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Public Relations as Tool for Resolving Communal Dispute in Kwara State, a Case Study of Offa Local Government Council Area. Project material PDF document download start from the abstract to chapters 1 to 5
Content Structure of Public Relations as Tool for Resolving Communal Dispute in Kwara State
- The abstract contains the research problem, the objectives, methodology, results, and recommendations
- Chapter one of this thesis or project materials contains the background to the study, the research problem, the research questions, research objectives, research hypotheses, significance of the study, the scope of the study, organization of the study, and the operational definition of terms.
- Chapter two contains relevant literature on the issue under investigation. The chapter is divided into five parts which are the conceptual review, theoretical review, empirical review, conceptual framework, and gaps in research
- Chapter three contains the research design, study area, population, sample size and sampling technique, validity, reliability, source of data, operationalization of variables, research models, and data analysis method
- Chapter four contains the data analysis and the discussion of the findings
- Chapter five contains the summary of findings, conclusions, recommendations, contributions to knowledge, and recommendations for further studies.
- References: The references are in APA
- Questionnaire
CHAPTER FIVE
Summary of the Study
The general objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of public relations as a tool for resolving communal dispute between local government and elders in Offa Local government council area in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study was guided by four objectives as follows: to investigate sources of communal dispute between the local government council and elders, how dispute between the local government council and elders is communicated, the effect of using public relations to address dispute between the local government council and elders and the challenges of using public relations to address dispute between local government and elders in Offa Local government council area in Kwara State, Nigeria.
To achieve the objectives, the study adopted the descriptive survey design. This enabled the researcher to obtain data from the respondents confidentially. Because the researcher could not reach the entire population of 629 local government, a sample of 62 respondents was used for generalization of the findings of the study to the entire population. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to obtain data from local government.
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However, the interview schedules were only used to obtain additional data from key informants as they were few and required more time to conduct. Validity and reliability of the instruments was obtained through piloting. The data obtained for the study was anlaysed descriptively using SPSS and thematically.
The first objective was to investigate the sources of communal dispute between local government and elders in Offa Local government council area, in Kwara State, Nigeria. Under this objective, the study sought to find out first if conflict was experienced in the community. The finding was that majority of the respondents said dispute between local government and their elders usually occurred in their community. Majority of the respondents also said they had experienced conflict with the elders. Asked about what caused dispute in their community, majority of the respondents listed communication as one of the major contributors of communal dispute even though other reasons contributing to conflict were given. The other causes of communal dispute given included competition, resources, the person conveying a message, negligence of duty, distribution of workload and the time table.
On the effect of communal dispute between local government and elders, respondents felt conflict leads to poor performance of duty due to demoralization. They also said conflict led to wastage of time, loss of self-esteem, reduced teamwork and if unchecked, it resulted to poor student performance and indiscipline. Apparently, only respondent viewed conflict positively.
About how local government council members were treated when conflict arose between them and elders, majority of the respondents said dialogue between them and the elders was used to sort out issues. This means communication also played a role in pursuit of reconciliation. Other respondents said warning letters were sent to local government that were in dispute with the elders and in the worst case scenario; local government council members were transferred or asked for transfer.
This latter assertion was however disputed by the elders who were interviewed as they said they did not keep records of staff they had differed with as doing so would mar the local government’ reputation with their employer, yet they (the elders) viewed them as colleagues who needed to be treated humanely.
The second objective was to explore how dispute between the local government council and elders is communicated in Offa Local government council area in Kwara State, Nigeria. Respondents were asked how dispute between local government and their elders was communicated and majority said the concerned parties held private meetings to sort matters out. However, other local government learnt of the conflict through grapevine which means though attempts are made to keep an individual’s conflict private, matters still leak to other staff who were not involved in a conflict. Some respondents however expressed concern that sometimes, matters to do with them that the elders had not communicated reached them through grapevine meaning grapevine is seen as a major source of information in a community situation.
On whether local government council members were given opportunity to express themselves, majority of the respondents said they expressed themselves in meetings. Some also said they sent their heads of departments to the senior elders if they had issues they needed attended to. Others said they generated gossip with the hope that those considered close to the elders would take the cue and pass the message on to the intended persons. However, there are those who said they keep quiet. They said they used silence when they felt their opinions would be ignored or that they would be victimized.
One interviewee said they used silence to induce self-correction and when they felt that they would be misunderstood or unnecessarily criticized. Some local government council members were also noted to be naturally private, preferring to keep quiet unless they were prodded to express themselves. Others resorted to going slow on their duties to prompt elders to address their concerns.
Conclusion
From the study, the following conclusions were reached: Dispute between local government and elders are normal as in any other community in the society and communication plays a major role in triggering conflict, escalating it and deescalating it but in an attempt to address conflict, there are challenges that dog the process of communication like personal attitude and channel used to communicate. It is also important to treat people one is in dispute with, with respect if a conflict is to be amicably resolved as people like to be treated with respect. There is also need to increase the frequency of interaction between elders and their staff to build staff morale. The interactions should allow parties to openly express themselves. It was also clear that it is not always that people speak their minds out and the silence does have meaning. When dealing with others especially in situations of communal dispute, it is important to be objective and to listen to the parties involved with an open mind. There is also need to send clear messages to reduce misunderstandings.
Recommendations
Recommendations on Policy
The following are recommendations for policy. First, there is need to address conflict with the parties involved in a conflict before tabling the same before people that were not involved in the conflict. There is also need to offer training to local government and elders on effective communication so as to mitigate dispute in community and enhance teamwork and performance of duties in community. Additionally, it is important to employ a variety of means of communication instead of solely relying on meetings and whatever means of public relations is used to communicate between local government and their elders, the same should encourage feedback to communication made. Lastly, there is need to treat local government with respect when communicating with them or handling a conflict concerning them.
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