CRITICAL CHALLENGES IN RESOLVING CONFLICTS
Some Lessons for Nigeria’s Niger Delta
By Akpobibibo Onduku |
|
Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford,
UK |
Conflict is an intrinsic and inevitable aspect of social
change. It is an expression of the
heterogeneity of interests, values and beliefs that arise as new
formations generated by social change come up against inherited
constraints. We might agree with John
Burton, who argues that conflicts are struggles between opposing
forces, implying that the issues are more serious than those
relating to disputes, possibly stimulating physical
confrontations. But the way we deal
with conflict is a matter of habit and choice. It is possible to change habitual responses and exercise
intelligent choices. Conflict has now
become a persistent feature of modernity and a universal
phenomenon but the manner and approach with which we handle
conflicts in Nigeria is worth reflecting upon. We should strive to transform potentially violent conflicts into
non-violent alternatives. By way of
clarifications, the prevention of direct violence and war is
sometimes referred to as ‘negative peace’ while the
overcoming of structural inequalities and cultural blindness
whether actual or perceived, is considered to be ‘positive
peace’.
The fundamentals of resolving conflicts involve raising
consciousness about cultural differences to enhance intercultural
communication and generating guidelines for intercultural
interaction. Actors committed to conflict resolution processes
have put the strategic structural and psycho-cultural frameworks
of resolving conflicts to test in most crisis-ridden regions of
the world. The structural theory
explained a conflict as one of incompatible interests, which arose
from the structure of the community, whether the community is that
of a nation, a region, or a local community. On the other hand, the psycho-cultural places a greater emphasis
on identifying the fears and misconceptions arising between
communities, the lack of available trust for political negotiation
work and the need to develop relationships between conflictants
that are conducive to negotiation, compromise and
cooperation.
Over the years, we might have observed that the sensibilities of
a majority of our leaders at all levels have opted not to consider
good listening and exploring cultural factors as effective
conflict resolution skills. Conflicts
have, therefore, developed and escalated at different levels to
full-scale violence with all the attendant consequences of
destruction, waste, cessation of productive activities, refugee
problems and environmental disasters. But often, many of these conflicts are the direct result of human
rights violations, injustices or perceived injustices. It is a truism that the conflicts have directly or indirectly led
to more violation of natural rights creating a situation that
appears to be a cycle of hopelessness, thereby posing a threat to
national stability, peaceful coexistence and economic
development. The denial of basic
rights relating to food, employment, housing or cultural life and
large-scale discrimination and exclusion from the decision-making
processes of society are root causes of many of the grave crises
of our nationhood. Prolonged conflicts
have affected rural life and local occupation, crippling
productivity of subsistence practices leading to chronic food
shortages, malnutrition and famine.
Building peace prevents conflicts and instability, improves
governance, enhances sustainable development and strengthens the
rule of law, which is necessary for cultivating a stable
democracy. Therefore, a very sincere
commitment is needed to ensure that the dust of violence expressed
differently across the country permanently settles. Looking to the future with some hope, we can only see the growing
concerns of few Nigerians that think and dream of the
survivability of their beloved country with little efforts from
the recycled and emerging political leaders within. I think we can move closer to achieving sustainable peace in
every geopolitical region of our country if only we could opt for
positive peace efforts which takes into consideration of the
different forms of injustice. It is
high time we appreciated the fact that to resolve conflicts, we
must hold genuine and sincere consultations.
We may like to take into cognizance, the fact that, conflict
resolution had always been controversial, both in relation to
outside disciplines, and internally amongst its different
protagonists and schools. It has drawn
persistent fire from critics at different points on the political
and intellectual spectrum. On the one
hand, realists consider it as a struggle between antagonistic and
irreconcilable groups in which power and coercion were the only
ultimate currency. The ideological
perceptions of some of those working in the field of peace
research and conflict resolution were regarded as compromising,
and the attempt to combine ‘scientific’ academic
analysis with
a normative political agenda as intellectually suspect. Due to the high regard to protect individual interests, the use
of games zero-sum and non zero-sum approaches and that of the
prisoner’s dilemma are commonly adopted and parties try to
reframe from original positions, interests and needs with an
acceptance of a third party intervention.
It has become even more pertinent, due to the politicization and
polarization of political space, to put up a practical and
conscious ability to tolerate cultural and individual differences
in whatever degree. Our leaders seem
not to be at peace with themselves. They need to build an individual peace effort in other to avoid
being in conflict with the other person. Even if we apply existing theories to our specific conflict
situations, the question will be as to what extent we can tolerate
differences absolutely. For instance,
issues such as the signing of the offshore/onshore oil dichotomy
bill should be frugally considered with all sincerity. Our over forty-two years of nation building seems to place us
more in a state of greater uncertainties. Not quite long, a documentary on Nigeria in one of the British
Television stations portrayed our nation as one where nothing
works. Accepting this or otherwise is
another debate altogether. The
realities in the images left of the Niger Delta communities like
Oloibiri, Odi, Kaiama, Opia-Ikenya, Okerenkoko,
Ogoniland, Choba, the oil city of
Warri et cetera portrays to a considerable extent as to how
we handle conflicts. In same manner,
the army invasions of the Zaki-Biam and neighbouring communities
in Benue State, the Jos religious clashes and the scary aftermaths
of the Miss World Beauty pageantry in Kaduna and Abuja, all remind
us of our preparedness and abilities to react to impending
anarchies.
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