Communal Conflicts: Implications for the Development of Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigerian.

The paper examined communal conflict and its implications in the development of Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Communal conflicts in some African societies have been a disadvantage to community development. Some factors that have engendered communal conflicts include: removing of landmarks demarcation, struggle for ownership of economic trees, land ownership and control, chieftaincy issue amongst other reasons. These have been a bane to rural development in the study area and beyond. Although, there is no ideal and stable society, hence conflict is a function in every human society. The paper is anchored on realistic group conflict theory and social identity theory. The participants used as respondents for the study were 386 community members selected from the ten political wards of Bekwarra, Nigeria. A sample of 267 males and 121 females were selected from among the entire Bekwarra communities. The respondents were drawn using the Taro Yamane sample determination. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. From the result of the correlation analysis, communal conflict limits rural development and keeps the community on the path of underdevelopment. Hence, it was recommended that government of developing countries especially Nigeria and Cross River State in particular, should put mechanisms in place to forestall any outbreak of communal conflicts. It was also recommended that traditional elites should sensitize their subjects that they share common genealogy therefore; conflict is evil to their brotherhood and communal life.