Cooperative Peace and Conflict Resolution Programmes for Good Governance in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined how cooperative peace and conflict resolution programmes affected good governance in selected communities in Rivers State's Emohua local government area. Inclusivity is necessary to improve good governance by encouraging communication, learning, and collaboration among groups in conflict. 4 crisis-prone communities were selected from Emohua LGA and used for the study. The research design used in the study was a descriptive survey, with 155 respondents altogether, including 140 beneficiaries and 15 facilitators, who were recruited from 4 different communities. All 155 of the respondents made up the study's sample. A validated structured 4-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect the data. The instrument was put through a reliability test, and employing the instrument's different clusters, reliability coefficients of 0.81,0.86, and 0.78 were found using the Cronbach alpha. The collected data was analyzed using the standard deviation and mean. The results demonstrate that the cooperative mediation program has made a substantial contribution to lowering political tensions, establishing trust, and encouraging community collaboration; community negotiating efforts have improved democratic processes and significantly decreased political strife in rural communities; this is corroborated by the reports of lowered political tensions in the Emohua communities; and the integrative bargaining program has been successful in reducing conflicts and improving governance structures by encouraging cooperation and transparency. The study concluded that community negotiation, cooperative mediation and integrative bargaining are essential to enhance governance by promoting harmony and dispute resolution.