Leadership And Conflict Management In Nigeria: Some Reflections

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between leadership and conflict management in Nigeria. Accepting the fact that conflict is an expected dynamics in modern society especially in plural societies, the paper tasks leadership on the quest for effective conflict management mechanism. However, the paper strikes a delicate balance between participatory leadership and conflict management using the Cohen and Uphoff's model of participation in development which penetrates a theoretical exposition of what kind of participation in leadership/governance; who participates?; and how the participation (quality) the ‘what' question is as important as the “Who” and “how” questions, as it illuminates how leadership is able to effectively mold consensus in a plural society to manage conflicts. It concludes by examining the effect of participatory leadership in building and sustaining effective institutional structure for conflict management.

JORIND Vol. 4 (2) 2006: pp. 39-42