PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

CONFLICT

A state of disagreement or disharmony between persons or ideas; a clash: a conflict over water rights.

Psychology – An emotional or mental disturbance resulting from the opposition or simultaneous functioning of mutually exclusive impulses, desires, or tendencies.

CONFLICT AS A CONCEPT

There are various perceptions of conflict among which are:

1.      The Idealistic Perception;

2.      The Human Relation Image

3.      The Traditional Perception

4.      The Marxist concept of conflict

THE IDEALISTIC PERCEPTION

The idealists consider the relationship as there ought to be in the belief that man by even nature and orientation has the faculty of goodwill, cooperation and mutual co-existence with open dialogs, according to the idealists, conflict can be avoided or reduce to an insignificant level

HUMAN RELATION IMAGE

The Human Relation image are of the view that no matter whatever anyone thinks that conflict is nature and thus, inevitable in any group behaviour; conflict here is not always seen as evil or negative but as having a potentials to be positive for in redefining relationship between parties or groups.

They view conflict has been functional (by improving the quality of decision, being creative and innovative) and sometimes dysfunctional as well (i.e. when it is destructive and works against the system of maintenance). The positivists are also regarded as the Interactionists school of thought.

 THE TRADITIONAL PERCEPTION

It sees conflict as a negative manner, characterized by ill-faith which is bad and transcends to violence, destruction, irrationality and physical warfare. The traditional perception sees conflict as dysfunctional which is caused by poor communication, lack of openness and trust between people.

THE MARXIST CONCEPT OF CONFLICT

According to Marxist, the root cause of conflict and social change is man’s exploitation of man by man. The conflict arises inevitably due to how societies organize, manage and reproduce itself between the haves and the have nots…

CAUSES OF CONFLICT

1.     ILLITERACY.

Illiteracy in individuals stems from different; generally inter-related causes which together create a serious of often insurmountable barriers for those concerned. Causes of this are parent are with little schooling, lack of book at home, difficult living conditions and learning disabilities.

2.     POLITICAL POWER STRUGGLES

Power struggles is a situation where two or more organization compete with one another for influence; Now for instance, if groups of people or individuals are looking for influence which may be in the form of political, social or economic influence against another group of people, definitely it will cause conflict among themselves.

3.     INJUSTICE IN THE STATE.

The biggest injustice in the society is not economic inequality, but inequality of life expectancy, it is often conceived of as the gap between the earnings of the richest members of the society and those of the poorest. Those in power sometimes use the state’s legal and political systems to violate the political, economy and social rights of subordinate groups, which include (violation of individual’s liberties, infringements on rights to freedom of speech or religion and inadequate protection from cruel and unusual punishment). With all the pains and injustice inflicted on the majority, it can lead to conflict.

4.     ELECTORAL MALPRACTICES.

Election ought to go a long way towards making democracy work, but in many contexts, they fail to embody democratic ideals because they are affected by electoral manipulation and misconduct. In other words, the concepts of free and fair elections is one we are all familiar with, but analysis of the comparative and theoretical literature on electoral administration or what is to be designated poor practice.

Other causes of conflict include;

§  Incisive political statements: lack of enforcement and sanction against perpetrator of violence.

§  Ignorance and limited religious knowledge.

§  Disconnect between government and the governed.

§  Negligence of social responsibilities by community leaders.

§  Political intolerance.

§  Government complacency.

§  Massive arrests and imprisonment without trials.

§  Poor legislation for peace.

CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLENT CONFLICT

There are myriad consequences of violent conflict but little will be mentioned in this research; among these consequences are:

§  Loss of lives especially women and children.

§  Destruction of properties.

§  Disruption of social services.

§  Break down of law and order.

§  Looting of properties.

§  Kidnapping.

§  Indiscriminate, forceful of illegal arrest (detention).

§  Extra judicial killing, trails and imprisonment.

§  General apprehension and mistrust by the public towards security agencies.

§  Internal displacement of people.

§  Rape and homelessness.

PEACE

Peace is a period of harmony between different social groups that is characterized by lack of violence or conflict behaviors, and the freedom from fear of violence.

PEACE AS A CONCEPT

1.     THE STRUCTURAL PERSPECTIVE:

It assumes that societies are inter-dependent ones; hence, each has a role; an obligation and a function. Peace involves a collaborative activity that perceives the inter-play of functions by the rulers and the ruled.

2.     THE PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Philosophers like Plato, John Lock and Rousseau saw the natural man as good, full of faculty of goodwill and cooperation of desire of peace. They believe that man is born without human desire of greed and selfishness; Hobbes go against them and say that man by nature is evil and to have peace, men must engage in a contract with the philosopher king; whose chief duty is to secure and guarantee peace, order and stability to the best of public good such as welfare and security.

3.     THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

This is a normative approach; it gives a pictorial value judgment from the view point of the society, its structures and dynamic. It emphasizes the need for social harmony as a precondition for a society to organize and reproduce its social order. It de-emphasizes the antagonism, envy, and disrespect for norms and tradition.

4.     Political Perspective

5.     Psychological Perspective

6.     Environmental Perspective

7.     Strategic Perspective and;

8.     Marxist Perspective of peace

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR)

It is a collective term for the ways that parties can settle disputes, with (or without) the help of a third party.

REASONS FOR ADOPTING ADR

1.      Time

2.      Cost and;

3.      Participation

4.     NEGOTIATION (ADR PROCESS)

This is a voluntary and informal process by which the parties to a dispute reach a mutually acceptable agreement. As the name implies the parties seek out the best options for each other which culminates in an agreement. At their option, the process may be private. In this process, they may or may not use counsels and there is no limit to the argument, evidence and interests, which may be canvassed.

5.     EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION/ FACT FINDING (ADR PROCESS)

This is an informal process whereby a neutral third party is selected by the disputants to investigate the issue in dispute and submit a report or come to give evidence at another forum like a court or arbitration.

6.     CONCILIATION (ADR PROCESS)

Conciliation is the process by which one or more independent person(s) selected by the parties to an agreement generally by mutual consent, either at the time of making the agreement or subsequently when a dispute has arisen between them, to bring about a settlement of their dispute through consensus between the parties by employing various persuasive and other similar techniques. It is a process of confidence and faith. Sometimes, and in some systems it is also called mediation.

7.     ARBITRATION (ADR PROCESS)

Arbitration is one of the oldest methods for the resolution of disputes between the parties; it is a technique for the resolution of disputes outside the court.

8.     MINI-TRIAL (ADR PROCESS)

The resolution of disputes through this alternative dispute resolution method is called mini-trial. It is relatively a new device for the resolution of disputes. Sometimes it is also called as “exchange of information”. It has nothing to do with a criminal or any other trial. This procedure is only named as a mini-trial. In fact, in this process, no adjudication process takes place.

9.     MEDIATION (ADR PROCESS)

It is a form of settlement negotiation facilitated by a neutral third party; it can also be referred to as an attempt to help parties in a disagreement to hear one another, to minimize the harm that can come from disagreement and to maximize any area of agreement and to find a way of preventing the areas of disagreement from interfering with the process of seeking a compromise or mutually agreed outcome.

10. ADJUDICATION (ADR PROCESS)

It refers to the process of decision making that involve a neutral third party with the authority to determine a binding resolution through some form of judgment or award (it commonly occurs in court system) but when it occurs outside the court, it is refers to ADR such as arbitration, mini-trials etc. it is done in order to prove that one side is right and the other side is wrong

NOTE

The major difference between the conciliation and the mini-trial is that in conciliation, the conciliator tries to bring about an agreement between the parties. In mini-trial, the neutral adviser tells the senior management personnel of the parties of the respective strengths and weaknesses of the case to the parties.

CITIZEN

Is a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection (distinguished from alien) In other word, a citizen is an inhabitant of a city or town, especially one entitled to its privileges or franchises.  In other word, he is a person who legally belongs to a country and has the rights and protection of that country.

Question:

Why is Indigene - Settler Dichotomy so Persistent in Nigeria?

ANSWER

Both citizens and state officials label “non-indigenes” as “settlers” or visitors” who do not have a claim to land equal to that of “indigenes.” Justification for such demarcation is based on the idea that “first in time is first in right.” This system of labeling is particularly dangerous in a state where the primary means of livelihood is farming and where some of the “settler” tribes have resided in the region for generations.

SOLUTION/RECOMMENDATIONS

The NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT should establish a system in which constitutional rights are based on residency, not on origin or indigene status. The 1999 Constitution should be amended so that the Federal Character provision can no longer be used to deny so-called settlers access to crucial resources and fair political representation.

Secondly, the government should introduce a PEACE POLICY – the peace policy will discourage physical violence and verbal expression of conflict by instituting mechanisms for social restraint and promoting peaceful co-existence among Nigerian ethnicities and identities.