Abstract
This study examined why government-led conflict management measures have failed and identified sustainable alternatives for resolving the crisis. Despite the deployment of multiple conflict management strategies by state and federal authorities, herders–farmers clashes in Benue State, Nigeria, have persisted with devastating consequences for food security and agricultural livelihoods. The specific objectives were to ascertain government-adopted measures, investigate reasons for their failure, and suggest alternative conflict management strategies. Anchored on the Resource Curse Theory, which explains how poorly governed natural resource abundance fosters institutional weakness and violence, the study adopted a descriptive qualitative survey design. Data were collected from 395 respondents across twelve conflict-prone Local Government Areas using questionnaires and key informant interviews. Findings revealed that government interventions- including the Anti-Open Grazing Law (2017), military deployments, and mediation committees, have largely failed due to porous security architecture (46.84%), lack of political will (21.52%), inter-agency non-cooperation (17.22%), and the emergence of conflict profiteering as a business enterprise (14.43%). Over 77% of respondents affirmed that government failure has worsened the crisis. The study concludes that persistent clashes stem not from policy absence but from deep-seated governance deficits, including centralised security systems disconnected from local realities and exclusion of traditional institutions from peace processes. Recommendations include constitutional reform to establish state-controlled security forces, participatory land-use demarcation using geospatial technology, and formal integration of traditional institutions into legally recognised conflict management frameworks.