9. Administrative Measures on Child Soldiers
The official age for recruitment into the Nigerian Army is 18 years, thus making it illegal
and impossible for children to be directly recruited into the Armed Forces. The child-soldier
phenomenon as well as abuse of girl children as wives and sex slaves in violation of their
rights is not a manifest problem in Nigeria.
There are ongoing programmes for the sensitization of the armed forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria regarding the use of children in war situations, as part of their
professional training. Moreover, Nigerian soldiers’ participation in international Peace
Keeping missions in war-torn countries like Bosnia, Sierra Leone and Liberia has provided
opportunity for the Armed Forces Authorities to further understand relevant international
laws concerning the rights of children in armed conflict situations.
10. National Policy on Peace in Nigeria 2009
Nigeria is a multicultural, multi-religious and multi-linguistic society; nonetheless its unity
and strength lie in its diversities which have continued to propel the country towards cohesion
and vibrancy. Such diversities have continued to be managed within the Federation by
restructuring its institution and administration in a manner that allows mediation into its sectional
politics and ethno-territorial demands and to balance competition over resources, all with the
view to promote inclusivity and representation and thus unity, peace and stability of the country.
The diversity and complexity of conflicts in Nigeria require a comprehensive focus on
peace building. It also requires a socially inclusive approach to the formulation, adoption,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the policy designed to achieve this objective in a
sustainable manner. Currently, there is widespread agreement that domestic peace and stability
are critical to national prosperity as well as subregional and international peace and security.
Nigeria is committed to the fundamental principles enshrined in international treaties, charters,
protocols and conventions that focus on proactive conflict management and peace building. This
provides the justification for the development of this national peace policy which serves as the
framework for the country’s peace efforts.
The National Peace Policy (NPP) consists of the guiding philosophy, sets of fundamental
objectives and principles, as well as strategies for implementation and evaluation for all peacerelated activities by Nigerian stakeholders. It is driven primarily by Nigeria’s national interest as
encapsulated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999). This policy emerged
from an all-inclusive multi-stakeholder process involving State and non-State actors across the
country.
The NPP is in furtherance of Nigeria’s commitment to the fundamental principles of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in relation to the “maintenance of
regional peace, stability and security through the promotion and strengthening of good
neighborliness; and peaceful settlement of disputes among member states, active co-operation
between neighbouring countries and promotion of a peaceful environment as a prerequisite for
economic development” (ECOWAS Treaty 1993, Article 4 paragraphs e and f). Also, it conforms
with the main objective of the African Union (AU) to “promote peace, security and stability on the
Continent and the principle of peaceful resolution of conflicts among member states of the union
through such appropriate means as may be decided upon by the Assembly” (Article 3, paragraph
3 and Article 4, paragraph e Charter of the OAU 1963; and Article 3, paragraph 4, the Constitutive
Act of the AU, 2000).
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