The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung have called for greater attention to social justice, inclusion and economic opportunities as essential conditions for sustaining peace in Nigeria.

The Director-General of IPCR, Dr Joseph Ochogwu, and the Country Representative of FES Nigeria, Lennart Oestergaard, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the fifth induction ceremony of members of the National Peace Academy.

Ochogwu said peace could not be sustained solely through the absence of violence, stressing that exclusion, inequality and perceived injustice could create conditions for renewed conflict.

He said the induction of the new peace practitioners was part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s professional peace architecture and build capacity for conflict prevention and resolution.

According to him, the inductees, drawn from public and private institutions, including the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Ports Authority and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, demonstrated that peacebuilding was a collective responsibility.

Ochogwu said, “Peace cannot be sustained merely by the absence of violence. A society may experience a temporary cessation of hostilities and yet remain deeply vulnerable to renewed conflict where people perceive themselves to be excluded, discriminated against, denied opportunities, deprived of dignity, or unable to obtain fair and effective remedies for legitimate grievances. Social justice is therefore not external to peacebuilding; it is one of its essential foundations.”

The IPCR boss urged the inductees to become agents of dialogue, reconciliation and de-escalation in their respective organisations and communities.

He added, “As inducted practitioners, you are expected to become agents of de-escalation, dialogue and reconciliation within your organisations and communities.”

Ochogwu urged the professionals to “model dialogue over division, fairness over partisanship, inclusion over exclusion, and restraint over reaction.”

He said the true measure of the induction would not be the certificates awarded but the impact the practitioners made in preventing conflicts, resolving disputes and strengthening institutions.

“The true measure of this induction will not ultimately be the certificates you receive today. It will be reflected in the conflicts you help to prevent, the disputes you help to resolve, the relationships you help to restore, the institutions you help to strengthen, and the extent to which your interventions contribute to a society in which people can pursue their aspirations with dignity, fairness and a sense of belonging,” he said.

Also speaking, Oestergaard said there could be no lasting peace without social justice, arguing that peace must go beyond the absence of violence to include dignity, economic security and equal opportunities. He said, “My answer is in the title of this lecture: there is no peace without social justice.”

Oestergaard said poverty, inequality, exclusion and lost livelihoods could fuel conflicts and make recruitment into armed groups easier. He said, “Where farming and herding no longer feed a family, joining an armed group can look like the only way to earn money or respect.”

The FES representative also linked youth employment to peacebuilding, noting that young people constituted a significant part of Nigeria’s population and were often targeted for recruitment by armed groups. He said, “That is why I would call decent work peace policy as much as economic policy.”

Oestergaard further called for greater trust between security forces and communities, saying security operations alone could not guarantee lasting peace.

He said, “Nigeria needs capable armed forces and police, and no one here disputes that. But military and police operations cannot on their own produce lasting security. That also takes protection from poverty, and trust between people and those who protect them.”

He identified trust between security forces and communities, mediation and early warning, jobs for young people, women’s participation, regional cooperation and effective use of peacebuilding institutions as key measures for strengthening peace.

On the forthcoming 2027 elections, Oestergaard said democratic institutions should provide peaceful avenues for resolving disputes over power and resources. He said, “Credible, peaceful and inclusive elections next year would be one of the best investments in peace Nigeria could make.”

He urged the newly inducted members to apply their knowledge across government institutions, security agencies, universities, communities and civil society.

Oestergaard said, “Understanding why conflicts start, knowing how to mediate and having a network of people who care about peace is exactly what Nigeria needs. No peace without social justice. And justice needs people willing to work for it.”