Nigeria’s importance and global influence will continue to grow significantly in the coming decades, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, has said, underscoring why peace, resilience and institutional stability remain central to the United Kingdom’s partnership with Africa’s most populous nation.

Montgomery made the assertion in Abuja at the inaugural Annual Learning and Adaptation Event of the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) Programme, where senior government officials, security agencies, development partners and civil society leaders gathered to review strategies for reducing violence and strengthening climate resilience across northern Nigeria.

According to the British envoy, Nigeria’s rapidly expanding population and strategic weight mean its role on the global stage will only deepen over time, a reality that informed the UK-Nigeria Strategic Partnership signed in 2024.

“Nigeria is one of our important diplomatic partners. The judgment that we make, and our ministers make, is that Nigeria’s influence will only grow. If it grows very fast, and you’re becoming a bigger population, the importance and influence of Nigeria is going to grow in the decades ahead,” Montgomery said.

He described peace and resilience as issues that are “absolutely central” to the partnership between both countries, stressing that recent events and international discourse around Nigeria make sustained investment in stability both timely and necessary.

The two-day SPRiNG forum brought together key actors to assess evidence-based approaches to conflict prevention, institutionalise peace mechanisms and adapt responses to evolving security and climate change dynamics in the region. The programme is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Montgomery explained that the UK-Nigeria security and defence dialogue spans both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches, emphasising institutional support to federal agencies, community-based initiatives, law enforcement cooperation and grassroots resilience.

“It’s about providing institutional support to the official agencies of the federal government of Nigeria. It’s about building community-based initiatives, law enforcement, and community resilience,” he said, adding that SPRiNG offers “a vehicle, a platform” for catalytic partnerships that promote long-term stability.

The event also featured remarks from a representative of the Coordinator of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, Major General A.G. Laka, while the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, formally declared the forum open through a representative, highlighting the role of strategic communication and inter-agency collaboration in national stability.

Representatives of the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, and the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, drew attention to the links between gender inclusion, agropastoral livelihoods and security, noting that social and economic policies remain critical to peacebuilding outcomes.

In a context-setting presentation, SPRiNG Team Leader, Dr. Ukoha Ukiwo, said the programme’s impact is rooted in its evidence-driven and adaptive management model, stressing that conflict dynamics require solutions that are both flexible and preventive.

“Conflict is dynamic; our solutions must be too. Today was about validating the evidence and impacts of our intervention, learning from what, where and how we are making progress, and ensuring that our support to government and civil society partners is not just reactive, but structurally preventive,” Ukiwo said.

A high-level panel moderated by Kemi Okenyedo examined progress and emerging opportunities in strengthening peace and resilience.

Panelists included the Director-General of the Benue State Commission for Peace and Reconciliation, Ms. Josephine Habba; the Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security, Kaduna State, Dr. Sulaiman Shuaibu; and Ms. Lantana Abdullahi of WOPPI, who called for the formal inclusion of women in peace and security architectures.

The forum ended with a Project Fair, allowing stakeholders to engage directly with beneficiaries and implementing partners and to assess the tangible “peace dividend” being delivered to communities in Benue, Kaduna, Katsina and Plateau states.

The SPRiNG Programme is a four-year initiative running from 2024 to 2028, implemented by Tetra Tech International Development in partnership with Nextier SPD, the Centre for Democracy and Development and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.

It seeks to strengthen institutional capacity for conflict management, boost public confidence in key institutions and create stronger incentives for peace across Nigeria. (The Nation)

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