By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo

The Kaduna State Government has urged youths and social media users to embrace responsible online engagement and avoid generating content capable of inciting tension or undermining peaceful coexistence.

Commissioner for Information, Ahmed Maiyaki, made the call at the closeout ceremony of the Delimi Prosper Project in Kaduna, an initiative designed to strengthen peacebuilding efforts and combat misinformation and disinformation among young people.

The eight-month project trained 60 youths from Kaduna and Jos in peacebuilding skills and the responsible use of social media through non-kinetic and systematic approaches to addressing conflict and harmful narratives.

Maiyaki reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to promoting peace and unity, stressing that social media users have a critical role in fostering harmony rather than division.

He commended Delimi and other stakeholders for supporting the state’s Early Warning-Early Response mechanism, which he said successfully addressed and resolved more than 65 of the 70 reported incidents across Kaduna State.

According to him, initiatives of this nature should go beyond research and training to include engagement with government institutions, enabling policymakers to benefit from actionable findings that can strengthen responses to emerging challenges.

Speaking at the event, Executive Director of Engaging Borders Strategic Research and Development (SRD), Richard Ali, said the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria Initiative, supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), was designed to disseminate key findings from the project and encourage broader stakeholder participation.

Ali called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, development partners and civil society organisations to address insecurity, tackle misinformation and promote national unity.

Also speaking, Project Coordinator Salim Yunusa said young people, who make up about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population, remain critical actors in either promoting peace or fuelling conflict.

He explained that the project deliberately targeted youths through capacity-building programmes, podcasts, documentaries, interviews and other media engagements aimed at encouraging positive social change.

Yunusa urged young people to use digital platforms to spread messages of peace, tolerance and understanding through texts, images, podcasts and documentaries, noting that visual content has become a powerful tool for shaping public perception and behaviour.

The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Youth Development, the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, various ministries, departments and agencies, as well as development partners and other stakeholders committed to peacebuilding efforts in Kaduna State.