GlobalTimes Daily

By Sarafina Christopher

Abuja, April 17, 2026 (NAN) The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) and its partners have called for the urgent adoption of Nigeria’s National Peace Policy (NPP) as part of efforts to tackle insecurity and strengthen national cohesion.

The stakeholders made the call during the dialogue in Abuja at the Second High-Level Expert Dialogue on the Draft National Peace Policy organised by IPCR in collaboration with the Office of Strategic Preparedness and Resilience (OSPRE) and Triple Peace Africa.

Speaking during the dialogue, the Director-General of the institute, Dr Joseph Ochogwu, said Nigeria required a coordinated and nationally-owned framework to address rising security threats across the country.

He said the nation was facing multiple challenges, including insurgency in the North-East, farmer-herder clashes in the North-Central, separatist tensions in the South-East, banditry and kidnapping in the North-West, as well as proliferation of small arms.

According to him, the proposed policy will harmonise peacebuilding interventions across federal, state and local governments, while ensuring measurable and sustainable outcomes.

Moreover, Ochogwu said, the draft policy was developed after years of research and consultations involving communities, traditional leaders, civil society groups, academia and government institutions across the six geopolitical zones.

He described the policy as a critical instrument for moving Nigeria from reactive crisis management to preventive and strategic peacebuilding.

“The time for a unified, integrated and credible National Peace Policy is now,” he said.

Also speaking, the Director-General of OSPRE, Dr Chris Ngwodo, said Nigeria’s peace and security environment remains dynamic, uncertain and complex, requiring urgent collaboration among stakeholders.

He commended IPCR for sustaining efforts toward producing a comprehensive peacebuilding framework for the country.

He said the policy should emerge from broad consultations involving government institutions, civil society organisations and communities nationwide.

“A truly national peace policy must be the product of a whole-of-government and whole-of-society consensus,” he said.

Ngwodo added that peacebuilding actors in Nigeria possessed the influence, networks and resources needed to drive lasting change if properly coordinated.

Hon. Joshua Gana, Chairman House Committee on Peacebuilding and Social Cohesion, pledged legislative support for initiatives aimed at restoring peace and unity in the country.

Gana urged Nigerians to embrace love, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, recalling periods when communities lived harmoniously regardless of ethnic or religious differences.

He also expressed optimism that the dialogue has produced practical recommendations to support peacebuilding efforts nationwide.(NAN)