In a groundbreaking three-day summit to find lasting peace in Kaduna State, the Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience (OSPRE) collaborated with the NEEM Foundation and other key stakeholders in the state’s security and peacebuilding sectors.
This assembly of professionals focused on early warning, early response and peacebuilding signifies a crucial step towards fostering resilience and transformation in Kaduna.
OSPRE, also known as the National Early Warning and Response Coordination Centre of Nigeria, collaborates with state actors and civil society to enhance institutional and community preparedness and resilience against threats to human security. One of OSPRE’s flagship peacebuilding programmes is the Consortium for Conflict Resolution and Development Initiative (CONCORDI) inaugurated in Abuja in December 2022.
Despite Kaduna State’s history of communal, sectarian and ethnic tensions, both state and non-state actors continuously explore innovative ways to promote peace and tolerance. The deputy governor of Kaduna State, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe expressed gratitude to the organisers for their support in advancing peace and security. Represented by the deputy chief of staff, Mr. James Kanyip, the deputy governor highlighted the state government’s initiatives, including the establishment of peace committees at the local and community levels, all trained on early warning conflicts and early response mechanisms by the state peace commission.
The CONCORD Kaduna zonal workshop, themed “Sustainable Peace, Enduring Security and Collective Prosperity,” initiated discussions on promoting synergy among various peace, security, and early warning institutions, the role of traditional institutions in civil-security relations, strategies for community resilience, the role of women in conflict transformation and fostering peaceful relations between farmers and herders.
The director-general of OSPRE, Chris Ngwodo briefed experts on the organisation’s efforts to strengthen linkages between national, regional, and local authorities, as well as non-state actors in early warning, peacebuilding and development. He emphasised CONCORD’s goal of creating synergies between stakeholders, stressing the interconnectedness of security, peace and development.
High-level panels and expert syndicates enriched the programme with insightful briefings and deliberations on inter-faith relations, social cohesion, conflict management, urban regeneration and multi-sectoral partnerships.
A statement by OSPRE’s head of communications and public relations, Nike Babalola, revealed that the summit received support from the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) project. Co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmbH), the project aims to bridge the gap between early warning and early response, enhancing the work of National Peace Infrastructures as a stepping stone for sustainable development in collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission, its institutions, member states and civil society organisations.
