RELIGIOUS APPROACH TO CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Conflict is as old as man. It can be traced from the biblical stories of disobedience and fratricide found in the book of origins down to the present society and it is inevitable. Conflict arises from disagreement and it is a natural phenomenon in human societies just as religion is the worship of super natural being which lives with man. Conflict is man-made and it has been a problem to mankind, if not well managed or resolved, escalates to destruction of lives and properties. It has not helped in the growth and development of any nation but rather it destroys the peaceful co-existence and makes live unbearable. However, dialogue, tolerance and reconciliation among others should serve as tools with which to douse the tension, emanating from conflict. The poor management and resolution of conflicts by Nigerian government has led to crisis in almost all parts of the states which has resulted in calling for restructuring, protest, criminality, agitation by Biafrans and Oduduwa for secession, etc. In Nigeria, we have three major religions, namely; Islamic, Christianity and African Traditional Religion. Though among the adherents of these three major religions, conflicts do exists among them but still they play vital role in settlement of disputes in the society. This is done through prayer, consultation, dialogue and fair hearing to both parties involved in the conflict. Without peace, oneness and fairness to all the members that make up the political zones, the country cannot progress positively. The paper examined the non existence of peace, fairness, equality and oneness in the country. Therefore, with the use of comparative phenomenological method of analysis, this paper proved government efforts not good enough and there was need for religious approach in order to significantly reduce the rate of conflicts in the country.