Nigeria, no doubt is a plural state; and therefore, not immune to conflict. In broad terms, conflict can be categorised as constructive or dysfunctional, and unconstructive or destructive. In constructive conflict, there may be divergent shades of opinions on issues, but the people disagree and agree. It promotes tolerance, mutual understanding, unity and peace. Unconstructive conflict encourages antagonism, segregates people of different backgrounds; sociocultural, ethno-religious and political familiarities. It communicates hatred and sentiments which often lead to violent conflict such as ethnic/communal clashes, sedentary farmers/herders’ conflict, religious and political savagery.
Violent conflict reigns essentially in the absence of peace, encouraging criminalities such as kidnapping, armed robbery/banditry, rival cult war, and various rebellious activities. These breed a state of insecurity as the situation offers economic fulcrum for conflict merchants.
Although conflict in every human society is unavoidable because of varying interests in social interactions, it is my strong belief that dysfunctional conflicts and violence can be restrained with peace mainstreaming policies and promotion of appropriate education on the benefits of maintaining a peaceful atmosphere.
When there is absence of peace, society retrogresses in terms of human and material resources. Peace, to me, is therefore a concept that is all-encompassing. It is that delicate state that guarantees general human and economic well-being and progress which must seriously be guarded.
We urgently need to join hands with our leaders to reclaim our country from socioeconomic plunderers. The time to trade peace with one another is now. Every right-thinking citizen must market it in places of worship, schools, hospitals, markets, offices, and in other accessible spaces. It gladdens my heart that President Bola Tinubu at the swearing-in of the 45 ministers utterly underscored the extremely urgent need for members of the Federal Executive Council to ensure the delivery of his government’s agenda in ways that will engender mutual trust, peace and national unity.
In order to achieve the noble cause of building a compact mutual trust, peace and national cohesion among the people so as to guarantee the attainment of our socioeconomic pursuits among other national goals, there must be a deliberate national policy for the mainstreaming of peace coordinated by the country’s apex peace and conflict agency, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution. There should be a considerable budgetary allocation for the management and resolution of conflicts in the country and also for the building and promotion of peace that is durable.
I propose that there should be an allocation, no matter how little, for the peace promotion component of every MDA project. I have also learnt, while at the IPCR, that even the conception and location of projects could induce dysfunctional conflict, underscoring the need for our political leaders to receive appropriate peace and conflict briefs as implications of projects especially those sited within communities with diverse religious and sociocultural backgrounds. Let me say that it will be highly beneficial for FEC members, the State Executive Councils and councilors involved in governance to undertake basic peace and conflict resolution courses run by the IPCR’s National Peace Academy as a demonstration of the seriousness attached to the issues of peacebuilding and conflict management.
