Inter-Ethnic Conflicts And Conflict Resolution In The Niger-Delta Region Of Nigeria

As the Niger-Delta areas are under fire emanating from inter-ethnic conflicts, there is indeed no greater challenge facing the Nigerian Government than finding ways and means to resolve them. Conflict resolution refers to a society’s capacity to mediate the conflicting (though not necessarily violent) interests of different social groups. Conflicts in the Niger-Delta region have in recent years attracted both national and international attention. The article attempts to analyse the causes, consequences and efforts made by the past and present governments and oil companies to resolve the conflicts. Setting up of large and bureaucratic institutions, such as the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC), would not solve the problems that have given rise to these communal conflicts. In addition, the article recommends putting in place the decentralised institutional structures that will provide opportunities to people to participate actively in making and executing development policies. The communities in the Niger-Delta region should be encouraged to get involved in self-help projects, rather than depending solely on the Federal Government and oil companies to solve all their development problems. The issue of political stability is of vital importance to socio-economic and political development. Political stability has been employed to mean the absence of violent conflicts and instability. On the positive side, political stability has been used to characterise internal peace and harmony.