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Abstract

Communal conflicts are prevalent in Nigeria, with thousands of fatalities recorded. Literature suggests that an overwhelming percentage of these conflicts are land ownership related. Through a systematic review of literature and an analysis of conflict data, this study provides further understanding of the role of land ownership and competition in the occurrence and lethality of communal conflicts. It argues that land competition, more than other socio-economic factors is the key driver of communal conflicts in Nigeria. The findings from the analyses are explained with three theories – the tragedy of the commons which proved that the conflicts are triggered by the problem of land resource governance inadequacy, the environmental scarcity theory which linked communal conflicts in Nigeria to land resource availability, and the conflict theory which emphasized that disagreements between communities are natural, although exacerbated by actual or presumed deprivation of a group. The study concludes that ill-defined and indigenous land tenure systems have greatly influenced the initiation of communal conflicts in Nigeria, causing confusion in land administration and heightening jostle for scarce resources. It recommends that actions towards defining land ownership and generally-accepted boundaries at communal-level are overdue, and should be implemented through an inclusive approach that considers historical antecedents.

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