Sociological examination of ethnic conflicts in obi local government area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

This paper looked at sociological examination of ethnic conflicts in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa state to find out the causes of ethnic conflicts and assess effectiveness of government intervention in curbing conflicts in the study area. One hundred and two (102) respondents were drawn from three (3) purposively selected wards in study area. The study reveals that majority of respondents sampled were between the ages of 20-30 years (84.3%), male (81.5%) and single (51%). Majority (56.6%) of them also had tertiary education and worked as artisans (38.2%). The findings further reveals that 52 % of respondents were of the opinion that poverty contributed to the crisis in their area and 41.18% of them believed that land dispute was the major cause of conflict in the study area. Again, 52.9% of the respondents indicated that government intervention in resolving crisis was not effective while 71.6% of respondents indicated that traditional and religious leaders interventions in resolving conflict was effective. The study concludes that poverty, unemployment and illiteracy were sociological conditions that caused conflict in the study area. It is recommended that government must learn to intervene early enough in conflicts at the rumor stage and involved traditional heads and religious leader in any negotiations between conflicting groups as means of resolving disputes and differences.