2027: IPCR, UN, UK Mobilise Nigerian Youths Against Political Violence, Hate Speech

*Ochogwu: Peace is foundation of devt

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

With Nigeria’s 2027 general elections approaching and political activity already beginning to generate heightened tensions, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), the United Nations and the British High Commission have challenged Nigerian youths to become a frontline force against political violence, hate speech, misinformation and other triggers of conflict.

The three institutions delivered a common message at a youth peacebuilding training programme in Abuja: Nigeria’s young people must move from being passive observers of conflict to active agents of prevention, while leaders must abandon quick-fix responses and build peace through evidence, dialogue and sustained action.

The programme, organised by the IPCR under the Renewed Hope Agenda for Young Peacebuilders, brought together members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), SIWES participants, interns and volunteers.

Opening the programme, the Director-General of the IPCR, Dr Joseph Ochogwu, said the training represented an investment in young Nigerians who would play a decisive role in determining the country’s future.

He said the objective was not simply to teach participants how to recognise conflict, but to equip them to prevent, manage and transform conflict into opportunities for peace and development.

“Peacebuilding is not the responsibility of government alone. It belongs to every citizen,” Ochogwu declared.

He said Nigeria’s diversity in ethnicity, religion, language, culture and political opinion could either become an asset or a source of division, depending on how those differences were managed.

Ochogwu challenged conventional notions of peace, saying a peaceful society was one where justice, dialogue, human dignity and tolerance were present.

“Peace is the ability of people with different opinions to disagree without becoming enemies,” he said.

He urged participants to reject violence as a means of resolving grievances and to develop the habit of listening before judging.

The IPCR chief also warned that Nigeria’s young population was increasingly exposed to misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, particularly through social media.

He said political disagreements could quickly become personal attacks, while rumours could amplify existing ethnic, religious and community grievances.

A young person trained in conflict sensitivity, he argued, could prevent a disagreement from becoming a crisis, while someone skilled in mediation could help conflicting parties find common ground.

Ochogwu urged young Nigerians to treat their social-media activity as part of their civic responsibility.

He warned that an unverified message or inflammatory post could worsen tensions and potentially contribute to violence.

“When you hear a rumour capable of provoking violence, do not become part of its distribution. Verify,” he told the participants.

He encouraged young Nigerians to use their digital influence to promote tolerance, expose falsehoods and build bridges across political, ethnic and religious divides.

“Use your digital influence to promote peace. Use your voice to encourage tolerance. Use your platforms to challenge falsehood. Use your networks to promote unity,” he said.

He added that social media should be transformed from a platform for hostility into an instrument for dialogue, education and constructive civic engagement.

The UN Peace and Development Adviser, Ms Grace Kpohazounde, took the warning a step further, urging young Nigerians to actively confront the early signs of conflict as the country heads towards the 2027 elections.

She said the election period was likely to be characterised by heightened tensions and warned that young people could be manipulated into activities capable of undermining peace.

“You, the youth, are sometimes manipulated into engaging in activities that are not necessarily contributing to peace,” she said.

Kpohazounde urged young peacebuilders to regard the coming months as a period requiring particular vigilance.

She said whenever they encounter injustice, exclusion, hate speech or other factors capable of generating tension, they should speak up and intervene responsibly.

“Whether it is physically, online, wherever, make it your task to address it,” she urged.

She said young people should not underestimate the influence they could have in preventing conflict, particularly because of their reach through digital platforms.

Kpohazounde said the distinction between escalating tension and sustainable peace often begins with an individual’s response to the warning signs around them.

“When you see these ingredients… the difference between tension and peace is the attitude that you adopt towards this environment,” she said.

She called on young Nigerians to speak up against injustice and demand inclusion rather than remain silent.

“Even though I am young, I have a word to say, I need a seat at the table, and I need to share my truth,” she said.

She also urged participants to approach peacebuilding as a long-term commitment rather than a means of pursuing quick financial gains.

Drawing from her own experience, she said her United Nations career began with an unpaid internship and later took her to assignments in several countries.

Her message was that commitment to peace could require sacrifice before producing tangible rewards.

“Peace is not about money,” she said. “You have to understand that it is a commitment.”

The Senior Conflict Adviser at the British High Commission, Dr David Rinnert, brought another dimension to the discussion, focusing on the quality of leadership needed to make peacebuilding interventions effective.

Rinnert said leaders frequently make the mistake of moving towards solutions before developing a sufficiently deep understanding of the problem.

“I think too often we rush into solutions,” he said.

He outlined three principles that, in his experience, provide a practical framework for leadership in peacebuilding: understand deeply; create and communicate a clear vision; and deliver consistently.

According to him, understanding requires listening, reading, questioning assumptions, examining evidence and engaging people with different perspectives.

He said such understanding was essential not only for accuracy but also for legitimacy.

“If they don’t feel like you have a deep understanding of the evidence, the research, and the people, they will not trust you as much,” he said.

Rinnert warned against the belief that complicated conflicts could be resolved through one programme, one leader or one intervention.

“There’s no silver bullet,” he said.

He illustrated the point with his experience working in Central Asia, where he said he inherited responsibility for peacebuilding across five countries.

Rather than immediately launching a new intervention, he spent months studying the conflicts and consulting different stakeholders.

He discovered that there were hundreds of peacebuilding initiatives already operating across the region, but many were fragmented and poorly coordinated.

He estimated there were about 800 to 900 such initiatives.

The eventual strategy was therefore to bring existing actors together and pool resources rather than create another isolated project.

The experience, he said, demonstrated why proper conflict analysis must precede intervention.

The IPCR DG similarly argued that peace and development were inseparable.

He warned that communities living under persistent insecurity could not attract sustainable investment, provide quality education or deliver effective healthcare.

“There can be no sustainable development where communities live in constant fear,” he said.

According to him, violence destroys businesses and infrastructure, keeps children away from school, restricts healthcare delivery and destroys livelihoods.

“Peace is therefore not separate from development. Peace is the foundation upon which development is built,” he said.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, represented at the event by Ambassador Muyiwa Ayetoro, Director-General of Peace and Conflict Resolution, also stressed that Nigeria could not achieve meaningful national progress without peace.

He said peacebuilding was essential to reducing violence in communities, strengthening national unity and creating the conditions for economic growth.

The minister urged peacebuilders to recognise the scale of the responsibility before them and contribute in whatever capacity they could to promoting peace.

The speeches collectively placed a significant responsibility on young Nigerians.

Ochogwu asked NYSC members to take advantage of their exposure to communities different from their places of origin to break stereotypes and build understanding.

He said the national service scheme itself demonstrated how interaction among Nigerians from different backgrounds could foster national cohesion.

For SIWES participants, interns and volunteers, he said peacebuilding should not be regarded as the responsibility of specialists alone.

“Peacebuilders are needed in schools. They are needed in businesses. They are needed in civil society. They are needed in government institutions. They are needed in rural communities. They are needed online. They are needed in families,” he said.

Kpohazounde said the UN was already working with Nigerian institutions, including the IPCR and government ministries at federal and state levels, to strengthen peacebuilding efforts.

She cited a recent engagement in Maiduguri involving UN and British officials and the state governor on integration and peacebuilding.

The Abuja gathering ultimately delivered a message that went beyond the training room.

The young participants were challenged to become early-warning actors, responsible digital citizens, mediators and advocates for inclusion in their communities.

They were also urged to understand that peace is not created only after violence has erupted.

It is built when someone refuses to spread a dangerous rumour; when a young person challenges hate speech; when communities choose dialogue over retaliation; when leaders listen before acting; and when citizens refuse to allow political differences to destroy social relationships.

For Nigeria, where political competition, social grievances and digital misinformation can combine rapidly to produce tension, the message from the IPCR, UN and British High Commission carries particular significance ahead of 2027.