Inter-Communal Relationship

Sometime ago, I made a post on Inter-personal relationship. I sincerely advocated that effective and working relationship and interactions amongst people promote peaceful co-existence. This, I know, is lacking amongst people resulting to unnecessary rancour, strife, maiming and killing which is common amongst our people today.

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The refusal to cultivate inter-personal relationships in our homes, workplace, and other social gathering has created insecurity and fear amongst the people. People have constantly reject to explore the various skills to resolving conflicts between and amongst them. They rather resort to violence than to adopt dialogue, mediation or arbitration, law suit and so on.

From refusal to embrace inter-personal relationship, the effects have degenerated to communal crises. And today, we are talking about inter-communal relationship. This can be defined as the interactions that exist between and amongst communities. It comes in forms of trades, sharing of human and materials, security ties and many more.

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Communities at both local and international levels relate with one another at economic, political, and socio-cultural levels. No community can exist and survive in isolation. Every community has her area of strength which is referred to as Comparative Advantage. It thus, specialises in that area and depend on other neighbouring communities for things it does not or cannot produce.

An effective inter-communal relationship promotes peace and eradicates hostility.
It encourages specialisation and stimulates development.

In contrast, Nigerian communities have experienced a lot clashes resulting to loss of lives and property. Being a multi-ethnic state, Nigeria needs to constantly promote inter-communal relationship to ensure peaceful co-existence. From day one of this new year, 2018, Nigeria has recorded over 4 attacks in the different parts of the country which claimed many lives.

The federal and state governments have a lot to do in promoting peace. Schools should take Civic Education Subject seriously. Many schools feel that it is not a difficult subject and then leave it in the hands of quacks to teach. These unprofessional Civic Education teachers do more harm than good by pronouncing more the fault lines that divide us than the values that unite us.

It is true that government has made Civic Education a compulsory subject and one of the prerequisite to attaining admission into Higher Institution, but schools are ignorantly sabotaging the efforts.

The ministry of education and the DPR should enforce that qualified persons handle Civic Education. With this, right information is passed to the learner's who are the most important part of the population.

Finally, inter-communal relationship can be encouraged by arresting, prosecuting, and punishing openly miscreants who foment trouble along ethnic lines.