By Glory Mfoniso
ABUJA- Nigeria has deepened its drive for sustainable peace and conflict prevention with the signing of a landmark tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience (OSPRE), the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), and Fortress 360/TriplePeace initiative, a social enterprise company.
Signed in Abuja, the five-year agreement is aimed at strengthening collaboration in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and the development of a National Peace Policy to guide Nigeria’s long-term security and stability agenda.
Director-General of OSPRE, Chris Ngwodo, described the deal as the formalization of an existing but undocumented partnership.
“This MoU brings together OSPRE, Nigeria’s national early warning centre, with IPCR, our foremost think tank on conflict resolution, and Fortress 360, a social enterprise deeply involved in peacebuilding and development.The areas covered by this MOU include, frontally, peace building, conflict prevention, conflict transformation, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration, you know, all the broad cross-cutting areas that encompass peace building.
” Ngwodo said.
He added, “We are scaling up our partnership to cover conflict prevention, transformation, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.”
On his part, IPCR Director-General, Dr. Joseph Ochogwu , stressed the importance of collaboration in addressing Nigeria’s complex peace and security challenges.
“Peace is an orphan, peace is marginalized, peace is isolated. The only way to achieve peace in a society as intricate as ours is through partnerships, collaborations, and linkages,” he said.
Ochogwu added that the MoU will enable IPCR to pool intellectual, human, and material resources with its partners, with the immediate goal of drafting Nigeria’s first National Peace Policy.
“I think one of the major things we’re gonna be working on going forward immediately after this signing is on the national peace policy, which we think that the Nigerian state and the Nigerian people, need such kind of policy, to be able to drive issues around peace building, to ensure that we achieve the necessary results that we need to achieve. So this is just one of, so the national peace policy is what we are striking head on..That is why we’re signing this.” He said
Also, Executive Director of Fortress 360/TriplePeace initiative, Dr. Paul Nyulaku , said the partnership represents a bold new chapter in Nigeria’s peacebuilding journey.
“It is an exciting moment for us to sign this MoU with OSPRE and IPCR. Our expertise spans research, training, and social enterprise development, and we are committed to applying these resources to Nigeria’s peacebuilding architecture,” he stated.
According to Nyulaku, a multi-track approach, involving government, civil society, and social enterprise is crucial to tackling the root causes of conflict and ensuring sustainable outcomes.
“…as a social enterprise company, we have got a team of experts across a range of thematic areas around this work stream.We’re doing this on the back of a multi-track approach to dealing with multidimensional issues around peace in Nigeria…responding to issues around peace is something that a range of organizations, a range of institutions need to come together,” Nyulaku said
The agreement which will be up for reviewed and renewal after five years, also reflects Nigeria’s broader commitment to human security, national cohesion, and inclusive development.
Beyond Nigeria, the partnership is expected to strengthen resilience building across communities, sharing Nigeria’s border where the effects of insecurity could spill over.
The outcomes of this robust collaboration between State and non-State actors, will showcase how national initiatives can catalyze peace and development across Nigeria and Africa, and generate ripple effects that will not only reinforce regional stability but also position Nigeria as a continental leader in peacebuilding and conflict prevention.
