Violent internal conflict and educational system in Wukari Town - Taraba State, Nigeria

Education and human capital development is pivotal to the transformation and for uplifting any society. Studies have shown that northern region comprising three geo-political zones of North East, North West, and North Central compared with the southern region within the Nigerian federation, though larger in terms of landmass and in human population as recorded from the 2006 census population is besieged by recurring violent conflict which in addition to other consequences has great implication on education in the zones. The rivalry arising from ethnic and religious differences within an unstable political history has formed the major triggers of this phenomenon. The study relies on secondary sources within the greed and grievance theory primed within the philosophical discourse of Niccolo Machiavelli's political leadership and justice, to understand the effects of this collective violence on education and human capacity development. The analysis was premised on Wukari crisis as a North East community that has experiences collective violence of high magnitudes and of different dimensions. The study further highlights the political leadership docility in the use of retributive and restorative justice within the paradigm of conflict resolution in governance. Hence this paper, posits that the short-term reactions to violent conflict demonstrated by state-actors using highhanded ‘maximum force’, long-term conflict prevention and Peacebuilding strategies are inevitable. It recommends deeper inter-religious dialogue within a synergy of State-actors and Non-state actors - i.e. Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) amongst other discourse.