IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH (IJSSMR )

E-ISSN 2545-5303
P-ISSN 2695-2203
VOL. 11 NO. 4 2025
DOI: 10.56201/ijssmr.vol.11no4.2025.pg.321.346

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Economic Cost of Conflict and Socio-Development in Rural Communities in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria

Graham Nsiegbe PhD, Ogolo, E, Leonard

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Abstract

Whether as a divergent of interest or as a prolonged armed struggle, conflict connotes a situation of crises. It is destructive and retards development. This paper examined economic cost of conflict and socio-development in selected rural communities in the Nigeria Delta Area of Nigeria. Due to its nature, the paper adopted the mixed research design. The sample size of the study is 400 respondents drawn from a projected study population of 44,112,908 persons from nine (9) Niger Delta States. Data was gleaned for the study via the distribution and retrieval of questionnaire in addition to information gotten from key personnel interviews and from textual documents such as books, journal articles, seminal works and other internet sources. Generated data were analyzed using tables and simple percentages, while a single hypothesis for the study was tested using the Chi-square. The paper found amongst others that; economic cost of conflict was mainly instigated by insistent land dispute, leadership tussles, struggles for territorial local control, political struggles and economic marginalization. And that these have impacted negatively on rural community development. Accordingly; the paper recommends amongst others that governments at all levels should work towards adopting effective conflict resolution strategies such as mediation and negotiation on sincerity of purpose basis as a strategy of mitigating communal conflicts in the affected communities, as this will ultimately foster socio-economic development of rural communities in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria.

keywords:

Conflict, Communal, Economic, Development.

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