Thirty representatives of the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo ethnic nationalities have been inaugurated as grassroots Peace Influencers in Warri, Delta State, to strengthen conflict prevention, early warning and peaceful coexistence among the communities.
The inauguration followed a three-day Peace Consolidation and Resilience Session organised under Phase Two of the Warri Peace Community Support Initiative (WPCSI), with support from the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND).
The initiative is aimed at consolidating existing peace gains and equipping community representatives with practical skills to identify emerging tensions and resolve disputes before they escalate into violence.
The residential session brought together signatories to the presidential peace intervention and representatives of women, youth and community leadership groups.
Participants engaged in structured dialogue, practical exercises and joint planning to identify emerging threats and develop strategies for sustaining cooperation among the three ethnic nationalities.
The newly inaugurated Peace Influencers received training in conflict early warning and early response, mediation, and conflict-sensitive communication.
They are expected to identify and report warning signs, facilitate dialogue and support timely community responses to potential conflicts.
Speaking at the inauguration, the Chairman of the WPCSI Board of Trustees, Hon. Sylvester Okoh, said the initiative marked a shift from high-level peace agreements to practical, community-driven action.
“Peace cannot be sustained by agreements alone. It requires trusted people within communities who can recognise warning signs, open channels of communication and help resolve tensions before they escalate,” he said.
Okoh added that the Peace Influencers represented a shared commitment by the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo communities to protect existing peace gains and take collective responsibility for maintaining stability.
He said grassroots participation remained essential to sustaining the progress achieved through previous peacebuilding efforts.
The second phase of the initiative builds on the first phase, which helped de-escalate tensions through sustained stakeholder engagement, advocacy and public peace messaging.
The current phase focuses on strengthening local capacity, rebuilding relationships and establishing practical mechanisms for community-level conflict prevention.
Speaking on behalf of PIND’s Executive Director, Mr Sam Ogbemi Daibo, the foundation’s Advocacy Manager, Mr Chuks Ofulue, said equipping community leaders with practical skills and linking them to wider response systems would improve conflict prevention.
“Sustainable peace depends on communities having the relationships, skills, platforms and systems to manage tensions constructively,” Ofulue said.
He explained that connecting the Peace Influencers to PIND’s Early Warning and Early Response system would strengthen the link between grassroots information, coordinated action and timely intervention.
According to him, the arrangement would help ensure that information about emerging tensions reaches the appropriate response channels before disputes deteriorate.
PIND’s Peacebuilding Programme Manager, Dr David Udofia, said the commitment of community leaders to respond promptly and voluntarily to conflict alerts would be critical to sustaining peace and development.
Participants also developed joint commitments outlining how community representatives, traditional institutions, women, young people and other stakeholders could promote dialogue, responsible communication and peaceful coexistence.
The Peace Influencers are expected to serve as community peace champions, providing grassroots information to PIND’s early-warning system to support timely interventions.
Continued engagement, coordination and peer learning are also expected to strengthen their capacity to address emerging threats and sustain collaboration beyond the training.
The initiative highlights the importance of community participation in Warri’s peace process, with organisers emphasising that lasting stability requires more than the absence of violence.
They said trusted relationships, inclusive participation and effective local mechanisms were necessary to prevent conflict and sustain cooperation among the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo communities.
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