The Federal Government has launched a National Framework for Peace, Social Cohesion and Resilience, which it says is meant to coordinate conflict prevention, peacebuilding and national security efforts across institutions.
A statement signed on Thursday by Amina Wali of the Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience, National Centre for the Coordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanisms, said the framework was unveiled in Abuja.
It is intended as a common platform for government institutions, security agencies, state peace commissions and civil society organisations.
According to the statement, OSPRE developed the framework in collaboration with Triple Peace Africa, with support from the European Union and the German development agency, GIZ.
The Director-General of OSPRE, Chris Ngwodo, said the framework emerged from nationwide consultations involving government institutions and other stakeholders.
Ngwodo said, “The National Framework for Peace, Social Cohesion and Resilience is a product of consensus harvested from nationwide consultations involving institutions and stakeholders who recognise that the pursuit of sustainable peace is a responsibility shared by the state and society.”
He said the initiative began in 2025 as a review of the National Peace Policy and later became a framework after it was recognised that Nigeria’s security and governance challenges required a broader approach.
In his keynote address, the Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Maj.-Gen. Adeyinka Famadewa (retd.), said military operations alone could not address the causes of insecurity and conflicts.
He said security operations should be complemented by governance, institutions and community-based peacebuilding mechanisms.
“The central proposition of this framework is that peace cannot be secured by military and law enforcement measures alone.
“Sustainable security requires functioning institutions, responsive governance, social trust, credible mechanisms for resolving disputes, and communities equipped with the capacities to prevent and withstand crises,” Famadewa said.
He said the framework would link national security operations with civilian-led peacebuilding and coordinate federal, state and local institutions.
Famadewa said the initiative would complement the National Threat Assessment and Strategic Defence Operations Plan directed by President Bola Tinubu, through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to national security.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, said the initiative linked humanitarian protection, conflict prevention and sustainable development.
Doro said displacement, livelihood disruption and the vulnerability of conflict-affected communities could not be addressed without tackling the causes of insecurity. He called for collaboration among government institutions, humanitarian agencies, peacebuilding organisations and development partners.
The Director-General of the National Boundary Commission, Surveyor Adamu Adaji, said the framework would support peacebuilding in border communities, where, he said, resource competition, communal tensions and cross-border activities create security challenges.
Adaji said early warning systems, conflict prevention and community-based peacebuilding should be integrated into border management and cross-border cooperation.
The Special Assistant to the President on Humanitarian Affairs and Development Partners in the Office of the Vice President, Mrs Inna Audu, said the framework would help integrate peacebuilding and resilience into national development planning and humanitarian interventions.
She said government priorities should be aligned with the interventions of development partners in communities affected by conflict, displacement and economic hardship.
The Executive Director of Triple Peace Africa, Dr Paul Nyulaku, said the consultative process brought together institutions and practitioners with different responsibilities and experiences to set shared priorities for peacebuilding.
He said the framework reflected “the collective wisdom of institutions, practitioners and communities across Nigeria.”
According to the statement, the framework followed more than a year of consultations involving federal and state institutions, security agencies, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations and development partners.
It said several ministries, departments and agencies, state peace commissions and civil society organisations had subscribed to the framework’s principles and strategic objectives.
The statement said the framework would serve as a reference for coordinating interventions, mobilising resources and linking early warning, early response, conflict resolution, social cohesion and sustainable development.
It added that the launch begins a phase focused on institutional adoption and implementation of the framework.
