Managing Tertiary Education for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Nigeria

Abstract

Peace is a necessary condition for the sustainable development of any nation. It is described as the absence of physical and structural violence, and the presence of justice. Peace education involves human rights and conflict resolution education. This justifies the prominence of peace and conflict resolution education in the educational agenda of nations. Based on this, the paper examines the management of tertiary education for peace and conflict resolution in Nigeria. The population of the study comprised lecturers from the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences from the Universities of Benin, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Uyo, totalling 2312. A sample of 231 lecturers was drawn for the study using the Cluster Sampling Technique. One research question and one null hypothesis were considered in this study. Data collection was done using a structured instrument tagged, "Managing Tertiary Education for Peace and Conflict Resolution" (MTEPCR) Questionnaire. The Instrument was duly validated and tested for reliability using the Cronbach Alpha reliability formula. This gave a reliability coefficient of 0.81. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and simple percentage were used to answer the research question. The null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 alpha level, the one-way ANOVA. The result of the study indicated a low extent in the implementation of peace and conflict resolution education in tertiary institutions. There was no substantial difference in the implementation of peace and conflict resolution education among four federal universities. Based on these findings, key policy, practice and research implications are discussed.