Armed conflict and biodiversity in sub-saharan africa: the case of the democratic republic of congo8/23/2023 Ethnicity has a strong influence on one's status in a community. These conflicts over race, religion, language and identity have become so complex that they are difficult to resolve or manage. Some, like Donald Horowitz, Ted Gurr, Donald Rothschild and Edward Azar, agree that the ethnic conflicts experienced today- especially in Africa - are deep rooted. Scholars have been trying to develop a theoretical approach to ethnicity and ethnic conflict for a long time. Theoretical Approaches to Ethnicity and Ethnic ConflictĮthnic groups are defined as a community of people who share cultural and linguistic characteristics including history, tradition, myth, and origin. Conflicts taking place between rival ethnic groups.Competing demands for land, money and power, and.The demand for ethnic and cultural autonomy,.Distribution of economic resources was often skewed to favour a particular group, pushing marginalized groups to use their ethnicity to mobilise for equality. The divide-and-conquer method was used to pit ethnicities against each other, thus keeping the people from rising up against the colonisers. It is important to note that most of these ethnic conflicts were caused by colonialism, which compounded inter-ethnic conflict by capitalising on the isolation of ethnic groups. Politicised ethnicity has been detrimental to national unity and socio-economic well-being. This study proposes, among other things, that ethnic conflict has been at the heart of both countries' development problems. The governments of Nigeria and South Africa have taken bold constitutional steps to reduce tension, but the continuing ethnic and religious conflicts raise questions about the effectiveness of these mechanisms. Using Nigeria and South Africa as case studies, it compares the management of ethnic conflicts in both countries and shows the difficulties in managing deep-rooted and complex conflicts. This paper is meant as a contribution towards the ongoing search for new means of managing ethnic conflicts in Africa. Ted Gurr and Monty Marshall have written that most African conflicts are caused by the combination of poverty and weak states and institutions. If not checked, ethnic conflicts are contagious and can spread quickly across borders like cancer cells. The conflicts in these countries are mostly between ethnic groups, not between states. (Monty Marshall, 2003) This is partly due to ineffective conflict management. Alarmingly, most of these countries lack the political will to maintain previous peace agreements, and thus have fallen prey to continuous armed ethnic conflict. The countries of sub-Saharan Africa, including Sierra-Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are a volatile mix of insecurity, instability, corrupt political institutions and poverty. As regional powers, history has imposed on them the enormous task of finding solutions to some of the most pressing African concerns.Īfrican countries today face greater challenges to peace and stability than ever before. Nigeria and South Africa could be likened to the Biblical Aaron and Moses, who were endowed with the responsibility to bring Africa out from the bondage of despair, decline and underdevelopment.
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