Again, the best way to resolve a conflict is by giving everyone a chance to speak, fair hearing is key. Listen with empathy to build trust! The third step to resolving a community conflict is to explore options for solving the problem or meeting the needs of the parties involved. You need to brainstorm and generate as many ideas as possible, without evaluating or rejecting them at first. You should also encourage creativity, innovation, and collaboration among the parties, and look for common ground, shared interests, or mutual benefits. You can use methods such as brainstorming, mind mapping, or SWOT analysis to generate and organise options.

During conflict resolution, we are always looking for a win-win solution, which is good, but that does not always happen. As the mediator, you should explore more options such as reaching an agreement, looking for a middle ground among the parties so that the issue can be addressed. Ask the parties what would best solve their problems after carefully listening to their concerns. This would eventually help you to analyse and identify a workable solution.

The fourth step to resolving a community conflict is to negotiate and agree on a solution or a plan of action. You need to evaluate and compare the options generated in the previous step, and select the ones that are most feasible, acceptable, and beneficial for all parties. You should also negotiate and compromise on the details, roles, responsibilities, and resources involved in implementing the solution or plan. You can use strategies such as ranking, rating, or voting to choose and prioritise options.

The fifth step to resolving a community conflict is to implement and monitor the solution or plan agreed upon in the previous step. You need to execute the actions, tasks, and activities required to achieve the desired outcomes, and monitor the progress, results, and impacts of the solution or plan. You should also communicate and coordinate with the parties involved, and provide feedback, support, and recognition. You can use tools such as action plans, timelines, or indicators to implement and monitor the solution or plan.

The sixth and final step to resolving a community conflict is to evaluate and learn from the experience. You need to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the solution or plan implemented in the previous step, and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges encountered along the way. You should also reflect on the lessons learned, best practices, and areas for improvement for future conflicts.

On June 17, this year, the Tor Tiv V, Professor James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse (69), from Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, the Paramount Ruler/King of Tiv Nation, told President Bola Tinubu GCFR that the killings in Benue State are not clashes between herders and farmers, but a planned attack aimed at taking over land.

Speaking at a meeting with President Tinubu and stakeholders in Makurdi, the traditional ruler said many people had misunderstood the crisis and wrongly advised Benue citizens to stay calm and live peacefully with their neighbours.

Professor Ayatse said, “We do have grave concerns about the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State.
“Your Excellency, it’s not herders-farmers clashes, it’s not communal clashes, it’s not reprisal attacks or skirmishes.”He described the violence as a “calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign” by herder terrorists and bandits that has lasted for decades.

He added, “Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment… We are dealing with something far more sinister than we think. It’s not about learning to live with your neighbours; it is dealing with a war.”

The view of the Tor Tiv was echoed by another group who claimed that they are not northerners.  According to Tivzualumun, “the misconception that the Tiv people and other minority tribes of the Middle Belt belong to “the North” was deliberately created by the British colonial government in conspiracy with Northern elites. This was done after the Tiv and other tribes of the Middle Belt united against the Europeans during slavery and also brought an end to the Islamic Jihad.

The Europeans never succeeded in forcefully entering the region now called the Middle Belt (or Central Nigeria). Instead, they wrongly tagged it as “North Central,” against the will of the people who inhabited the area. The Tiv people arrived in present-day Cameroon and Nigeria (Karagbe) around 6,000 BC, settling on both sides of Ifi i Karagbe (the Benue and Niger Rivers). 

This territory stretched from Garoua in present-day Northern Cameroon to Lokoja in present-day Kogi State, Nigeria. Between 6,000 BC and 1500 AD, the Tiv people firmly established their territory, living in peace and forging friendships with other small tribes that later migrated into the region.

The years 1500–1800 were turbulent due to the transatlantic slave trade. Vulnerable tribes fled from different parts of the country and found refuge in the Middle Belt. The Tiv people, together with their neighbors, stood united against slavery, making the region a safe haven for the oppressed.

The people of the Middle Belt also fought together against the Fulani Jihadists, who had conquered the Hausa states in the far North. The advance of the Jihad came to an end in the Middle Belt, where the resistance proved too strong for the invaders.

After Lagos, the Northern Caliphate, and the Benin Kingdom fell into British hands, the colonialists amalgamated Nigeria in 1914—but they had never conquered the Middle Belt, the largest region geographically.

From 1900 to 1960, the tribes of the Middle Belt resisted colonial rule fiercely, just as they had resisted slavery and Jihad. Because of this defiance, the British excluded them from major political structures. 

Northerners and Southerners were used as interpreters, messengers, and administrators, while the Middle Belt endured punishment under the brutal force of machine guns.

With Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the struggle to capture the Middle Belt intensified. The British feared that if recognised as an independent region—like the East or Niger Delta—the Middle Belt would rise to disrupt Nigeria’s balance of power.

Through Islamic leadership and political manipulation, the Northern elites laid claim to the Middle Belt. The British also fueled divisions among the minority tribes, creating mistrust and disunity where once there had been strong solidarity.

Despite all attempts, the people of the Middle Belt continue to reject the false identity of being called Northerners. We demand recognition of our region by its rightful name: The middle belt (Central Nigeria).

The Importance of the Middle Belt- Food Basket: The Middle Belt produces about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s food supply – Population: With over 50 million people, it is the second most populated region in Nigeria – Economy: It has the second-highest purchasing power in the country – Geography: It is the largest region by landmass, covering Plateau, Taraba, Kogi, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Niger, Benue, Kwara, FCT, Southern Bauchi, and Southern Kaduna. 

In 1967, just seven years after independence, the Middle Belt was divided:- Gongola State (later Adamawa and Taraba in 1976) was merged into the North East. – Benue-Plateau State (created in 1967) was later split into Benue and Plateau, and subsequently broken into more states.

This division was intentional, designed to weaken the unity and political strength of the Middle Belt. The Middle Belt was never part of the Northern Caliphate. It was never conquered by the Jihadists who established the Sokoto Caliphate. It should never be called “North Central.”
We are the People of the Middle Belt.

We are Central Nigeria”.
To me, the sentiments expressed by the Tor Tiv and the Tivzualumun may not lead to the solution in resolving the perennial past and present clashes in Benue and Plateau states. More dialogue will be required.
Concluded.
Teniola , a former director at the Presidency, wrote from Lagos.