our history as one black people, our philosophy as a communal entity and our belief that peace and unity of the collective supersedes the selfish interests of a select few who seek to benefit from conflict. Our history of ethnic clashes, insurgencies and the rise of crime in our African societies attest to the fact that in matters of conflict resolution, Nigerians and indeed Africans have employed the wrong methods, bereft of our African spirit of unity and peace in preference to unrests, upheavals and wars. It is against this backdrop that this paper explored our traditional methods of conflict resolution and made recommendations. In doing this, the paper looked at what conflict is, causes of conflict in Africa, principles of conflict resolution, methods of conflict resolution by the major ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, the use of proverbs rhetoric and folklores in conflict resolution and common methods of conflict resolution in Africa. The paper concluded the discourse with a summary and made some recommendations on the way forward.