The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North-Central), Dr Abiodun Essiet, says tackling insecurity in the North-Central region demands innovative, inclusive and non-kinetic responses.
Essiet disclosed that nearly 70 per cent of the security challenges in the North Central region of the country can be resolved through dialogue, reconciliation, and active community involvement.
She stated these on Tuesday at the capacity-building training for stakeholders across the North-Central held at the State House, Abuja.
“From our analysis, nearly 70 per cent of the security challenges in the North Central can be addressed through dialogue, reconciliation, intelligence sharing, and community engagement, rather than through force alone,” she said.
Dr. Essiet recounted the June 5 launch of the Presidential Community Engagement Peace Initiative (PCEPI) in Jos, Plateau State, stating, “That historic event was a significant step in our collective journey toward fostering unity, strengthening social cohesion, and empowering communities to take ownership of their peace processes.”
She announced that in line with Nigeria’s implementation of United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations, her office is partnering with the International Communities Organisation (ICO) on a project titled “Promoting Community Peace and Strengthening Social Cohesion in North Central Nigeria”.
At the heart of the effort, Essiet said, was the establishment of a peace structure that cuts across all the 110 local governments in the North Central region.
“At the heart of this initiative is the establishment of a peace structure that will cut across all the 110 local governments in the North Central region.
“This structure will not just exist in name; it will be an active platform … focusing on gathering and sharing intelligence, facilitating continuous dialogue, and helping us identify underlying issues and root causes of conflict. Ultimately, this peace structure will serve as the backbone of sustainable peacebuilding in our region,” she noted.
She noted that the reality of insecurity in the Northcentral region demands innovative, inclusive and non-kinetic responses.
She highlighted that the timely resolution of internal communal conflicts and addressing the root causes of tension would tackle insecurity in the North Central region of Nigeria.
The training featured sessions on peacebuilding & conflict resolution, conflict dynamics & community engagement, and intelligence gathering for peace, alongside state breakout SWOT sessions to map risks, stakeholders and interventions.
“This training is not just about acquiring knowledge; it is about forging partnerships, building trust, and developing strategies that will directly impact our communities,” Essiet told participants.
He urged participants to be open, interactive, and collaborative.
Stakeholders highlighted forests and borders as flashpoints; they called for adequate protection and preservation of forests in the north-central region.
The Commandant-General of the Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS), Ambassador Joshua Osatimehin Wole, said Nigeria has 1,129 forest reserves, with 174 in the North-Central.
He called for tighter inter-agency cooperation and effective forest control, identifying Niger, Kwara and Benue as epicentres requiring enhanced surveillance.
“For sustainable peace in our communities, all our forested regions must be well coordinated and preserved. We need to protect the forests,” he said.
“We must create additional security agencies to conduct continuous security surveillance. Three states border international frontiers—Niger, Kwara and Benue—and they are the epicentres of insecurity. There should be inter-agency cooperation and effective control of our forests.
“What Nigeria is currently going through goes beyond farmers–herders clashes. We must also consider the post-Gaddafi era,” Wole said.
He noted that mercenaries scattered across the Sahel after Gaddafi’s fall.
Director of the MacArthur Foundation, Kole Shettima, underscored the centrality of stability to development:
“Unless there is peace, you cannot do what you want to do. Peace is essential and paramount,” he said.
He urged the National Assembly to strengthen traditional institutions.
“We have to look historically at how our elders solved conflicts and learn from them,” he said.
Project coordinator Jacob Alagbe said the programme brings state-level actors together to promote peaceful coexistence and social cohesion, with outputs feeding into state-specific action plans.