A Non-Governmental Organisation, Partnership Against Violent Extremism Network in Nigeria has called for a shift towards community-driven strategies to address the country’s growing security challenges, particularly violent extremism.
The Chairman of PAVE’s National Steering Committee, Jaye Gaskiya, made the call during a validation workshop organised by the Prevention and Counter Violent Extremism Knowledge Innovation and Resource Hub in collaboration with Nextier, with support from SPRING.
Gaskiya stressed that effective national security policies must prioritise grassroots participation, noting that communities are central to both the causes and solutions of violent extremism.
He explained that the workshop was convened to present findings from commissioned studies to experts and practitioners for review and input.
According to him, the exercise is aimed at refining research outputs and strengthening policy recommendations through expert validation.
“What we are doing today is presenting a series of studies and proposals to experts so they can review the highlights and make recommendations to improve the content,” he said.
Gaskiya added that interventions must go beyond recognising women and youths, insisting that they should be actively involved in designing and implementing programmes.
“If these interventions are about them, then they must be in the driving seat,” he said.
He further advocated the integration of community justice mechanisms into transitional justice frameworks.
“Communities already have mechanisms for justice. The question is whether we can begin to recognise and integrate these into transitional justice programmes,” he noted.
The PAVE chairman warned against externally driven initiatives that fail to reflect local realities, urging policymakers to ensure direct community participation.
“Communities must be at the centre. It must be their programme, not something brought from outside,” he added.
In her welcome address, the Principal Staff Officer, Prevent Directorate, PCVE, NCTC-ONSA, Ms Iye Mangset, said Nigeria’s PCVE framework emphasises a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.
She noted that platforms like the Knowledge Innovation and Resource Hub play a critical role by providing research, tools, and coordination support to translate policy into action.
Mangset reaffirmed the commitment of NCTC-ONSA to collaboration with partners, including civil society and development organisations, to strengthen efforts at preventing violent extremism.
“The complexity of violent extremism demands that we continue to work together strategically, inclusively, and consistently to build a more resilient and peaceful Nigeria,” she said.
Also speaking, the Coalition and Advocacy Lead for Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria, Ihekoronye Damian, emphasised the need for stronger collaboration among implementing partners.
He said the initiative was aimed at ensuring that expert inputs help refine and validate frameworks for effective implementation.
“And this is one of the initiatives we are pushing… to ensure that experts make valid and important inputs into the framework that will be revised and made ready for use,” he said.
On his part, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr Beji Gowal, highlighted the importance of shared experiences in tackling violent extremism.
“Preventing violent extremism requires inclusive and shared experiences. At the end of this, we will bring our knowledge together to achieve our objective,” he said.
