Foundations Band Together to Combat Community Aggression
In a significant move towards fostering peace and security across Nigeria, the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and the Grey Child Foundation have inaugurated a nationwide programme aimed at addressing the root causes of violence. This initiative, known as the Community Validation and Revalidation (CVR) programme, will be implemented across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones.
The CVR programme, launched with support from Rotary International and other partners, seeks to establish grassroots peace and security baselines, dismantle push and pull factors of violence, and reinforce national security frameworks. According to Dr Pietro Macleo, the Chairman of the Grey Child Foundation, the programme is a "home-grown, community-rooted solution" that combines innovation, evidence-based interventions, and active involvement of traditional, faith-based, private sector, and civil society actors.
The Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammed Badaru, warned that violence is becoming a dangerous norm in Nigerian communities. He urged the adoption of non-kinetic approaches to resolving conflicts, emphasizing that peace and security are shared outcomes of sustained partnerships with communities, civil society, and development actors. Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, the National Coordinator of NCTC, echoed these sentiments, stating that peace and security are shared outcomes of such partnerships.
State governments have recognized the urgency of a whole-of-society, community-driven approach to tackling violent crimes, militancy, terrorism, ethno-religious intolerance, and related threats to national stability. The Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) has pledged support for the peacebuilding programme, offering logistics aid, community-based policing, and a Security Community of Practice to strengthen non-kinetic responses.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, described the initiative as a "game-changer" in ensuring inclusive and gender-responsive approaches to peace and security. She emphasized the family as the first line of defence and highlighted the importance of equipping communities with the right values and resources to break the cycle of violence from the ground up.
According to Laka, kinetic measures provide only temporary relief; the lasting path to peace lies in non-kinetic strategies that address the drivers of violence and create opportunities for peaceful coexistence. These strategies, he explained, should be grown from the ground up, rooted in shared values, and sustained by trust, participation, and good governance.
The launch of the CVR programme marks a major step in Nigeria's shift towards sustainable, locally driven peacebuilding efforts. The initiative, following a Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 18, will promote positive narratives, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and provide evidence-based data to guide decisions by stakeholders.
The article was edited by Isaac Aregbesola and published by an unspecified publisher. While recent publications on education, sports, the economy, and business were also mentioned, these are not directly related to the peacebuilding programme.
