ABSTRACT

This research evaluated the leadership strategies in resolving community conflict in Niger delta region of Nigeria. Wrong application of leadership strategies, failure to identify the causes of conflict in the region, problem of different factions or groups in the region and years of neglect by government and oil companies were some the problems that necessitated the study. The study examined the demographic characteristics of the respondents, identifying the factors that bring about conflict in the region, ascertain conflict resolution strategies adopted in managing conflict in the region and also examine the effects of the Niger Delta Crisis on oil Companies and host Communities. Data were sourced from primary and secondary means which include observation, questionnaire, oral interview focus groups, journals and other documents from serials and References section of Libraries. Respondents were sampled using multistage random sampling procedure as well as purposive sampling techniques which was adopted in sampling for location and the sample size was 180 respondents. The result of analysis revealed that, unemployment, low level of education, lack of transportation and presence of conflicts to be major problems revealed by the analysis. Furthermore, Negotiation, arbitration and high level of education are agreed according to the result to be tools for resolving conflicts in the region. x While bad reputation, kidnapping of expatriates/oil workers, Amnesty programme, winding up of companies, output reduction, Deprivation of social corporate responsibilities and destruction of properties worth millions of naira are the major effects conflict have on both the host communities and oil companies. On the basis of the findings, the researcher therefore concluded that despite the clarion call by different individuals and groups to end Community Conflict in Nigeria, there is no commitment to resolve it, we therefore say that conflict is inherent in men.