From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
A public policy think-tank, Nextier in a report has strongly advocated for the establishment of Peace Commissions in the five states of Southeast Nigeria.
The proposed commissions, the report said would have a mandate to promote proactive peacebuilding through early warning identification, mediation, and the fostering of cooperative relations.
According to the report, titled “Towards a Paradigm Shift in Conflict Management in South East Nigeria: The Case for Peace Commissions,” the Peace Commissions should be people-driven, quasi-governmental institutions with the power to convene meetings and provide credible intelligence to state governments and security institutions.
The report was authored by Dr. Ben Nwosu, an Associate Consultant at Nextier and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria, and Dr. Ndu Nwokolo, a Partner at Nextier and Honorary Fellow at the School of Government at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.
The authors recommend a tripartite funding model in which parts come from the government, citizens, and international development agencies to secure the commissions’ independence. Each state should cascade the peace committees to every local government and electoral ward to give them a broad-based grassroots character. The commissions should leverage the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, which provides both technical and funding support for peacebuilding activities.
While the Southeast region may be relatively less conflict-ridden than other parts of Nigeria, it is not entirely free from persisting fears of different types of bloody conflicts. Its densely populated nature, especially in rural areas, is rapidly increasing climate-linked conflict and insecurity. Unfortunately, the region is not well-reckoned as an area that needs assistance in conflict interventions and peacebuilding.
The existing institutions of conflict management in some regional states were designed without mindfulness of the nature of evolving conflicts, such as invasions of rural agro-communities by herders and the resultant violence and rising communal land conflicts out of climate change. Thus, the institutions have limited response capacity.
The report recommended transcending the existing conflict management model for a peacebuilding model that begins its intervention from the very origin of the conflict to prevent escalation. Besides, restorative interventions for people to return to their everyday lives and livelihoods after conflict are integral to the peacebuilding model.
The report makes references to the Plateau State Peacebuilding Agency (PPBA) established in 2016, the Kaduna State Peace Commission created in 2017 with an extendable five-year mandate, Adamawa State Agency for Peace created by Governor Jibrilla in 2018, and the Benue State Peace Commission that is yet to fully start activities after its leadership was appointed by the state government six months ago.