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Article Title:
Peace/Conflict Management: An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Development on Conflict in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria
by Sixtus Cyprian Onyekwere

Abstract:
This paper examines the impact of development on conflict for in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and further investigated causality. The famous Two Stage Least Square estimation technique and OLS were adopted to analyse the panel data for conflict and development between 2005-2013. After the application of Hausman test, the results from random effects were found suitable. The results show a positive impact of about 0.04 on conflict, significant at 10% which indicates that, if underdevelopment rises by 1%, conflict will rise by about 0.04%.However, this impact reduced to around 0.03%when causality running from development to conflict was established using 2SLS, and p-value became insignificant. This means that although development has an impact on conflict, it may not be the sole cause of the conflict in the Niger Delta. This finding aligns with few studies from previous research. The implication of the findings from this present research is that resolving the persistent armed conflict in the Niger Delta and fostering peace is a two-way. While the government is usually interested in using armed forces in resolving conflicts, this is a short-term solution. A more sustainable strategy for combating armed conflict and fostering peace building in communities according to this research would imply the use of adequate development plans which would include factors such as, the provision of basic amenities, enabling environment for investments (e.g. reliable power supply), good healthcare, education, good road networks as well as good institutions.By this, the research has contributed immensely to existing body of knowledge on the relationship between conflict and development,and further shading light on the need to integrate development plans into peace building measures in communities.

Keywords: Niger Delta, Conflict, Peace, Development, 2SLS

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