Land Boundary Disputes Resolution: A Qualitative Study of Peace and Conflict Resolution between Erinle-Offa Communities in Kwara State, Nigeria
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Published:
Dec 19, 2023
Keywords:
Erinle, Offa, Boundary, Territorial Boundary Resolution, Nigeria, #SDG16
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Abstract
The study focused on land boundary disputes and the resolution challenges in the Erinle-Offa communities of Kwara State, Nigeria. The history of the two communities is laced with hostility and aggression, which has resulted in violent disputes at various times. Quite a number of works have emerged on the causes and consequences of the violent clash. However, the aftermaths of the dispute, especially the tense relationship and peacebuilding process in the area, are yet to be sufficiently interrogated. This study investigated the state of relations between Erinle and Offa as well as land dispute resolution processes in the locality involving complex actors after the last violent clash. It also examined the factors responsible for land boundary disputes between the two communities. The findings showed that negative peace currently exists in the two communities and the land conflict is a perennial one that could arise at any time. The study used both primary and secondary data. The main method of data collection was the unstructured interview, which was conducted with 120 people, made up of traditional rulers, and local, political, religious and youth leaders. Secondary data was sourced from texts, newspapers, magazines, official gazettes, archival materials and the Internet.
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Bamidele, Seun, and Olusegun Oladele Idowu. 2023. “Land Boundary Disputes Resolution: A Qualitative Study of Peace and Conflict Resolution Between Erinle-Offa Communities in Kwara State, Nigeria”. ABUAD Journal of Social and Management Sciences 4 (2), 228-48. https://doi.org/10.53982/ajsms.2023.0402.04-j.
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References
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Bamidele, S. (2018). The Settler has nowhere to feed and the Indigene has all the pastures: Re (visiting) the Indigeneity-Settler Crisis in Nigeria. Journal of African Political Economy and Development, 3, 49-67.
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Bob, U. & Bronkhorst, S. (2010). Environmental conflicts: Key issues and management implications. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 10(2), 9-31.
Bob, U. (2010). Land-related conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 10(2), 49-64.
Bogale, A. Taeb, M. & Endo, M. (2006). Land ownership and conflicts over the use of resources: Implication for household vulnerability in eastern Ethiopia, Journal of Ecological Economics, 58, 134–145.
Bohannan, P. (1960). Africa's land. The Centennial Review, 4(4), 439-449.
Bryman, A. (2008). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chesterman, S. (2004). You, the People: The United Nations, Transitional Administration, and State-Building. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Kagwanja, P. (2009). Ethnicity, Land and Conflict in Africa: The Cases of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, Africa Policy Institute Working Paper Series, Africa Policy Institute, Nairobi, 2009.
Kwara State Gazette vol 16 March 19, 1988.
Kwara State Gazette vol. 1 January, 2008
Kwara State Gazette vol. 16 March 19, 1998.
Kwara State Gazette vol. 16 September 16 1982
Kwara State Gazette vol. 18 February 9, 1984
Le Billon, P. (2001). The political ecology of war: Natural resources and armed conflicts, Political Geography, 20, 561-584.
Lund, C. (1997). Land Tenure Disputes and State, Community and Local Law in Burkina Faso, Dryland Networks Issues Paper no. 70, International Institute for Environment & Development, London.
Lund, C. (1998) Struggles for land and political power, on the politicization of land tenure and disputes in Niger. Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 30(40), 1-22.
McDougal, T. L. & Almquist, L. (2014). The effects of agricultural cooperatives on land conflicts, violence, and community trust: Household-level evidence from rural Burundi. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 9(2), 5-18.
Odgaard, R. (2005). The struggle for land rights in the context of multiple normative orders in Tanzania. In Evers, S., Spierenburg, M. & Wels, H. (eds.), Competing Jurisdictions: Settling Land Claims in Africa (pp. 243-264). Leiden: Brill.
Peters, P. (2004). Inequality and social conflict over land in Africa. Journal of Agrarian Change, 4(3), 269-314.
Robson, C. (2002). Real World Research, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
Sartori, G. (1984). Guidelines for Concept Analysis, (ed.), Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Sartori, G. (1970). Concept Misformation in comparative politics. American Political Science Review, 64, 1033-1053.
Seay, L. (2014). Land rights and conflict in Africa’, Washington Post, Monkey Cage, 15 August. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/08/15/land-rights-and-conflict-in-africa/ (accessed 4 June 2020)
Sekeris, P. (2010). Land inequality and conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa. Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, 16(2), 2-18.
Stedman, S. J. (2010). Spoiler problems in peace processes. International Security, 22(2), 5-53.
Stedman, S.J., Cousens, E.M., & Rothchild, D. (2002). (eds.) Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements. Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO.
Theron, J. (2009). Resolving land conflicts in Burundi. Conflict Trends, 1, 3–10.
Udoekanem, N. B, Adoga, D.O, Onwumere. V.O. (2014). Land ownership in Nigeria: Historical development, current issues and future expectations. Journal of Environment and Earth Science, 4(21), 67-90.
United Nations Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action, (2012) Land and Conflict: Toolkit and guidance for preventing and managing land and natural resources conflict: Land and Conflict. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Full%20Report_1037.pdf
Utuama, A. (2008). The Land Use Act and the challenges of Millennium Development Goals. The Guardian Newspaper, 31 March, p. 41.
Verpoorten, M. (2012). Leave none to claim the land: A Malthusian catastrophe in Rwanda? Journal of Peace Research, 49(4), 547-563.
Yin, R. K. (2011). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish, The Guilford Press, New York.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (5th ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Akinnusi, A. D. Alao, D.O, Ayuba, G. M. (2019b). The effects of communal clashes on socio-economic development: A Study of Erin-Ile and Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria. Social Science and Law Journal of Policy Review and Development Strategies, 7(1), 46-59.
Alabidun, S. A. (2017). The cognomen of "Ijakadi L'oro Offa" and benevolence history of Offa people. Ilorin News, 27 December. https://www.ilorin.info/fullnews.php?id=22217.
Alao, O.D. (2012). An Assessment of Ethno-Communal Conflicts in Saare/Tsaragi Communities of Kwara State, Nigeria. PhD Thesis, Babcock University.
Bamidele, S. (2018). The Settler has nowhere to feed and the Indigene has all the pastures: Re (visiting) the Indigeneity-Settler Crisis in Nigeria. Journal of African Political Economy and Development, 3, 49-67.
Basset, T. J. (1993). Introduction: The land question and agricultural transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Basset, T. & Crummey, D. (eds.), Land in African Agrarian Systems (pp. 3-31). University of Wisconsin Press: Madison.
Bob, U. & Bronkhorst, S. (2010). Environmental conflicts: Key issues and management implications. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 10(2), 9-31.
Bob, U. (2010). Land-related conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 10(2), 49-64.
Bogale, A. Taeb, M. & Endo, M. (2006). Land ownership and conflicts over the use of resources: Implication for household vulnerability in eastern Ethiopia, Journal of Ecological Economics, 58, 134–145.
Bohannan, P. (1960). Africa's land. The Centennial Review, 4(4), 439-449.
Bryman, A. (2008). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chesterman, S. (2004). You, the People: The United Nations, Transitional Administration, and State-Building. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Collier, P. (2000). Doing well out of war: An economic perspective. In Berdal, M. & Malone, D. M. (eds.), Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil War (pp. 91-111). Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO. Collier, P. Elliott, L. V., Hegre, H, Hoeffler, Anke, Reynal-Querol, Marta; Sambanis, Nicholas. (2003). Breaking the Conflict Trap: Civil War and Development Policy. Oxford University Press/World Bank, Oxford.
Dahrendorf, N. (2002). A Review of Peace Operations: A Case for Change King’s College, London.https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/94B0FD1A8877A55FC1256D080046EF36-kings-peace-03.pdf
de Coning, C. (2008). The coherence dilemma in peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction systems. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 8(3), 85-110.
Denzin, N. (1978). The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Denzin, N. (2006). Sociological Methods: A Sourcebook, Aldine Transaction, Chicago, IL.
Du Toit, P. (2003). Why post-settlement settlements? Journal of Democracy, 14(3), 104-118.
Fatile, J. O. (2011). Management of Inter and Intra States Boundary Conflicts in Nigeria: An Empirical Approach, Dorrance Publishing, Pittsburg.
Fukuyama, F. (2004). State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.
George, A.L. & Bennett, A. (2005). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Gerring, J. (2007). Case Study Research: Principles and Practices (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Gerring, J. (2016). Case Study Research: Principles and Practices (5th ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
GIM (2005). Solving land conflict in Africa; Cadastre alone is not enough. Available from: http://www.gim-international.com/issues/articles/id655-Solving_Land_Conflict_in_Africa.html
Gleditsch, N. P. (2007). Environmental Change, Security, and Conflict, in Chester Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson & Pamela Aall (eds.), Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World (pp. 177–195). Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press.
Ibrahim, J. (2012). Indigeneity and the bifurcation of citizenship rights in Nigeria: The search for a political solution. In Ibrahim J. and Hassan, I. (eds.), Citizenship and Indigeneity Conflicts in Nigeria (pp. 68-87). Abuja: Centre for Democracy and Development.
https://www.academia.edu/31682195/Citizenship_and_Indigeneity_Conflicts_in_Nigeria
Kagwanja, P. (2009). Ethnicity, Land and Conflict in Africa: The Cases of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, Africa Policy Institute Working Paper Series, Africa Policy Institute, Nairobi, 2009.
Kwara State Gazette vol 16 March 19, 1988.
Kwara State Gazette vol. 1 January, 2008
Kwara State Gazette vol. 16 March 19, 1998.
Kwara State Gazette vol. 16 September 16 1982
Kwara State Gazette vol. 18 February 9, 1984
Le Billon, P. (2001). The political ecology of war: Natural resources and armed conflicts, Political Geography, 20, 561-584.
Lund, C. (1997). Land Tenure Disputes and State, Community and Local Law in Burkina Faso, Dryland Networks Issues Paper no. 70, International Institute for Environment & Development, London.
Lund, C. (1998) Struggles for land and political power, on the politicization of land tenure and disputes in Niger. Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 30(40), 1-22.
McDougal, T. L. & Almquist, L. (2014). The effects of agricultural cooperatives on land conflicts, violence, and community trust: Household-level evidence from rural Burundi. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 9(2), 5-18.
Odgaard, R. (2005). The struggle for land rights in the context of multiple normative orders in Tanzania. In Evers, S., Spierenburg, M. & Wels, H. (eds.), Competing Jurisdictions: Settling Land Claims in Africa (pp. 243-264). Leiden: Brill.
Peters, P. (2004). Inequality and social conflict over land in Africa. Journal of Agrarian Change, 4(3), 269-314.
Robson, C. (2002). Real World Research, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
Sartori, G. (1984). Guidelines for Concept Analysis, (ed.), Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Sartori, G. (1970). Concept Misformation in comparative politics. American Political Science Review, 64, 1033-1053.
Seay, L. (2014). Land rights and conflict in Africa’, Washington Post, Monkey Cage, 15 August. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/08/15/land-rights-and-conflict-in-africa/ (accessed 4 June 2020)
Sekeris, P. (2010). Land inequality and conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa. Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, 16(2), 2-18.
Stedman, S. J. (2010). Spoiler problems in peace processes. International Security, 22(2), 5-53.
Stedman, S.J., Cousens, E.M., & Rothchild, D. (2002). (eds.) Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements. Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO.
Theron, J. (2009). Resolving land conflicts in Burundi. Conflict Trends, 1, 3–10.
Udoekanem, N. B, Adoga, D.O, Onwumere. V.O. (2014). Land ownership in Nigeria: Historical development, current issues and future expectations. Journal of Environment and Earth Science, 4(21), 67-90.
United Nations Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action, (2012) Land and Conflict: Toolkit and guidance for preventing and managing land and natural resources conflict: Land and Conflict. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Full%20Report_1037.pdf
Utuama, A. (2008). The Land Use Act and the challenges of Millennium Development Goals. The Guardian Newspaper, 31 March, p. 41.
Verpoorten, M. (2012). Leave none to claim the land: A Malthusian catastrophe in Rwanda? Journal of Peace Research, 49(4), 547-563.
Yin, R. K. (2011). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish, The Guilford Press, New York.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (5th ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage