‘Adopt National Peace Policy To End Insecurity’

President of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP), Mr. Nathaniel Msen Awuapila, has called on President Bola Tinubu to intensify collaborative efforts aimed at tackling Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, stressing that peacebuilding must become a national priority backed by decisive leadership and multi-stakeholder action.

He made the appeal during the opening ceremony of the 19th International Annual Conference and General Assembly of SPSP, themed: “Economic Challenges and the Tasks of Building Sustainable Peace in a Globalised World” held in Ibadan.

The SPSP president warned that insecurity has evolved into a heavy national burden that demands urgent, coordinated intervention from government, researchers, communities, traditional institutions, and peace practitioners.

“We are appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to work closely with peace professionals, researchers, and grassroots actors to help solve the insecurity confronting our nation,” he said, While acknowledging the government’s All-of-Government governance approach, he stressed that countries grappling with prolonged conflicts must adopt an All-of-Nation strategy to achieve lasting peace.

Awuapila expressed concern that Nigeria still lacks a national peace policy framework, 65 years after independence, describing the gap as a major hindrance to coordinated peacebuilding.

“It is troubling that Nigeria, at 65, does not yet have a national peace policy framework. A national peace policy was drafted more than 15 years ago, but it has remained only a draft. Without a guiding framework that reflects our current realities, peacebuilding becomes slow, fragmented, and reactive,” he said.

He urged the federal government to urgently formulate, adopt and implement a national peace architecture that aligns institutions, actors, and communities toward a shared vision of stability.

He highlighted SPSP’s contributions over the past 19 years, emphasising its role in conducting research, facilitating dialogue, supporting conflict prevention, and providing policy guidance—efforts which position the Society as a key partner in strengthening Nigeria’s internal peace architecture.

A major highlight of the ceremony was the induction of 40 new Fellows of SPSP, drawn from security agencies, academia, government institutions, and the humanitarian sector. Their fellowship investiture underscores the Society’s expanding influence and its central role in shaping Nigeria’s peace and development agenda.

Speakers at the conference examined the nexus between Nigeria’s economic challenges and growing insecurity, warning that the nation’s development goals may remain elusive without strategic, well-coordinated efforts to promote peace at all levels of society.