Local governments in Nigeria are expected to play both political as well as a socioeconomic role. Change in relation to local government is navigating a path for local government to perform its socioeconomic role while using its political power to achieve this. A change in the external environment i.e. the political, social, or economic environment requires making appropriate changes in the activities of the organization. Local government faces these demands for change through individuals who make up its membership. Since local government change ultimately depends on the willingness of the people to change their attitudes and behaviors, deliberate and concerted efforts are necessary for bringing about such changes especially as it relates to conflict management security.
In this paper we shall be discussing the concept of change in relation to local government and conflict management, how local government go about providing change in conflict management security and the problems they encounter in doing these.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Change can be defined thus, “to become different, or make something or somebody different”. Change may either be positive or negative in character. Change simply means moving from the old to a new way of doing things. Change is in fact another word for development; development is change from the positive angle. Change is both necessary and inevitable, effective local governance attempt to strike a balance between maintaining the status quo and bring about or respond to change.
People will resist change on the following grounds;
- When the said change is perceived to be against their self-interest;
- When they misunderstand the dimension of such change;
- When they are not given the opportunity to be a part of the changing process;
- When previous attempts of change had been detrimental rather than beneficial to them;
- When they have low tolerance for change; and
- Fear of the unknown
- Such resistance can be minimized by either of the following methods;
- Education and effective communication;
- Participation and involvement of the people in the process of achieving change
- Facilitation and support
- Negotiation and agreement
- Manipulation and cooperation
Amongst other things, Conflict at the local level may be caused by any or all of the following;
Land dispute between individuals and or between communities; disputes over land occurs when there is a misunderstanding over ownership and economic use. This eventually leads to fighting and destruction of lives and property.
Dispute between cattle herdsmen and farmers; this arises when herds of cattle go into farms to eat up and destroy crops. Farmers reaction to such cases is usually retaliatory and offensive.
Religious misunderstanding; this occurs due to incompatibility amongst two or more religious groups and is known to be one of the major cause of crises in this country.
Political differences; this often arises as a result of power tussle between political juggernauts who go about inciting their supporters to use violent means to scare their opponents.
Location of projects; this is a situation where two or more communities are laying claim to the siting of a project. If not contained early enough, both communities may resort to a loose/loose mind set and the result will be a crisis situation.
Dispute over traditional titles and succession struggles;
Influx of strangers and immigrants looking for menial/farming jobs or land to farm.
Conflict management on the other hand refers to the interventionist efforts aimed at preventing the escalation and negative effects of conflicts especially violent ones and through this management a particular conflict could be reduced, downgraded and even contained.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AS AN AGENT OF CHANGE AND
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Local government as we had earlier pointed out, have both political and socioeconomic role to play in its immediate environment. The political role will include democratization by popular participation, political education and socialization, maintenance of law and order, serve as training ground for future political leaders, as well as serve as a two way channel of communication between the people and other levels of government.
On the socioeconomic sphere, local government is expected to provide efficient services such as primary education, agriculture, infrastructural facilities, revenue generation and even job creation and so on.
It is in the process of living up to its roles that local governments act as an agent for change and conflict management, and this take place in three levels.
In the first level, Local Government makes use of the following;
The Use of Elected Representative; These people’s representatives feed their wards with information either to douse their fears about a particular issue or to elate them about a particular development. These representatives also agitate for the location of projects in their constituencies such that their people begin to feel a sense of belonging in the larger society. This helps in stemming down the possibility of a conflict and can bring about the much sought-after development--change.
The Use of Standing Committees; committees such as the Peace and Security Committee, and Police Community Relations Committee are used by local government to maintain law and order in society. For instance, the peace and security committee is composed of the police DPO, the military (if they have a presence in the locality), representatives of market women and men, representatives of the church and mosque and other stake holders in society. These committees meet and discuss peace and security matters such that before certain matters metamorphose into full blown conflict or crisis the appropriate authorities would have been alerted. This arrangement ensures that conflicts at the local level are kept at their lowest ebb.
The Use of Traditional Leaders; owing to the level of allegiance that exist between the people and their traditional institutions, local government often go through these institutions to bring about change. The traditional institution is used for social mobilization, conflict management, and development. The traditional institution have their traditional way of settling disputes amongst persons and the are also the custodians of local custom, thus they are highly revered by the people.
The second level is the use of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to bring about change and foster development. These NGOs are specialized in specific areas of endeavor that could be employed in complimenting the efforts of the local government. The CBOs are used for local community works. There in two things are achieved. In the first place development of the area is achieved, while in the second place the energy of the youth is channeled towards positive things that are beneficial to the community.
The third and last level for bringing about change and containment of possible conflict is by the local government itself providing efficient services to the people evenly. Although resources requisite for these development tends to be scarce relative to needs, local government must seek to strategically situate projects such that all and sundry will benefit.
PROBLEMS FACED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN PROVIDING CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Although local governments try as much as they can to live up to the above, their efforts are usually marred by the following;
Inadequate Capacity; this is concerning the quality of personnel in the helms of affairs in local government. The quality of manpower tends not to have the capacity to handle conflicts and bring about change. Some of the elected representatives are primary school leavers and they usually have poor communication skills. Some of them are known for flagrantly insulting some members of the public that they (members of the public) are poor. This kind of situation can only escalate rather than manage conflict.
Inadequate Autonomy; the issue of Local Government autonomy also affect its ability to carry out some or most of its roles. This problem is as a result of the fact that local governments, most of them, do not have enough resources to execute developmental projects that will bring about change. And as we all know, physical autonomy is somewhat tied to fiscal autonomy.
Uncooperative Attitudes of the People; this is as a result of inadequate resources, inadequate autonomy and lack of consultation and involvement by the local government officials. The local people do not have respect for their representatives because often times when the need arises for the local government machinery to respond to their wishes, local government usually do not have either the resources to do so or they lack the autonomy to respond, thereby resorting to the state government for virtually everything. Thus the people see little or no reason to cooperate with an ineffective institution. In fact the people’s attitude towards local government is rather passive and indifferent.
Politicization Of Projects; this is another serious problem in local government that result in conflicts. Instead of projects to be situated according to need and other concrete consideration, some persons, because of their influence, tend to concentrate virtually all projects in their own locality thereby causing dissensions among other groups. Within a short time if nothing is done to address such issues the aftermath is usually a conflict.
Religious Bigotry; in a case where members of the same local government are of different religious beliefs, the dominant religious group tend concentrate projects in their own part, neglecting others and creating a breeding ground for potential conflict.
Ineffective Communication; this come to bear when amidst brewing tension the local government official do little or nothing to calm the fears of the people by feeding them with adequate information about the state of things. Ineffective communication creates misunderstanding and misunderstanding is the foundation of conflicts.
CONCLUSION
Thus far as we have shown from the above discussion that the actions and inaction of local government can either help in managing conflicts or blow them out of proportion depending on the ability of the administrative machinery to carry the people along. Development is not possible in a chaotic environment, thus local government must seek ways to ensure a peaceful coexistence amongst its people so as to bring about the desired change. To do this local government must increase its commitment towards meeting the needs of the people by improving the quality of its manpower and strengthening its financial base. Developmental projects must also be evenly distributed so as make all feel a sense of belonging in the changing process.
