HURIWA Urges FG to Adopt Kaduna Peace Model as National Framework Against Insecurity
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the Federal Government to adopt the peacebuilding model implemented by the Kaduna State Government under Governor Uba Sani as a national strategy for tackling insecurity, strengthening public trust, and promoting peaceful coexistence across the country.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, on Monday, HURIWA said Nigeria’s worsening security challenges require more than military operations, stressing that sustainable peace must be built on justice, inclusion, community participation, and development.
The rights group urged the Federal Government to work with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to document, evaluate, and adapt Kaduna’s peacebuilding experience into a flexible national framework that states can tailor to their unique security challenges.
“The Kaduna experience should not merely be applauded. It should be studied, independently evaluated, documented and, where successful, strategically adapted for the benefit of the entire federation” the statement noted.
HURIWA also proposed that every state should conduct a comprehensive conflict and peace audit to identify the root causes of insecurity, including communal conflicts, poverty, youth unemployment, political grievances, religious intolerance, land disputes, and criminal activities.
The organisation further recommended expanding the role of the NYSC by creating a Peace and National Cohesion Community Development Service programme to train corps members in conflict prevention, mediation, civic education, human rights, and community engagement.
According to HURIWA, corps members should serve as peace educators and civic ambassadors rather than security personnel, using their nationwide presence to promote tolerance, national unity, and peaceful coexistence.
“Peace is not simply the absence of gunfire. Peace is the presence of justice, security, opportunity, education, healthcare, livelihoods and confidence in government” it stressed.
The group also called on the NHRC to ensure that human rights, accountability, and justice remain central to any national peacebuilding framework, while urging the Federal Government to establish an effective early-warning and early-response system capable of detecting and addressing emerging conflicts before they escalate into violence.
As part of its recommendations, HURIWA proposed the establishment of a National Peace and Community Resilience Council comprising federal agencies, state governments, traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations, women and youth representatives, and security agencies.
The council, it said, should coordinate nationwide conflict mapping, develop peace education programmes, support state-level peace initiatives, publish annual peace reports, and organise a National Peace Summit to encourage the exchange of successful peacebuilding strategies.
“The time has come for Nigeria to move from a reactionary security culture to a preventive peacebuilding culture” it maintained.
HURIWA maintained that peacebuilding should be closely linked with development, noting that communities cannot enjoy lasting peace if schools remain closed, healthcare facilities are inaccessible, farmers cannot cultivate their lands, and economic opportunities are lacking.
The organisation therefore urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to direct relevant federal institutions to begin developing a National Peace and Community Resilience Model that draws lessons from Kaduna while allowing states to adapt the framework to their local realities.
