CONFLICT PREVENTION
Conflicts are clashes arising from irreconcilable, incompatible differences between parties, it could be a protracted one between nations resulting to battles. Conflict is a synonym for Battle. It could also be an active disagreement between people of opposing ideas, opinions and principles.
Conflicts are both Internal and External and consist of 4 Types namely: Interpersonal, Intra-personal, Inter-group and Intra-group.
Conflict prevention is a diplomatic approach that refers to a variety of activities and strategies within the field of peace-building that are deployed to pre-empt and subsequently neutralize potential triggers to widespread violent conflicts. This shift towards CONFLICT PREVENTION other than wait for CONFLICTS to emerge, can be attributed to the MORAL, POLITICAL and the ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES experienced during conflicts. You will recall that the country that took Israel to the ICJ cited Moral Grounds.
There are estimated 45 Armed conflicts in the World, notably the Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, Iraq/US/Yemen/Iraq. In Africa, there are Conflicts in Cameroon, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Bukina Faso and Nigeria.
The Causes of these CONFLICTS range from; Religion, Governance, Politics woven into the issues and allied topics such as Human Rights and Justice. These are intrinsically linked with Economic Inequality, Climate Change and Energy disparities. There are existential prices differential of Kerosene and Aviation Fuels that have affected the earnings and the livelihood of the low income and the wealthy in most parts of our continent respectively. Internally, the difference between the rich, the middle class and the poor has started manifesting on the streets of our State capital cities through protests in Kano, Minna and Port Harcourt lately. Further, apart from the issues of governance, religion and politics, the use of ICT to disseminate fake news have been known to exacerbate conflicts.
These CAUSATIVES are aggravated by :
Sociocultural, Socioeconomic dissimilarity, (between high literacy areas and high illiterate areas)
Cognitive imbalance, poor perception/ learning and reasoning
Status differences (Rich elites and the multidimensional poor)
Coercive state power. (abuse of state power) state institutions especially INEC and the Police. . Local Government Election.
In summary, Conflict Prevention does not only refer to averting, avoiding, blocking the possibility of the outbreak of Conflict but resolving or preventing the relapse into another conflict. Evidences suggest that STRUCTURAL Prevention (keeping the actors within their borders) is the most effective in the early or latent stages of Conflicts.
CONFLICT PREVENTION includes (conflict avoidance and resolution) in all some 5 STEPS have been identified:
- l Identify the cause of the conflict. Give it its proper Title. (herdsmen/farmers clash) stand out as of the worse identification process.
- l Look beyond the conflict as a strategy.(peaceful co-existence of tribes, Hutus and Tutsies in Rwanda.
- l Seek for the solutions from the disputants and ensure that they are achievable.
- l Get all parties to the disputes to sign a doable and a negotiated agreement.
- l Put in place measures to prevent conflicts in the future.
PEACE BUILDING
Peace Building is the development of constructive personal, group and political relationships across ethnic, religious, class, national and racial or tribal boundaries. Allow me to state that, it is one of the tools that we have not employed in our dear country in ALL post conflict situations. It could have been deployed recently; post end SARs conflict 2020 and Post 2023 Elections. There is still room for it. It aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the structural conditions that generate deadly conflicts. There were attempts but lacked the fundamentals and thus ended up with all parties hurting. Strategic Peace-building connects people and groups “on the ground”, communities and religious groups, grassroots organizations with power brokers and government, at the sub-regional and regional bodies including the UN, also with corporate organizations. It aims to not only to resolve conflicts but to build societies, institutions, policies and relationships , that are better able to sustain peace and justice. These processes starts after a CONFLICT.
Fundamentally, Peace-building cannot be built outside the actors of the Conflict. Just as in Conflict prevention. It must be acknowledged that outside and external actors cannot really create the needed peace. Local ownership of the process is key and critical. You cannot Import peace, it has to evolve and be created. It must be built on fundamentals and Peace cannot be bought, no matter the price tag! Payment of monies to non state armed actors is motivation for more conflicts. Experience has shown that it enhances the expansion and the network of these groups beyond their local influence, thus perpetuating the conflicts.
The process of PEACE BUILDING involves:
- l Conflict Prevention (which we have just dealt with) conflict avoidance and resolution.
- l Conflict Management, eliminating the causes of the Conflicts. Typically. roaming herdsmen or developing ranches. In fire fighting, we are taught to eliminate the oxygen.
- l Conflict Resolution and Transformation. Adopt processes and means that will facilitate end of the conflict.
- l Conflict reconciliation, properly define the end state to the conflict…Peace co-existence of all parties. Recall in those days, all disputes were solved by establishing ,military or police barracks. Decisions were reached outside the purview of the disputants.
The Process of Peace-building are not limited to the understated since it is evolving, however the following must characterize all parties to peace building :
- l The AF and other Security Agencies must ensure the security/safety of the processes. Kinetically, all processes must be motivated by the strength of the Peace Keepers. They must also be trusted. They must display professionalism, fairness, dignity and humility with the avowed principles of being the moral and ethical compass of their profession.
- l The government must maintain the rule of law curbing the excesses of conflicts especially untoward treatment to the female gender. (rape and kidnapping).Project good governance and ensure that democratic political system works. Get the economy working with the people getting employed and driving the economic fundamentals.
- l Consolidate on Food security to give meaning to governance. Create meaningful jobs.
- l Engage the MEDIA for proper dissemination of the process and letting all parties be aware “FIRSTHAND” of the outcomes at all Stages of the Negotiations.
Peace Building is thus a process intended to resolve current conflicts and prevent future conflicts by addressing the causes and effects of the problems. Thereafter, building a comprehensive strategy to encourage lasting peace. A contemporary example of a strategic Peace-Building effort are the Diplomatic, Military, (ECOMOG) Political and the UN in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
In Conclusion, Conflict Prevention and Peace Building are processes that are adopted, structured and implemented for sustainable peace prior to, during and post-conflict situations respectively. While Conflict Prevention could serve as an avoidance measure against conflicts, Peace Building is a post Conflict process.
Albeit, it can be argued, that Conflict Prevention is seemingly Proactive while the fundamentals of Peace Building is Retroactive.
Thanks for your very Rapt Attention!
Rear Admiral (Dr) Francis Akpan (Rtd) gave this lecture at the Rotary Club of Lagos during its weekly meeting on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, in Lagos
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