The Executive Director of Conflict Research Network West Africa (CORN West Africa), Dr Timipere Felix Allison, has called for stronger documentation of peacebuilding efforts in Nigeria to enhance policy development and strategic planning in the peacebuilding sector.
He stated this immediately after the Conflict Research Network West Africa (CORN West Africa) successfully convened a high-level User Engagement Dialogue and Peace Actors Networking Forum on its digital peace data platform, the Nigeria Peace Web (NPW).
CORN West Africa emphasized that strengthening the documentation and visibility of peace initiatives is essential for building more coordinated, evidence-based, and sustainable peacebuilding efforts across the country.
Dr. Allision in a press release made available to the press through the Communications Director of CORN, Professor Oludayo Tade noted that while Nigeria’s conflict landscape is widely documented and analyzed, the country’s peace landscape remains largely invisible in research, policy discussions, and public discourse.
Dr Allison said. “Across Nigeria, community mediators, faith leaders, traditional authorities, women’s networks, youth groups, and civil society organizations work every day to prevent violence and manage tensions. Yet much of that work remains undocumented, disconnected, and largely invisible.”
According to Dr Allison, the Nigeria Peace Web which is currently being piloted in Plateau, Kaduna, and Katsina States, with plans for eventual expansion across all 36 states of Nigeria was developed to address this imbalance by creating an open-source digital platform that aggregates structured data on peace actors, initiatives, and peace events.
The platform is being developed under the Nigeria Peace Actors and Initiatives in Data (NPAID) project, with funding from the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office under the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) Programme implemented by Tetra Tech International Development.
The dialogue, held on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation Centre, served as an interactive platform for stakeholders to review, test, and provide feedback on the Nigeria Peace Web, a digital initiative designed to map peace actors, peace initiatives, and peace-related events across the country.
Dr Allison explained that “The engagement generated extensive feedback on the design and future development of the platform. Stakeholders broadly welcomed the initiative as a potentially transformative tool for strengthening coordination, knowledge sharing, and evidence-based peacebuilding in Nigeria. Among the key issues raised during the dialogue was the need to establish clearer definitions and classification criteria for what constitutes “peace activities.” Participants noted that peacebuilding interventions may range from mediation, dialogue platforms, reconciliation initiatives, and peace education to community development projects that help reduce tensions and prevent conflict. Stakeholders also emphasised the importance of strengthening data verification systems on the platform to ensure credibility and reliability. Suggestions included adopting transparent verification methodologies, multi-source validation processes, and moderation structures that ensure quality control for uploaded data. Another major theme was the need to capture grassroots peacebuilding efforts that often occur informally at the community level. Participants highlighted the critical roles played by traditional leaders, religious institutions, youth groups, and informal mediators, many of whose activities currently remain undocumented due to limited digital visibility. To address this, stakeholders recommended incorporating community-level reporting mechanisms, enabling offline documentation to be uploaded, and ensuring that the platform reflects both formal and informal peace actors. Participants also highlighted the importance of linking the platform to broader capacity-building initiatives, including training journalists and writers on peace journalism to promote balanced narratives that highlight peace efforts alongside conflict reporting.”
