President Bola Tinubu has been tasked to initiate a national peace policy that integrates federal, state, and local peacebuilding institutions to ensure that all government policies are conflict sensitive and not contribute to conflict.
The Director, Conflict Research Network, West Africa (CORN), Dr Tarila Marclint Ebiede stated this in a release made available to the press by CORN director of Communications, Professor Oludayo Tade
The CORN Director who alluded to the recently launched report on “Levers of Peace: Sub-national and Local peacebuilding mechanisms in Nigeria” which was supported by the United States Institute for Peace (USIP), asked the federal government to empower national peacebuilding institutions such as Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, National Boundaries Commission, National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other relevant institutions to work with state and local actors to build peace in Nigeria’s conflict zones.
The levers of peace study were conducted in the six geopolitical zones and extracted data from 220 interviews and 44 focus group discussions with peacebuilders at the state and local government levels in Nigeria.
According to Dr Ebiede, the research on levers of Peace in Nigeria showed that sustainability of peace requires resources, adding that that “there is inadequate resources to sustain the peace building efforts in Nigeria at the moment”
The findings recommended that the federal government “activate and strengthen warning and early warning response capabilities of states and communities. The capabilities of states and communities should be strengthened, with specific focus on their abilities to effectively and proactively respond to early warning signs. Closer relations between and among contiguous states should be bolstered in ways that enable them to collaboratively identify and respond to common security challenges.”
Dr Ebiede further noted that there is need for State Governors to domesticate the youth, Peace and Security agenda and Women Peace and Security Agenda in their states and put mechanisms in place to implement it in peace and security policies and programmes at the state level.
The CORN director maintained that traditional and religious institutions play significant roles in fostering community cohesion and should be incorporated into the peacebuilding structures.
He disclosed that Federal government must “intensify efforts in supporting the state and local governments in curtailing the spread, access and, use of small arms and light weapons by unauthorised persons which undermines the operations of the levers of Peace in Nigeria”
