By Angela Atabo
Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Nigeria, an international peacebuilding organisation focused on ending violent conflict, has called for the adoption of targeted strategies to strengthen peace initiatives across Nigeria-Benin border.
The Country Director of SFCG, Mr About Ouattara, made the call on Tuesday at a High Level Dissemination of Research Findings on Maturity Index of the Peace Architecture Platforms in Niger, Kwara and Kebbi states.
The project, under the Nigeria-Benin Border Peace Initiative:Enhancing Collaboration for Peace and Security (ECPS) initiative was organised by SFCG in collaboration with the French Embassy in Abuja.
Quattara said that the Nigeria-Benin Border Project Maturity Index Assessment Report was aimed at strengthening peace and security in border communities across Kebbi, Kwara, and Niger states.
He explained that the maturity index provided a clear framework for measuring the effectiveness of peace platforms across five areas: governance and structure, community engagement, resource availability, conflict mitigation capacity, and resilience.
“SFCG is an international NGO whose mission is to foster collaboration between divided lines.Conflict is something inevitable, but what we have to do is to avoid conflict from becoming violent.
“That is why wherever we work, we try to get funding from our partners like the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs helping us to implement this project working with communities to teach them how to deal with the conflict using collaboration instead of violence.
“We are working on the Niger-Nigeria and Benin border because they face many problems like banditry and other violence.
“So, it is very important for this collaboration to continue in a peaceful way so that people on both sides of the border will continue their economic relationship without any violence”
Ouattara said that the findings from the research go beyond academic exercise, serving as a practical tool for mobilising resources, deepening grassroots participation, and strengthening early warning systems thereby helping Nigeria and other countries to prevent conflicts from becoming violent.
In her remarks, Ketty Regis, the Cooperation Attaché at the French Embassy, stressed the importance of peace, adding that the Embassy of France partnered SFCG to encourage an ongoing initiative about peace building, mediation, and also collaboration between Benin and Nigeria.
“It is a wonderful project, cutting across six or seven states around the country. If communities know each other and learn to talk with their brothers across the border, then we reduce the chances of conflict and strengthen collaboration,” she added
On his part, the National Conflict and Policy Analyst with Search for Common Ground Nigeria, Andy Nkemneme, explained that the organisation’s peace-building approach rests on the establishment of community, local government, and state-level peace architectures.
“We believe local issues require local solutions. These structures are meant to handle conflicts before they escalate into violence, and where necessary, engage government at the policy level.
Nkemneme said the research assessed whether these structures had matured enough to operate independently, adding that while Niger State has reached maturity, Kebbi and Kwara were moving closer.
According to him, the maturity index provides a clear framework for measuring the effectiveness of peace platforms across five areas: governance and structure, community engagement, resource availability, conflict mitigation capacity, and resilience.
He said that in the light of this; several strategic recommendations have been developed in the research to address existing gaps.
These, he said, included the need to enhance conflict resolution capabilities, establish rapid response units,foster deeper local participation, promote representation of marginalised groups and strengthening of systems for dynamic Responses.
According to him, others include the need to develop feedback and learning loops,scale resource mobilisation efforts,institutional resource planning,reinforce leadership and operational structures,formalise Inter-platform linkages
He also highlighted the importance of synergy with security agencies.
“This project is all about building synergy, creating peace, and ensuring security at the border communities. That requires working hand-in-hand with security agencies,” he stressed.
Also speaking, Ms Remikat Ayuba,the project manager for the Nigerian-Benin Border Community Peace Initiative, Enhancing Collaboration for Peace and Security(ECPS), said the project aimed to promote peace and security in the Nigerian-Benin borders across five states, Kwara,Kebbi, Niger, Zamfara, and Katsina states.
Ayuba added that the states’ peace architecture platforms were also established, adding that the workshop was aimed at disseminating the findings about the maturity index on how sustainable the platforms could be even after the exit of this project.
Some of the beneficiary states present lauded SFCG and its partner for the initiative and promised continuous support.
Dr Diamond Nebechukwu, Niger State Chairperson SPA and Director, Abdulsalam Abubakar Institute for Peace and Sustainable Development Studies Minna, stressed the need to institutionalise and take the peace architecture to the grassroots.
Mrs Afolashade Opeyemi Oluwakemi, Commissioner for Ministry of Women Affairs in Kwara, said the state has benefited greatly since the introduction of the project and it fostered peace in the state.(NAN)
