By Sumaila Ogbaje
ActionAid Nigeria and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) have called for stronger community resilience, livelihood support, and private sector involvement in tackling violent extremism in Nigeria.
The two organisations made the call at the ongoing maiden National Summit on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) in Abuja.
Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Mr Andrew Mamedu, said that climate change, unemployment and social media manipulation were among the root causes of radicalisation.
Mamedu noted that the shrinking of Lake Chad by 90 per cent had worsened insecurity in the region.
He added joblessness and poverty had continued to make youths vulnerable to extremist recruitment, often through social media platforms.
“For us in ActionAid, preventing violent extremism has been a priority since 2016 through our SARVE programmes.
“We believe building community resilience, promoting accountability, and strengthening partnerships are critical to curbing radicalisation,” he said.
On her part, GCERF National Coordinator, Yetunde Adegoke, said the organisation was shifting focus from donor-dependent programmes to sustainable, locally-owned solutions, including agricultural value chains and cooperatives.
Adegoke explained that linking communities to private-sector value chains had already shown results.
She cited the case of Fulani women cooperatives whose incomes rose from less than ₦100 daily to over ₦600 by participating in dairy production for major food companies.
Adegoke said the approach not only improved livelihoods but also promoted peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders, while providing funding models to sustain PCVE networks across states.
“Global PCVE funding is shrinking, so Nigeria must begin to build resilient structures that will remain long after donors exit.
“Our goal is to support state and local action plans, scale up successful models, and ensure that communities themselves lead the way,” she said.
The summit, organised by the PCVE Knowledge, Innovation and Resource Hub, in partnership with the PAVE Network with support from the National Counter Terrlorism Centre (NCTC), ActionAid and GCERF.
The summit brought together government officials, security agencies, civil society, and private sector representatives to explore sustainable responses to violent extremism. (NAN)
