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THE CONCEPT OF CONFLICT: 
Over the years, the prospects and challenges of defining conflict have manifested in 
different dimensions from power bargaining techniques, normative and legal approaches, to 
psychological attempts to change attitudes of participants in simulation groups, problem solving; 
conflict management to conflict resolution, structural approaches to the study of conflict 
emphasized the influence of objective conditions in the generation of conflict social-structure is 
there by seen as casually related to the emergence of conflict. Galtung in his conceptual construct 
of 
'structural violence stretch 
to the material conditions of social life that constrain the 
development of human potentiality. Conflict represents a condition of disharmony in international 
process. Scholars has generally agreed that conflict is inevitable and disastrous to human, 
interactions between, beings, either individually or in groups of all human societies, communities, 
organizations and inter-personal relationship experience conflict at one time or the other. The 
challenges of defining, conflict IS enormous almost every field of discipline has its theoretical 
approach of understanding conflicts. The Economists focused on games theory of conflict and 
decision making, psychologist explore inter personal conflicts, sociologist centred on power and 
structure of the state as the basis for conflicts, international relations is concerned with inter-state, 
internal, international conflicts and state formation conflict. The international community 
however, has become increasingly concerned with the rise in frequency and intensity of internal 
and state-formation conflicts. e.g ethnic wars, anti-colonial struggles, secessionist, territorial 
conflicts, and the battle over the control of government. 
Today attention has also focused on 'global conflict, where non state groups combat 
international and regional organizations. Other scholars in the conceptualization accepts this 
definition that conflict is not simply as a pathological phenomenon to prevent or adjust, but rather 
as an essential ingredient in the balance and vitality of group life, which emphasizes that conflict 
is positive sometime negative and will always be a part of human nature. It is also a struggle or 
contest between people with opposing needs, ideas, beliefs, values of goals. Coser (1956:232) sees 
conflict as a struggle over -values, or claims" to status power and scarce resources. Chaplin (1979: 
109) define conflict as "Simultaneous occurrence of two or mutually antagonistic impulses or 

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motives" While Wilson and Hanna, (1990:255) describe it as "a struggle involving ideas, values 
and or/Limited resources.