Unethical practices and the role of traditional ruler-ship institutions in modern conflict resolution in Tivland, Nigeria

In the past decade, there has been a surge in deadly internal conflicts in Nigeria. The state's failure to decisively address violent skirmishes through its modern conflict-resolution mechanisms has resuscitated the debate on the role of traditional rulers in conflict resolution. Although the relevance of traditional institutions in conflict contexts has been well acknowledged in many studies, their complicity in the onset and preponderance of conflict remains understudied. Using a mixed qualitative research design, this paper interrogates the nexus between unethical practices of traditional rulers and conflict in Tivland, north central Nigeria. It hypothesises that in the examined case study, the quest for personal aggrandizement unwittingly heightened corrupt behaviour among traditional rulers, leading to conflict emergence and protraction. To curb the impunity that currently undergirds conflict in Tivland, we recommend that traditional rulers found culpable in conflicts should be dethroned and prosecuted as deterrent to others. Also, traditional leadership selection processes should be merit-based, as opposed to the current practice of offering stools to cronies of state authorities.