ABSTRACT
Peacebuilding operations and the leading roles played by the civil society organisations have took a centre stage in many literature works towards achieving a sustainable peace and development in many states. But, the alarming rate of structural imbalance in the system has made the state ungovernable; and thereby make peace seems elusive. Presently, the state raven with plethora of conflicts bordering on cultism, armed-robbery, kidnapping, communal and landed disputes, rape, assault, etc has undermined development in the state. Also, this work ‘Civil Society and Peacebuilding in Edo state’, was drawn from the experiential background gathered from the TALAKAWA PARLIAMENT, a local civil society organisation registered in Edo state. Whereas, the inefficiency of the state security services have left them unable to curtail these security dilemma. So, the security operatives have often recognised that the security of life and property in the state is everyone’s responsibility. Thus, they have occasionally urged members of the society including individuals and groups to be more security conscious and where necessary assist security agencies with useful intelligence. It is worth saying that in many war-thorned zones, the civil society sometimes partner with the security operatives to address security challenges through donations of equipment and play other complementary roles. This study also analyses the institutional and political factors that shape the peace building capacity of the civil society groups in the state, and highlighted a number of challenges and distortions sometimes fuelled by some donor practices. The work was anchored on some empirical and key theoretical frameworks such as: the Sociological theory of System/Structural Functionalism, Marxian theory of conflicts and the Homer Dixon's theory of political ecology and conflict goods. Adequately, understanding the true nature and causes of social conflicts will help in resolving the major underlining issues which promotes conflict transformation and sustainable culture of peacebuilding in the state. Also, the work employs the survey research design which is apt for descriptions and predictions of variables examined by the researcher. The findings suffice that civil society has the potentials and can make positive contributions in conflict resolution. It can do so independently as an actor in its own right, or in relation to Peacebuilding processes and programs led by governments or the international community. Civil society organisations and donors need to be more strategic to identify their objectives and demonstrate concerted approaches to different phases of conflict situations.
