Abuja: The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) has called for deliberate and sustained investment in peacebuilding across Nigeria, urging government, private sector, civil society and citizens to treat peace as a collective national responsibility. The Director-General of IPCR, Dr. Joseph Ochogwu, made the call on Thursday at the 2026 Peace and Dialogue Awards organised by the Ufuk Dialogue Foundation in collaboration with the Institute in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Ochogwu emphasized the need for Nigeria to shift from reactively responding to conflicts after they have erupted to proactively investing in prevention, early warning, peace education, mediation, justice reform, and community resilience. He highlighted the stark contrast between global military expenditure, which exceeded 2.4 trillion dollars in 2024, and peacebuilding spending, which remained below 60 billion dollars.
Ochogwu argued that this disparity indicates the need to rethink how societies allocate resources to prevent violence. He outlined that peace investment should encompass early warning systems, peace education, youth employment, interfaith literacy, justice reform, community mediation, psychosocial support, and empowering women and young people.
The IPCR DG noted that the benefits of peacebuilding are often measured by crises that do not occur, making its impact less visible than expenditure on conflict response. He stressed that the dividend of peacebuilding lies in its ability to prevent violence, requiring intentionality in investment. Ochogwu identified several interconnected challenges, such as extremism, banditry, farmer-herder tensions, resource conflicts, separatist agitations, and climate-related displacement, that necessitate tailored peacebuilding responses in Nigeria and the wider West African region.
He also linked economic development to peace, indicating that the government’s economic reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda could directly contribute to peace by creating jobs and reducing poverty-driven vulnerabilities. Ochogwu pointed out that inadequate funding, fragmented interventions, and weak tracking mechanisms contribute to the underfunding of peacebuilding efforts.
Ochogwu proposed a five-point compact for collective responsibility, urging federal, state, and local governments to fast-track the National Peace Policy, establish a National Peace Investment Fund, and strengthen IPCR’s coordination and early-warning mandate. He called on the private sector to allocate part of its corporate social responsibility resources to peacebuilding and encouraged faith, traditional, and community leaders to institutionalize dialogue and community-level dispute resolution.
He also appealed to civil society organizations, the media, and academia to counter hate speech and disinformation, generate local evidence, and support the development of a Peace Investment Tracker to monitor peacebuilding expenditure and its impact. Ochogwu emphasized the importance of individual contributions to peace through actions such as refusing to escalate disputes, reporting early warning signs, and mentoring young people at risk of violence.
Earlier, the President of the Ufuk Dialogue Foundation, Mr. Emrah Ilgen, stated that the Peace and Dialogue Awards were established to recognize individuals and organizations promoting peace, reconciliation, humanitarian service, education, youth development, and peaceful coexistence. Ilgen stressed the foundation’s approach to investing in peace by building relationships and creating opportunities for dialogue among people with divergent views.
Mr. Olatunji Disu, Inspector-General of Police, represented by AIG Victor Olaiya, remarked that peace and democracy are mutually reinforcing, with lasting peace dependent on the rule of law, political participation, and respect for human dignity. Disu commended Ufuk Dialogue Foundation and IPCR for their efforts in sustaining the awards, highlighting the importance of recognizing peacebuilders to encourage more Nigerians to contribute to peaceful coexistence.
NAN reports that the 2026 Peace and Dialogue Awards were organized as part of activities around the 2026 International Day of Peace, themed ‘Investing in Peace For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.’ The event acknowledged contributions across various areas, including youth development, education, media, sports, arts and culture, humanitarian service, community peacebuilding, interfaith dialogue, gender sensitivity, and support for persons with special needs.