FG Urged to Tackle Conflicts to Douse Insecurity

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The President Bola Tinubu’s administration has been urged to tackle the various conflicts arising from different segments of the country, as a safe way of tackling insecurity in Nigeria.

The Founder of De-Okanimee Institute for Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution (DPCR), Mr. Daniel Okanimee, made this call yesterday, at the Glorious Rain Revival Church (GRRC), Obio/Akpor, Rivers State, while speaking on how conflicts can be managed in the family and society.

Okanimee stressed that mismanagement of conflicts in communities, especially those agitating for rights has been the bane of insecurity, adding that government has not given those conflicts attention, rather is focusing on the outcome of the conflicts.

The conflict resolution expert, who listed Boko Haram, Niger Delta Militancy, IPOB, etc as some of the outcome of mismanagement of conflicts in the society, said that government should learn dialogue, tolerance, negotiate and stop using force for a solution to such problems.

He said: “Nigeria problem is conflict and not insecurity. The government should emphasise on conflict and not insecurity, because insecurity is man-made and conflict is natural.

“Boko Haram came as a conflict issue because the governor that used the boys later refused to settle them. When the boys asked for settlement, the government used force on them and killed their leader.

“The Niger Delta agitation came because of mismanagement of oil wells that come from their area and they were peaceful. During our investigation on the Niger Delta issues, we found out that they were agitating, the government should have called them, dialogue with them or negotiate with them for lasting solution. Instead, they drafted the military and therefore peaceful demonstration become soar, and that is how kidnapping started in that area.

“I remembered when I was working as a policeman with Shell, Umuechem in Etche was a very peaceful place, they were demonstrating, and instead of using dialogue, the company and government drafted Mobile Police, they came to the community, used force and then burnt houses. We saw what reference that turned out.

Okanimee pointed out that Nigeria has never resolved any issue threatening the peace and stability of the country.

He said: “They are deceiving Nigerians, the Nigeria problem is not insecurity but conflict. We are incompatible, we are disagreeing. Find a way to resolve it and not insecurity. If you resolve the noted issues, everything will go away.”

Earlier, the General Overseer of GRRC, Prophet Austin Ndubuisi Okpara, noted that “Nigeria is not having insecurity problem, but unresolved conflict issues. But if the government is able to go into conflict resolution, then we are going to have a perfect nation.”

Okpara explained that “we thought it necessary to bring this conflict department as a source of resolution in the church. This is because, conflict is a living thing, is part of man.”