ETHNO-RELIGIOUS CONFLICT AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN BASSA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE

This study examines Ethno Religious conflict and Socio Economic Development in Bassa Local Government Area. Given that the essence of the Religious institution is to preserve the tradition, the customs, cultural heritage of the people and to manage, settle and resolved dispute/conflict arising within or between members of the community by the instrumentality of laws and customs of the people in that particular community or society. Traditional rulers are seen and referred to as the custodians of their people’s norms, cultural values and practices. The objective of the study is to examine the roles of traditional rulers in conflict management in Bassa Local Government Area. To identify means by which traditional rulers effectively carry out their role in the prevention and mediation of conflicts in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. The researcher adopts a probability sample method to select 108 respondents from Bassa Local Government Area. The researcher adopts quantitative data, in terms of textual information form and qualitative in terms of numerical simple percentages for data presentation. From the data collected, the finding revealed that cattle rustling, land control, religious intolerance, indigene-settlers divide and chieftaincy tussles are some of the remote and immediate causes of conflict in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. Furthermore, the study revealed that political differences also contributed to the escalation of crisis in the Local Government. Several studies attribute Bassa violent conflicts to the failure of its political elite to accept democratic principles of accountability, equity, justice and the rule of law. These factors transcend the regular causes of violent conflicts in the Local government Area. It was also revealed that traditional rulers lack total cooperation from their subjects; they do not get complete support from their subjects, most especially some of the youths. The research recommends that traditional rulers should be encouraged to mediate in conflicts in society and should be educated and enlightened in modern and alternative dispute resolution that will enable them to facilitate and enhance resolution of conflict in the society.