Engage us to address insecurity in Nigeria, SPSP President tells Tinubu

The President of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP), Nathaniel Msen Awuapila, has urged President Bola Tinubu to strengthen collaboration aimed at ending insecurity in the country, saying peacebuilding requires shared responsibility, firm leadership, and partnership across sectors.

Speaking at the opening of the 19th International Annual Conference and General Assembly of SPSP, held on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, at the Abiola Ajimobi Resource Centre, University of Ibadan, Awuapila called on the federal government to place peace at the centre of efforts toward economic stability, social development, and national unity.

Addressing participants at the four-day conference, themed “Economic Challenges and the Tasks of Building Sustainable Peace in a Globalised World,” he noted that insecurity has become a major national burden that requires urgent attention from government, communities, researchers, and practitioners.

“We are appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to work closely with peace professionals, researchers, and grassroots actors to help solve the insecurity confronting our nation,” Awuapila said.

He acknowledged the government’s use of an All-of-Government approach but stressed that countries battling long-standing security problems need an All-of-Nation model to achieve real progress.

Awuapila also pointed out that Nigeria still does not have a national peace policy framework, 65 years after independence—a gap he described as a key obstacle to coordinated peacebuilding.

“It is troubling that Nigeria, at 65, does not yet have a national peace policy framework,” he said. 

“A national peace policy was drafted more than 15 years ago, but it has remained only a draft. Without a guiding framework that reflects our current realities, peacebuilding becomes slow, fragmented, and reactive.”

He urged the government to adopt a national peace framework that brings institutions, communities, and actors together around a common agenda.

Awuapila highlighted SPSP’s role over the past 19 years, noting its work in research, dialogue, community engagement, policy support, and field interventions—areas he said position the society as a key partner in Nigeria’s effort to achieve stability.

He called for strengthening the country’s internal peace structures to protect its future. “Our youths are becoming disillusioned; communities are losing trust; the economy is struggling under the weight of insecurity. These realities demand collective action,” he added. “We stand ready, as a community of peace scholars and practitioners, to support the government in designing and implementing sustainable strategies that will strengthen security while promoting national unity.”

The event attracted several dignitaries, including General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd.), former Chief of Defence Staff and keynote speaker; Chief Adebisi Akande, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Ibadan; Dr. Abiodun Essiet, Special Adviser to the President on Community Engagement; Prof. Kayode Adebowale, Vice Chancellor and Chief Host; Prof. Isaac Olawale Albert, Conference Host and founder of SPSP; Prof. Elias Sulaiman Bogoro, Chairman of the Board of Trustees; Kemi Nanna Nandap, Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service; Hon. Aondowase Kunde, Benue State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management; and Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly.

A major highlight was the induction of 40 new Fellows of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice drawn from security institutions, academia, government, and humanitarian organisations—signifying the Society’s growing influence in Nigeria’s peace and development space.

Speakers at the conference discussed how economic pressures are shaping insecurity and warned that national development goals may remain out of reach without strong, strategic, and coordinated peace efforts.