Caught in the Web Of Hobbes' State of Nature : Thoughts on Central Nigeria's Violent Conflicts
Caught in the Web Of Hobbes' State of Nature : Thoughts on Central Nigeria's Violent Conflicts
Nigeria is plagued by multiple security challenges leading to deaths and human displacements. The farmer herdsmen conflict is a major feature of this phenomenon. The paper seeks to go beyond the surface-level myth of the 'farmer herdsmen conflict' narrative to show that the conflict is sustained by reactionary elements in society. To achieve this, a rich blend of Multi, Inter and Trans (MIT) disciplinary approach to scholarship that lean fundamentally on qualitative methodologies were adopted in the analysis. The paper concludes, based on available evidence, that government's poor response to the structural conflict generation vectors and its poor diversity management strategies are responsible for the cycle of violence. This informs the recommendation that the state should focus on addressing identified structural gaps while at the same time making its security institutions proactively thorough in operationalising the national defence policy geared towards protecting its people. This is how civilized states in the mold of the westphalian nation-states system are build.
CITATION: Ayuba, Caleb . Caught in the Web Of Hobbes' State of Nature : Thoughts on Central Nigeria's Violent Conflicts . London : Adonis & Abbey Publishers , 2020. Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict Transformation, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2020, pp. 25–42 - Available at: https://library.au.int/caught-web hobbes-state- nature- thoughts-central-nigerias-violent-conflicts