Climate Change Governance in Africa

Societies are an amalgamation of different individuals with diverse, physical, psychological, and physiological needs. Human needs are personal, peculiar, and diverse are factors driving personal interests and positions within competing societies, endowed with limited resources. The human need to exist in society leads to the complementary need for competition for resources. Nature gifts are relatively scarce and located in specific environments, leading to pressures on individuals and groups to manage within the social space available resources. Regrettably, scarcity of resources and unbridled individual wants creates high-wire competitions and perpetual struggle by individuals and groups willing to outwit others in control of resources.?

Pressures from strives and the need to dominate based on the perceived power base and implied rights of each individual to resources always set the place for conflict. Unmanaged conflicts create unredeemable wounds, proper attempts at conflict management always create an environment where disputants always push towards the need to pursue solutions to their differences at every turn.

?A conflict then could be seen as normal and innate to human interactions, and a constant in all societies. Werber and Karl Marx's work espoused the Constance of conflict in most human societies, especially in societies where elites with control and allocation of resources are corrupt. Peaceful coexistence remains the ultimate personal and societal goal, from the beginning of existence, humans have constantly yearned for peace and tranquility.

?Peace, a term derived from the original Latin word “PAX”, means?"a pact, a control or an agreement to end strive". Peace to some scholars is?"...essentially the absence of violence or war". Which means the absence of violence, wars, and confrontations. All societies have words and terms for peace and it's one of the most discussed issues in international relations. Since the end of the Second world war, the need for global peace is the basis for the creation of the United Nations, European Union, African Union, and other regional bodies to midwife peace processes amongst nations and ensure human rights –international social contract, a basic requirement for the relative peace in nations-.

Latest works and research emphasize the relativity of peace and maintained that peace should be valued as a term that has meanings beyond the absence of war in society. Peace is more valuable and tangible than the mere absence of conflicting situations but includes all factors that make life meaning, the absence of threats to cherished values, and the availability of an environment for self-actualization, development, and humanity (UN 2020).

?Albert Einstein in his work wrote that peace is the presence of law, justice, and order in a society. He argued that the state is the main harbinger of peace and concluded that states are required to provide the environment and legal framework for peace. Which many have termed the institution of social order within the society.

?African societies look at peace from the formal relations of man and spirit, the tranquility of being devoid of negative feelings, and being at ease with the gods. The traditional literature maintained that men are spiritual and our actions affect the spiritual environment. Many African societies acknowledge the power of the deity for protection and assurance of peace, but negative actions by humans enrage the spirits and bring harm and injustice to societies.?African culture assumes that society can be harmed through the actions and inactions of its citizens. Peace is therefore maintained through joint reference and obeisance to the gods, jointly keeping the social contract through "the shared fear of the wrath of the gods" by all within the society.

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), wrote about peace as a human virtue. That state of benevolence, confidence, and justice, a Nirvana. His work showed that humans make conscious efforts at creating peace. The need to be at peace with others is from within and must be inculcated in all humans to live and act right at all times.?Martin Luther King, Jr acknowledged that injustices and inequities destroy any nation. Struggles and violence are the products of injustices and inequalities in the distribution of resources.?Writings of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) recognized that peace remains a state of mind, he sees peace as a condition of mind achievable only by people who believe in peace4.?

Johan Galtung argued on the inseparability of peace and violence. He argued that peace should remain a social goal and should be a means to eliminate violence. Galtung's works recognized the duality of peace; negative and positive peace.?“Negative peace is the absence of personal violence; positive peace is an absence of structural violence or social justice”5.

Peace as a relative term derives its meaning and qualities within a theory or framework. Understanding the nature of peace requires In-depth analysis and study within different frameworks. Christians, Hindus, or Buddhists might explain the term peace differently, as will pacifists or internationalists. Socialists, fascists, and libertarians have different perspectives, yet within this range of expressions, peace remains distinct, yet possesses the same character as all social terms, hence we all look at peace within the context of being a?Social Contract. This work entails insightful interrogation of the works of Rudolf Rummel (1991) on the causes and nature of conflict6.

Peace as a social contract.?Rummel maintained that a social contract is achieved when parties in conflict have achieved a point of balance of powers. That is when parties' interests, are at a mutually attained equilibrium based on individual capabilities. Societal equilibrium is achieved through a well-negotiated process for example agreement on sales, or a marriage agreement- A social contract represents an?agreement stating the terms of the future relationship.

Societies could then be seen as containing opposing powers in arrays in perpetual conflict with several other groups for limited resources at the same time. For societies to survive, there exists a need to incorporate a series of individual assumptions, based on diverse but simultaneously intersecting balances of powers among several individuals. Thus, group interests are important in understanding the entirety of conflict, it is compounded by expectation and capability. Rummel maintains that?“Together, capabilities, interests, and will (credibility) define a situation of conflict”7

The Conflict Principle

According to the Oxford Dictionary, conflict is defined as “...a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one”. Conflict is popularly defined as?“...the essence of having different ideas or actions, often related to the selfish pursuit of needs (known and unknown) that end in a state of unrest8. The idea of conflict is basic to our understanding of our exchange between humans from time immemorial.

Conflict theory recognizes that contentions between groups are products of uneven distribution and access to resources, status, and power between groups in societies, conflict well managed then transforms?into “an engine for social change”. Understanding and managing conflicts are seen as the first step in finding lasting peace.?Peace is achievable through creating a balance in the interplay between power and the interests of disputants. Parties must be encouraged to examine thoroughly issues, and positions and create a mutually acceptable new power balance between them.

The state of conflict is a fluid stage within which accommodation is being considered. can be understood to be the mutual adjusting of what people want, can get, and are willing to pursue. It is a clash of powers and interests, resulting in a balancing of interests. Conflict is not a balance, or equilibrium, of powers in itself, rather conflict is the pushing and pulling, the giving and taking, the process of finding the balance between the interests of two or more conflicting parties. R.J. Rummel (1976) favored the term dialectical?-the moving back and forth in a field of confrontation-.?

It is important to note that, our learning about ourselves, others, and reality, our growth and development, and our increasing ability to create our heaven or hell, comes through conflict. The desire to completely eradicate conflict is the wish for a frozen, unchanging world with all relationships fixed in a constant unchanging pattern. One in which we cannot hope nor plan for a better tomorrow, but can only follow our inevitable course, with the determined ups and downs of a wooden horse on a merry-go-round (Rummel 1976)

Authoritarianism

Authoritative societies manifest communal/traditional conflict.

The major divisions traversing these societies are communal, often based on racial, language, and tribal homogeneity and territorial separation.

Where communal activities are left alone by the state, conflict is minimal. But where authoritarian rulers try to extend their legitimacy over such communities, communal violence is often the result.

This conflict is exacerbated if racial-tribal cleavages are the line of class divisions.

Coercive society:

Society power is based use of threats and deprivations to maintain balance.

Totalitarianism

Totalitarian societies manifest elite violence. Conflict is manifested by class terror and repression and by elite purges.

Ideational

Exchange society:

Power is achieved through constant negotiation using forces of rewards and promises as bargaining power.

Libertarianism.

Exchange societies manifest pluralistic conflicts, which generally concern relatively isolated groups, events, or issues.

Conflict may occasionally reach societal levels, but the freedom to remove the political elite and influence public policy, and the conflict-defusing function of competitive political parties, provide mechanisms for bargaining and compromise far short of revolutionary violence.

Moreover, multiple group and class memberships create cross-pressures inhibiting the formation of a societal wide conflict front.

David Keen in?“Greed and Grievances” (2000)?argued that the conclusions of those inequalities and corruption are the major trigger for conflicts in Africa. Agbahay 2019., Omenma's 2020 work concluded that Boko conflicts are motivated by economic gains that evolve into?“zero-sum”?situations when there is no effective management system.?Conflict behavior, whether hostile actions, violence, or war, then requires a system to manage its means and manifestations towards cumulating in lasting peace. Conflict is then a means of balancing powers among interests, capabilities, and wills in an ever-changing society.

?Cooperation Principle

The cooperation principle looks at the accommodation of other parties through the basics stipulated within the social contract. Through conflict in a specific situation, cooperation is arrived at and a balance of powers is achieved; at the resolution of a conflict, a social contract is agreed upon. A social contract is an implicit agreement among members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example, sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. (Oxford dictionary). A social contract is the outcome of parties balancing their mutual interests, and capabilities, and is based on the equilibrium and balance achieved--a balance of powers (Rummel 1976).

This social contract and concession relating to interest and wills agreed-upon results in a balance of power and wills between parties. This balance is a result of temporal definite equilibrium among the parties' interests; the agreement is at that point a solution to the disequilibrium of power and interest is removed, a mutually agreed point at which both parties can coexist relatively in peace. This point is the achievement of a certain level of harmony and accommodation is structured for expectations of parties based on requisite capacities. Parties' behaviors within this space are guided by expectations determinable through terms of agreements mutually required for the continued sustenance of peace.

The cooperation Principle of peace represents an appeal to guarded contractual obligations that are premised on the need for the continuation of the prior established relationship between conflicting parties. Expectations are guided by the past history of accommodation by parties, and the feeling of interdependency between parties making having a deal a function of time. Parties are bound by the contents of agreements based on expectations of future relationships.

Peace is then maintained through mutual expectations of harmony in the future relationship helps in balancing power structures and during conflicts and maintaining parties’ adherence to agreement terms.

The Gap Principle

Human needs are unlimited and might dictate their positions during conflicts. There is always a gap between what can be achieved based on the capabilities and power of parties. Gaps surely exist between the expectations of parties and what their capabilities and power could achieve within the conflict space given the contending party's needs, capabilities, and the limitation of resources.?Naturally, conflicts result from this gap in expectations and capabilities.

The need for the resolution of conflicts to achieve a semblance of peace through accommodation will necessitate a shift of interests, and positions, producing new power equations in society.?Power weakness -for parties that have to lose grounds- or Stronger positions for another party.

Conflict situations are very fluid, advantages and power equations can change based on very minute happenings. Every little intervention in the conflict space is always analyzed and scrutinized for cause and effect. The sensitivity of conflict intervention theory caution that interventions must be neutral and designed never to disrupt power equations in conflicts.

The establishment of expectations and terms in conflicts leads to mutual solutions to conflicts, these agreements/ accommodations always cause powers equations to either grow, strengthen or weaken; positions and interests will need to shift; wills to strengthen or weaken, which always lead directly or indirectly to the creation of a newer social contract for disputants' future relationships.

The ever-changing nature and development of the society make conflict inevitable, changes by their nature always come with the need for redistribution of power equations in societies. Changes in education, communication, and economic development are known progenitors of modern days conflict.

Natural disasters and climate changes have been linked to the roots of most African states' conflicts in the past 30 years. The expectation of the public for better infrastructures and essence of living was defeated as more numbers of the population goes into poverty despite the rising state’s GPD. A gap between the expectation has created several calls for change in power equations. Most insurrections and terrorist operations in Nigeria might be a product of a gap that exists in people's expectations and the state’s capacity for fair allocation to meet those needs.??

Parties lose interest in terms of the agreement that refuse to meet expectations at each turn. Failure of the state to meet its part of the social contract can be ascribed as reasons for strikes, protests, and riots. People lose interest when the gap continues to grow, this could occasion abandonment of previously agreed social contract causing contention and disequilibrium. Sometimes some parties might decide to move from their environment due to gaps in expectation and pursue their interests in another environment. This movement always leads to disturbance in the social space moved and creating the need for a new power structure and ultimately creating fresh conflict.

?Helix Principle

Rummel argued that as Conflict becomes less intense; cooperation is more lasting. The constant starting of conflict and resolution with cooperation creates a familiarization relationship between parties involved; it makes the parties understand each other thus making conflict easier to resolve and cooperation harder to break. The main source of conflict can easily be identified and resolved.

Romel's research concludes that conflict occurs in most societies due to the need of individuals or groups to alter the balance of power. Marx and Weber’s works equally accentuate this fact, but explain further that the idea of relative peace is constantly challenged by expanding the need for balance between the needs of classes in a society Marx assumed that all societies are in a constant state of conflict. David Keen (2000) concluded that human and group greed and the need for a change of power equation is the basis for most conflict.?We may then safely conclude that peace in societies could only be maintained through the continuous process of interactions that create a system of?balance between?powers.

Social conflict is the confrontation of social powers:?Perspectives of individuals and groups in society honed by years of experience and actions, influence their interests, needs, and positions. Societal laws create a basis for legal rights abuse, interrogation, class struggles, and a constant need to strive for peace. A society with unjust and inequitable management of resources creates the need to struggle to eliminate years of oppression. Marx. Weber and Keen agreed that class struggle is inescapable, and is the basis for intra-state conflicts. David Keen (2000) concluded that the failure of the social contracts and lack of equity brought about the constant struggle for political change. The breakdown in the political environment provides the basis for understanding societal conflict.

Conflicts have a definite structure that is evidenced in their potentiality, dispositions, and manifestations. Spaces in which conflict exists consist of different opposing power blocks exerting against each other for a space. The conflict structure creates a situation in which all blocks continue to exert influence as opposing powers need a balance within the conflict situation which exists in our sociocultural space.?

Understanding conflicts can only be achieved through the analyses of their innate meanings to the parties, Values given to interests, culture, and norms of all disputants, class, education level, and other social status of parties within the conflict space.

Group awareness and recognition of status, and cultural and class differences are essential factors in the structure of conflict. Identification of opposing attitudes and reasonings is important in outlining similarities and dissimilarities between groups' aspirations and needs. Groups normally transform attitudes into interests. Group interests are important in understanding the locus of conflict, it is compounded by expectation and capability. Romel maintains that?“Together, capabilities, interests, and will (credibility) define a situation of conflict”

In a Helix situation, there is a need for the group to continue to reach a balance of expectations and resolve the conflict since they have to continue to exist within the conflict space. Rommel believes disputants achieve a balance of interest, and will normally?trigger events.

Psychologically -” initiated?through the balancing of by interests that creates the conflict behavior, caused by a trigger occasion that creates a new structure of expectation”-, and, or, “conflictingly by the will actively pursuing an interest in direct confrontation with other wills”.

?Conflict behavior?manifests acts, actions, or practices involved in the balancing of power. Such behavior is not necessarily violent, coercive, forceful, or antagonistic. Rather, conflict behavior mirrors the balancing of social power in its many forms, and can be solitary and contractual as well as antagonistic.

With the continuous interplay between powers existing within the structure of expectations a conflict situation almost ends up in a balance of power based on the ever-changing social contract.?Rommel concluded that social interaction “If left undisturbed”?is built to constantly maintain order and stability within the society through constant management of the structure of expectation, peace and order is thereby maintained.

State Application of Conflict Helix

Societies should be considered as a collection of opposing powers always in contention within several other groups. All societies exist based on?“comprise structures of expectations, and are built on multiple and overlapping balances of powers among individuals”.?

The general propositions we can then draw for societal level conflict and violence are the following.?

·?Societies exert different kinds of a power structure based on their form of social structures of expectations.

·?Rummel concluded that societies experience random and continuous conflict situations which?if left undisturbed always conclude in constant accommodation and compromises, state intervention are triggers that lead to intractable conflicts except in zero-sum situations (Bal-Tal,2004).

·?State power equations shape the nature of conflicts. Change makes conflict inevitable, especially changes that lead to redistribution of power equations in societies. Changes in education, communication, and economic development affect the probability of conflict.

·?According to this principle, conflict generally issues from and is always embedded in previous cooperation.

·?Current cooperation itself, was achieved from sieving the ashes of previous conflicts. Conflict and cooperation then are shown to be intrinsic to continuing relationships in societal inter-group exchange. This means that explaining and predicting interpersonal and group behavior and resolving conflicts in the now may require an understanding of the history of past social relations and their contexts. Conflict and cooperation thus form a helix, moving upward on a curve of learning and adjustments, with the turn through cooperation being more durable; and conflict being shorter and less intense.

·?According to the helix principle of peace, there is a need for the group to continue to reach a balance of expectations and resolve the conflict since they have to continue to exist within the conflict space.

Rummel’s research concludes that conflict occurs in most societies due to the need of individuals or groups to alter the balance of power. Marx and Weber’s works equally accentuate this fact, but explain further that the idea of relative peace is constantly challenged by expanding the need for balance between the needs of classes in society; Marx assumed that all societies are in a constant state of conflict.

David Keen (2000) also revealed that human and group greed influencing the need for a change of power equations is the basis for most modern conflicts. Peace in societies could only be maintained through the continuous process of interactions, accommodation, and realignments that create a system of balance between powers.

The Second and Fourth Master Principles

It explains that through conflict is negotiated a social contract. A social contract is the outcome of parties balancing their mutual interests, and capabilities, and is based on the equilibrium and balance achieved--a balance of powers. A social contract may be a marriage agreement, an understanding developed among scientists over a disputed theory, or a sale in a market as long as it’s an agreement stating the terms of a relationship.

Furthermore, it explains that a social contract--this peace--is only a phase in a conflict helix and is thus a temporary equilibrium in the long-term movement of interpersonal, social, or international relations.

It is this social contract that is peace within social field theory. Peace then is determined by a process of adjustment between what people, groups, or states want, can, and will do. Peace is based on a consequent balance of powers and involves a corresponding structure of expectations and patterns of cooperation. Moreover, peace may become unstable when an increasing gap develops between expectations and power and may collapse into conflict, violence, or war.

Conclusion.

War, terrorism, and political violence have gradually become major determinants of the power equation, and resource allocation in post-independent African states (Keen, 2010).?Aluko 2010 concluded that several African states witnessed one or two armed conflicts between 1980 and 2010 based on natural resources control. In?Political Ecology of War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflicts, Philippe Le Bilion positioned that a political environment devoid of equity and unregulated markets laced with greed are major drivers for persistent conflicts. He concluded that illicit economies are the major triggers and factors that sustained armed conflicts. He employed the term?“commercialization of armed conflict?and the territorialization of sovereignty around valuable resource areas and trading networks'' (Le Bilion, 2001).?

Peace then can only be achieved through a proper understanding of the principles of conflicts and how to manage and maintain relationships in societies. Conflict and cooperation are embedded in the need for humans to exist and live together in society. Society is a social field, within which interplays of interactions between conflict and cooperation coexist intending to achieve a common system guiding the existence of all members of the society.

We surmised that since conflicts, usually arise from and are always embedded in previous cooperation, and accommodation is achieved through former resolution, then-current cooperation is also achieved through agreements from previous conflicts. Conflict and cooperation then are shown to be intrinsic to continuing relationships in societal inter-group exchange. The social field then must be well monitored, maintained, and harnessed towards creating effective methods for conflict management and transformation processes.

Understanding, explaining, and predicting interpersonal and group behaviors in an attempt to solve current conflicts, will surely necessitate a clear understanding of the history of past social relations between parties and their contexts.?Peace is based on a consequent balance of powers and involves a corresponding structure of expectations and patterns of cooperation. Moreover, peace is threatened and become unstable when an increasing gap develops between expectations and power, as here defined, and societies may collapse into conflict, violence, or war when these are not well aligned.?

?References:

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2.?Aluko, B. A. 2012., Political Corruption and National Security in Nigeria: The Imperatives of Transformational Leaders in Isaac O. Albert, Willie A. Eselobor and Nathaniel D. Danjibo, Peace, Security and Development in Nigeria, Peace and Conflict Studies Programme, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan and Society for Peace Studies and Practice, Abuja, pp. 462-481

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