New Platform by CORN West Africa Targets Visibility for Nigeria’s Peace Efforts
Tracking peace efforts ensures grassroots initiatives are recognized, data-driven policies are developed, and sustainable solutions are prioritized, offering hope and balance in a world dominated by reports of conflict and violence.
By Bankole Shakurudeen
ABUJA, Nigeria – As Nigeria continues to grapple with widespread insecurity and escalating violence, the Conflict Research Network West Africa (CORN West Africa) is taking a bold step to ensure grassroots peacebuilding efforts are visible and impactful. On Wednesday, March 11, 2026, the organization will launch its digital peace platform, Nigeria Peace Web (NPW), at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation in Abuja.
Designed to document and amplify peacebuilding activities across Nigeria, NPW is the centerpiece of CORN West Africa’s Nigeria Peace Actors and Initiatives in Data (NPAID) project. Funded by the UK government through the Foreign, Development and Commonwealth Office (FCDO)-supported SPRiNG Programme, the initiative seeks to bridge the gap between conflict reporting and peace documentation, offering a reliable resource for policymakers, researchers, and peace actors to support sustainable peacebuilding.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Dr. Timpreye Felix Allison, Executive Director of CORN West Africa, emphasized the need to shift focus towards peacebuilding activities, which often go unnoticed despite their critical role in conflict resolution.
“Peace and peacebuilding activities deserve the same visibility and analytical attention that conflicts and insurgencies currently receive in global discourse,” Dr. Allison said. “Across many communities in Nigeria and West Africa, peace initiatives are happening every day, yet they are rarely documented in ways that inform research, policy, or public understanding.”
A Data Gap in Global Peacebuilding
According to Dr. Allison, the NPW platform was conceived to address a growing imbalance in global research and media reporting, where conflict statistics dominate discourse while peace initiatives remain largely undocumented.
“While conflict datasets such as ACLED and Uppsala Conflict Data are widely available and extensively analyzed, peace initiatives are underreported,” he said. “This gap limits our ability to learn from local interventions and build stronger evidence for sustainable peace.”
NPW will provide verified data on peace events, actors, and beneficiaries, sourced from academia, journalists, and civil society organizations. The platform aims to map peacebuilding activities across Nigeria, starting with pilot projects in Plateau State, Kaduna State, and Katsina State, with plans to expand to all 36 states.
Security Challenges and Grassroots Responses
The urgency of the initiative is underscored by Nigeria’s worsening security pressures. Across West Africa, insecurity has been fueled by the proliferation of 11 million illicit small arms, according to the Small Arms Survey, with weapons driving insurgency, banditry, communal violence, and organized crime.
In Nigeria, Amnesty International reports over 10,000 deaths from armed attacks between 2023 and 2025, involving actors such as Boko Haram insurgents, Islamic State West Africa Province factions, armed bandit groups, and kidnapping syndicates. Since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009, the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced nearly 2 million individuals in the northeast alone, according to humanitarian estimates.
States like Plateau, Kaduna, and Katsina have also experienced persistent violence linked to communal tensions, banditry, and kidnapping.
Despite these challenges, Dr. Allison highlighted the resilience of communities implementing grassroots peacebuilding initiatives. “Traditional leaders, civil society organizations, youth groups, and faith institutions are constantly mediating disputes and promoting dialogue,” he said. “These efforts deserve to be documented and amplified.”
User Engagement Dialogue to Shape the Platform
To ensure the Nigeria Peace Web meets user needs, CORN West Africa will host a User Engagement Dialogue during the launch event. The dialogue will bring together local peacebuilding actors, NGOs, researchers, policymakers, security sector representatives, donors, and members of the diplomatic community.
“The event will provide a forum for potential users and beneficiaries of the platform to make suggestions that enhance its relevance and user-friendliness,” Dr. Allison said.
The platform’s ultimate goal is to strengthen knowledge sharing and support evidence-based peacebuilding. “If conflict data matters for policy and research, peace data should matter as well,” he added.
Grassroots Peacebuilding in Focus
Dr. Allison noted that even in areas plagued by violence, grassroots peacebuilding efforts are quietly transforming communities. In states like Plateau, Kaduna, and Katsina, initiatives such as dialogue platforms, mediation processes, reconciliation meetings, and community-led prevention efforts are being carried out by traditional leaders, civil society organizations, youth groups, and faith-based institutions.
“These peacebuilding efforts are happening quietly in many communities,” he said. “The Nigeria Peace Web will amplify their voices, document their successes, and ensure they are part of the broader conversation on conflict resolution and sustainable peace.”
A Step Toward Sustainable Peacebuilding
The Nigeria Peace Web is expected to serve as a catalyst for more community-driven initiatives, including the establishment of libraries, book clubs, and creative hubs across Nigeria. CORN West Africa hopes the platform will empower peace actors and inspire policymakers to prioritize peacebuilding in their responses to insecurity.
As the platform prepares to go live, CORN West Africa is calling on stakeholders to participate in the User Engagement Dialogue and contribute to the platform’s development.
“The reality is that peace work is happening every day in Nigeria,” Dr. Allison said. “By documenting and amplifying these efforts, we can build stronger evidence for sustainable peace and inspire change across the region.”
About CORN West Africa
Conflict Research Network West Africa (CORN West Africa) is a leading organization dedicated to advancing research, policy, and programming on peacebuilding and conflict resolution in Nigeria and the West African region. Through initiatives like the Nigeria Peace Web, CORN West Africa seeks to amplify local peace efforts and strengthen evidence-based approaches to sustainable development and security.
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