The Warri Peace Community Support Initiative (WPCSI) has inaugurated 30 grassroots Peace Influencers drawn from the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo ethnic nationalities, equipping them with conflict prevention and mediation skills to strengthen peaceful coexistence in Warri, Delta State.
The inauguration followed a three-day Peace Consolidation and Resilience Session held under Phase Two of the initiative, with participants committing to identify emerging threats, promote dialogue and prevent disputes from escalating into violence.
The session was convened by WPCSI’s Joint Implementation Committee with support from the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND).
The participants included signatories to the presidential peace intervention and representatives of women, youth and community leadership groups, who examined emerging threats to peace and developed shared actions to sustain 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 community dialogue and support timely interventions before tensions degenerate into conflict.
Speaking at the inauguration, the Chairman of WPCSI’s Board of Trustees, Hon. Sylvester Okoh, J.P., said the initiative represented 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,” Okoh said.
He said the Peace Influencers represented a collective commitment by the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo communities to protect existing peace gains and take shared responsibility for stability.
Okoh’s remarks underscored the initiative’s emphasis on empowering trusted community members to detect tensions early and encourage dialogue before disagreements become violent.
Delivering remarks on behalf of PIND’s Executive Director, Mr Sam Ogbemi Daibo, the organisation’s Advocacy Manager, Mr Chuks Ofulue, said equipping grassroots leaders with practical skills and linking them to established response systems would improve community-level 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 information gathered at the grassroots, coordinated responses and timely intervention.
PIND’s Peacebuilding Programme Manager, Dr David Udofia, said the willingness of community leaders to respond voluntarily and promptly to conflict alerts would be critical to sustaining peace and development.
Participants also developed joint commitments outlining the roles of community representatives, traditional institutions, women, youths and other stakeholders in promoting dialogue, responsible communication and peaceful coexistence.
The Peace Influencers are expected to feed grassroots information into PIND’s Early Warning and Early Response system, while continued engagement, coordination and peer learning will support their activities beyond the training.
Phase Two builds on the first phase of WPCSI, which sought to de-escalate tensions through stakeholder engagement, advocacy and public peace messaging. The new phase focuses on consolidating those gains by strengthening local capacity, rebuilding relationships and establishing practical mechanisms for community-led peacebuilding.
The initiative comes with a renewed emphasis on the role of community participation in sustaining stability across Warri, where relations among the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo remain central to efforts to promote lasting peace.
WPCSI said the initiative reflects the understanding that sustainable peace goes beyond the absence of violence, requiring trusted relationships, inclusive participation and local mechanisms capable of identifying and resolving disputes before they escalate.
