This year, the Foundation for Peace Professionals (PeacePro) marks ten years of uninterrupted, 100% indigenous operations.
In an era where many civil society organizations depend heavily on foreign grants and external support, PeacePro has charted a different course.
For a decade, we have operated independently, sustained by local commitment, local resources, and an unwavering belief that Africans are capable of solving African problems.
Our journey is a powerful rebuttal to the assumption that impact is impossible without foreign funding.
PeacePro stands today as living proof that an indigenous organization can survive, grow, influence policy, shape public discourse, and deliver meaningful results while remaining independent.
Since its registration in January 2016, PeacePro has consistently worked at the frontlines of peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and policy advocacy.
We have intervened where tensions threatened to erupt into violence, promoted dialogue where division seemed inevitable, and advanced solutions where others saw only crisis.
Among its early successes, PeacePro played a critical role in curtailing a communal crisis in Osun State in 2017.
The organization also helped prevent the escalation of ethnic tensions in Northern Nigeria arising from a trending hate song that threatened to inflame hostility against a particular ethnic group.
Through engagement, advocacy, and strategic intervention, PeacePro helped steer communities away from confrontation and towards peace.
The organization has mediated disputes, facilitated out of court settlements, and undertaken fact finding missions in conflict prone areas, including Southern Kaduna during periods of intense farmers herders clashes.
In each instance, PeacePro’s approach has remained consistent, impartial engagement, evidence based assessment, and a commitment to peaceful resolution.
Yet PeacePro’s impact extends far beyond conflict intervention.
The organization has established itself as one of Africa’s leading indigenous peace research institutions through landmark initiatives such as the Nigeria Peace Index, State of Peace Report, and Africa Peace Insight.
These projects have provided critical data, analysis, and policy recommendations for governments, researchers, development practitioners, and citizens seeking a deeper understanding of peace and security challenges across the continent.
PeacePro has also demonstrated that advocacy can change the course of history.
Long before it became fashionable, the organization championed the cause of African self determination in security matters. Through its continental demilitarization campaign, PeacePro challenged the assumption that Africa’s security must depend on foreign military presence and external intervention.
Today, as more African nations reassess foreign military arrangements and seek greater control over their security architecture, the conversation that PeacePro helped advance is becoming increasingly relevant.
Ten years after its founding, PeacePro’s greatest achievement is not any single project, report, campaign, or intervention.
Its greatest achievement is proving that independence works.
PeacePro has shown that credibility is more valuable than grants, that commitment can be more powerful than funding, and that local ownership produces solutions that are more sustainable than imported agendas.
As we celebrate a decade of service, we do so with gratitude to the countless volunteers, researchers, peacebuilders, partners, and citizens who have supported our mission.
We also look ahead with renewed determination.
The first ten years were dedicated to proving that an indigenous organization can survive and make an impact.
The next ten years will be dedicated to proving that indigenous institutions can help transform Africa.
PeacePro at 10 is more than an anniversary.
It is a statement of possibility.
It is evidence that independence is achievable.
It is proof that Africans can build strong institutions, shape their own future, and advance peace on their own terms.
Abdulrazaq Hamzat
Executive Director
Foundation for Peace Professionals
