The Imperatives of Government Regulation on Conflict Reduction among Grazing and Farming Communities in the Benue Valley: Challenges and Options

Abstract

Conflict has become the most common denominator of most societies today. In Africa most of the conflicts occur as a result of resource contestations, owing largely to the security of such resources comparative to the size and growth of population. Land related conflicts are the most dominant among the resource conflicts in Africa. The grazers-farmers or herders/farmers conflicts are common to the North Central Nigeria as a result of the utility of the Benue River which passes through most states of the region. This research studies government regulation of grazing and farming as a means of reducing or eliminating conflicts among the communities of the Benue Valley. The key objective of the research is to assess the effectiveness or otherwise of the regulation as a tool for reduction or elimination of conflict among farming communities in the Benue Valley. The study uses the mixed method survey research design with equal status for both quantitative and qualitative data. The resource access theory was used to explain the study. The research found that the law regulating the grazing activities in Benue state was an imposition from the state without being consultative, it also found that the law was neither effective nor appropriate considering the continuation of conflicts even after the application of the law. The research recommended that the legislature in its business of law making must be independent, unbiased, balanced and fair in the discharge of its responsibility. The research also recommended that regulatory laws should not be one-way traffic where controls are directed at the participants in the trades or businesses alone but must also show the responsibility of the state and how it will be discharged.