THE EFFECT OF COMMUNAL CONFLICT ON RURAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN NASARAWA STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the effects of communal conflict on rural housing development in Nasarawa
state, to enhance the development of housing and Rural Development in the state. Communal conflict is a
vicious rattle that occurs between groups of people known to be using deadly arms struggling to have control
of particular resources or land areas. E.g. forest, water, and mineral resources. This usually results in the
devastation of human life, community infrastructure, and personal assets. Data used in this research were
collected using the key information interview technique plus the researcher‘s self-observation using statistical
methods. The study disclosed that communal conflict has negatively impacted the socioeconomic growth of
rural housing in the ‗Development areas‘ of Nasarawa State. The obvious reasons for this are known to be
land ownership tussles, politics, traditional leadership disagreement, religious differences, and farmers –
herdsmen conflict. Recommendations advanced in this study include government pro-reactiveness in its quick
response of attending to the challenges of communal skirmishes decisively without taking a side, coming up
with measures for creating liveable rural and sustainable housing, making the availability of grazing land for
herdsmen to avoid conflict with farmers, the creation of a lasting solution to communal conflicts through
political will of Government by providing durable infrastructures, the addition of urban planning and public
rural housing development, and the instilling of viable rural housing put into practice.