Two Neighbours, Too Many Crises: Re-thinking Measures to Ending the Tide of Jukun/Tiv Violent Conflict in Wukari - Taraba State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Since the return to civil rule in Nigeria in 1999, domestic instability arising from ethnoreligious, inter and intra-communal conflicts of varying dimensions have continued unabated. Jukun and Tiv ethnic groups have an unenviable history of conflicts in spite of their neighbourliness and sometimes cohabitation in some communities in Wukari and other places in Southern Taraba State. This paper observes that decades of neighbourliness and cohabitation between Jukun and Tiv ethnic groups is inundated with gory narratives of violent conflict. It argues that the restoration of democratic governance in 1999 has failed to abate the recurring conflict situations between the two groups, especially in Wukari. The study adopts survey and documentary methods of data collection and hinges it analysis on qualitative descriptive and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). We adopted dialectical materialism as our theoretical framework. The paper concludes that restoring permanent peace between the Jukun and Tiv in Wukari will enhance food production and development in the area. It recommends the need for a paradigm shift from the hitherto elitist driven peace process to a more inclusive people-oriented peace process. This would allow the participants in the conflicts, the victims and community representatives to advocate better options that will promote the emergence of durable peace among the conflicting groups.