Professor Etannibi Alemika a retired Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Jos has called for a shift from reactive government interventions to proactive strategies for resolving conflicts in Nigeria.
He warned that the country’s failure to develop effective mechanisms for managing conflicts had contributed to the spread and persistence of violence.
Alemika made the call at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation West Africa conference on peace and conflict resolution in Nigeria in Abuja.
In his presentation Peace and Conflict Resolution in Nigeria: Rethinking Strategies for Sustainable Peace he said conflict was not inherently destructive but could promote development when managed through non-violent engagement and constructive dialogue.
He explained that conflicts became destructive when they involved violence and resistance to negotiation and mediation aimed at rational mutually beneficial outcomes.
Alemika attributed many conflicts in Nigeria to competition for access to and control of resources noting that ethnic and religious identities sometimes concealed the underlying interests driving violence.
He also identified the activities of conflict entrepreneurs whom he said conceived financed and executed violence among ethnic religious and communal groups for personal benefit.
According to him some of these actors subsequently emerged as negotiators with government and gained recognition and access to resources allocated for managing conflicts.
The professor noted that despite the existence of institutions academic research centres and civil society organisations with expertise in peace and conflict resolution Nigeria’s dominant approach remained reactive rather than preventive.
He said governments often pursued negative peace through ad hoc interventions instead of developing policies and strategies that could sustain positive peace.
Alemika also identified inadequate collaboration among government civil society organisations and other stakeholders as a major obstacle to effective conflict resolution.
He urged greater cooperation among stakeholders hoping the conference would identify practical solutions and outline implementation strategies to achieve sustainable peace in Nigeria.