The Director, Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies (CPSS), University of Ilorin, Mahfouz Adedimeji, has advised Nigerians to always embrace functional dispute resolution strategies to check conflicts that are inimical to the growth of the nation.

Adedimeji gave the advice while delivering a keynote address at the maiden edition of Kwara Youth Summit organised by the Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Students Association (PERCORSA), National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), in conjunction with the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin.

The director, in his keynote address, entitled, 'No Cause For Conflict, Really?, said the current security situation in Nigeria calls for a sober reflection.

He said Nigerians are living at a critical point in which the nation is technically at war with itself but expressed optimism that the situation can be de-escalated with forthrightness, good political will, and attitude to positive change.

The director, who explained that conflict is latent and manifest, peaceful and violent, functional and dysfunctional, inevitable and preventable, said it can be regulated, resolved and transformed.

He stated that conflict arises in societies mainly because of a plethora of factors bordering on economic, political, economic, cultural, ideological, religious, ethnic and personal issues.

He said conflict indicators include provocative utterances, hate speech, communication gap, demonstrations, protests, arms stockpiling, meeting at odd hours, strange movements and many other related social problems.

"As long as there are differences, there will be conflict. There is, therefore, cause for conflict for the mere fact we are from different backgrounds in terms of ethnicity, political affiliation, social stratification, religious belief and ideological differences.

"There is nothing we can do about all these but to have the right attitudes and appreciate that variety is the spice of life. There is beauty in diversity and there is convergence in divergence.

"Take our religious differences for example, if we have the right attitude, we will appreciate that the purpose of all religion is to be good," he stated.