...Corps urges Nigerians to choose dialogue, commends security agencies and IGP Disu’s reform drive
By S. Oteh, Corps Public Relations Officer, NMSC
As Nigeria joins the global community to mark the International Day of Peace 2026, the Nigerian Mediation Service Corps (NMSC) has called on Nigerians to embrace this year’s theme “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day” describing peace not merely as the absence of conflict, but as the presence of justice, dignity, and opportunity in every community.
In a message issued from its National Secretariat in Abuja, the Corps said peace is an investment that must be made deliberately and consistently, by government and citizens alike.
A Journey That Began with ‘The Mediators’
The NMSC reflected on its own journey, recalling that it has not always borne its present name. The organisation began with volunteer members of the Nigerian Peace Corps, who served under the banner of The Mediators, inspired by the vision of Professor Humphrey Ogoegbunam, who established the National Unity and Peace Corps (NUPEC) in 1987 with a mission of mediating in crisis situations and fostering national cohesion.
Over the years, the organisation passed through institutional transitions, emerging today as the Nigerian Mediation Service Corps a body of approximately 40,400 trained volunteers across all 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, devoted to community-based mediation, early warning systems, and alternative dispute resolution.
“Our name has changed and our mandate has sharpened,” the Corps stated. “What has not changed is our commitment to the quiet, patient work of peace every day, in every community, for every Nigerian.”
The Logistics of Peace: What the Corps Brings
Beyond the symbolism of the day, the NMSC used the occasion to set out, in practical terms, what its existing structures and resources can contribute to Nigeria’s peacebuilding and security efforts.
Personnel. The Corps maintains a trained volunteer base of approximately 40,400 persons spread across all 36 states and the FCT. These are not ad hoc recruits but volunteers with grounding in mediation, conflict transformation, early warning, and community engagement skills developed through years of practice and internal training.
Structures. The NMSC operates state-level commands in every state of the federation and the FCT, each with coordinators and volunteer networks embedded at community level. This decentralised structure mirrors Nigeria’s federal architecture and provides a ready network through which peacebuilding activity can be organised, coordinated, and reported.
Supervision. The Corps is led by a National Commandant-General supported by a Senior Management Team drawn from across the geopolitical zones, in keeping with the Federal Character Principle. State coordinators and local government focal persons ensure that activities at the grassroots are supervised and aligned with national objectives.
Training Infrastructure. His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, the Corps’ Grand Patron, has bequeathed 100 hectares of land in Ile-Ife for the future development of a national training institute. When developed, the institute is intended to serve as a centre for the training of mediators, peacebuilders, and community engagement personnel.
Track Record. The Corps’ institutional heritage includes mediation roles during the Ife-Modakeke and Tiv-Jukun crises, as well as years of community-level dispute resolution across the country. This experience, the NMSC said, is available to be placed at the service of national peacebuilding efforts.
“We do not claim to have all the answers,” the Corps said. “But we have trained people, structures in every state, and a long-standing commitment to this work. Wherever that can be useful, we are ready to serve.”
Saluting Those Who Keep the Peace
The NMSC used the occasion to honour the men and women of Nigeria’s national security agencies the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and others who, it said, labour daily, often at great personal risk, to keep the country safe.
The Corps particularly commended the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, for his commitment to police reforms and community-oriented policing. It noted efforts to strengthen community partnerships, improve internal accountability, and deepen engagement between the Force and the citizens it serves.
“These are difficult tasks, undertaken in difficult times,” the statement read. “We acknowledge them, and we do not take them for granted.”
Encouraging Government, Encouraging Citizens
The NMSC encouraged the Federal Government, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to sustain its ongoing security sector reforms, including the proposed establishment of state police and the work of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill.
The Corps said it remains available to support these efforts in whatever capacity it can particularly in the areas of community mediation, early warning, and alternative dispute resolution, where it has accumulated experience over many years.
To Nigerians, the message was equally simple: peace is everyone’s responsibility. The Corps urged citizens to choose dialogue over violence, to resolve disputes through mediation rather than retaliation, to cooperate with security agencies, and to build communities where every Nigerian regardless of ethnicity, religion, or region feels a sense of belonging.
This year’s International Day of Peace honours the “everyday architects of peace” volunteers, advocates, civil society leaders, and peacemakers working quietly to bridge divides. The NMSC said it is proud to count itself among them, and invited Nigerians to join in the work.
A Renewed Pledge
The Corps renewed its commitment to mediate in disputes before they escalate, to monitor community tensions and share early warnings with security agencies, to build bridges between the police and the communities they serve, and to train a new generation of peacebuilders.
“Peace is not built in a day, and it is not built by one institution,” the NMSC said. “It is built by all of us, in small ways, every day.”
“Peace is an investment. Let us all invest in it for everyone, everywhere, every day.”
S. Oteh is the Corps Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the Nigerian Mediation Service Corps (NMSC), Abuja.
Monsa! Great, and we are committed as well ready to make Nigeria Great and secured.
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