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Joseph Shopade, a consultant with Techno serve and a renowned conflict expert, has called on government and stakeholders in the agricultural sector to look into the farmers/herdsmen clashes through removal of the issues that engender the conflicts.
Speaking in Keffi, during a two-day Conflict Management and Resolution training for stakeholders from Kaduna, Benue and Kogi states for effective interventions in farmers/herders conflicts organised by Technoserve and Synergos Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation ( NGO ), said the Onion Model approach was best option as it enabled resolution of the issues that resulted in the crisis which were mostly threat to livelihood of the parties.
The participants, who were trained on application of 10 modules of conflict resolution, expressed delight that they were now better equipped to handle conflicts of interests between the two warring sides.
BusinessDay equally gathered that the participants were drawn from the Ministries of Agriculture, Fadama and other key departments, Parastatals, security agencies and the media from the three states.
Obosi Philip, Technoserve Project Coordinator for the State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA), while explaining the essence of the workshop said the workshop was informed by the prevailing clashes in Benue and parts of Kogi and Kaduna States.
“We deem it fit to have this workshop to re-orientate decision makers in key agricultural sectors as well as security officers on how to mediate and bring about peaceful resolution.
“It also enables the participants to mediate in conflict situations in rural areas because it is affecting the overall agricultural production and key value chains in those states,” Philip.
Contributing, Stephen Faleti, a research fellow at the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, said escalation dynamics were ignored at the onset of conflicts, adding that there must have been early signals which were ignored or not adequately addressed.
Also speaking, Professor Ayo Hammed, a Counseling and Personnel Psychologist emphasised that there is need for proper understanding of the background of the conflicts and involvement of various primary and secondary (shadow) parties.
He equally revealed that every conflict provided opportunities for positive development, as urged the participants to deploy the techniques and strategies learnt at the workshop to resolve, manage or address conflict situations.
Victoria Nnakaike, Lokoja
