The Executive Director of the Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) Abdulrazaq Hamzat, has observed that the Nigerian level of peacefulness since over a decade ago has greatly diminished between 2007- 2015. He said the country was consistently rated low in the Global peace index which signified worsening state of peace and security. Hamzat disclosed this at the just concluded Media Launch of the Nigeria Peace Index Research Project yesterday in Abuja adding that data were collected for the year 2010-2016 an average of which was used for the Nigeria Peace Index (NPI) 2017.
According to him, the Nigerian Peace Index Report also indicated that Osun, Kogi and Ekiti Kwara and Imo state are the five most peaceful states in Nigeria while, Yobe, Kebbi, Bauchi, Zamfara and Sokoto states are the least peaceful states. The Peace Index research conducted by Foundation for Peace Professionals also revealed that South East has the highest rate of higher education in the country, with Imo State rated to be the Most Educated state. The report revealed that Osun State is the most peaceful state in Nigerian with greater tendency for peace, followed by Kogi, Ekiti, Kwara and Imo state.
Akwa Ibom was rated as the most peaceful state in South South, Kaduna in North West, Kogi in North Central, Osun in South West, Imo in South East and Taraba State in the North East. It revealed that Lagos state has least poverty in Nigeria, Zamfara has the least crime, Ekiti has least incarceration and Taraba has the least human right abuses. He explained that based on the 5 indicators adopted for the research including level of poverty, crime rate, level of education, rate of human right abuse, and level of incarceration their findings revealed that Osun state is the most peaceful state with greater tendency for peace following their performance in the five broad key indicators.
He said the NPI was based on similar methodology used by the Global Peace Index (GPI), adding that they also followed the pattern of United States Peace index 2012 and that of the United Kingdom. The report further revealed that South West has the least poverty level while North West has the most poverty, the least crime, human right abuses and the least education, South South has most incarceration while South East has the most human right abuses. On how they were able to arrive at some the research findings, Hamzat explained that they based their findings on data from government agencies and reputable international organization, adding that data for the crime rate was collated from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, Nigerian Police, Public Complaint Commission among others.
