Warri At The Crossroads: A Framework For Lasting Peace

(Continuation of “Warri Must Choose Peace Over Possession”)

The call for peace in Warri must not end at rhetoric. It must be translated into concrete steps that people can see, feel, and trust. History has shown that appeals alone cannot heal the fractures among Itsekiri, Ijaw, and Urhobo. What is needed is a framework of fairness that addresses grievances at their roots.

The journey toward lasting peace must begin with trust that is visible and tangible. An interethnic leadership forum of Itsekiri, Ijaw, and Urhobo delegates should be convened, sitting monthly for the first six months with rotating chairmanship. Each meeting should end with a signed communiqué, made public to demonstrate progress.

Alongside this, early warning and rapid response channels should be created. Hotlines must be opened for residents to report brewing tensions, with faith leaders and the bar association verifying responses. Youth groups should renounce reprisals, and government should help them keep that promise with real alternatives that restore dignity and hope.

Security neutrality must also be seen in practice. Commanders should sign public pledges, designate contact officers for each community, and deploy balanced patrols in flashpoint areas. Body cameras can be introduced where feasible. A simple complaints portal should be opened, and outcomes published to reassure the public that accountability is real.

Rumours that spark violence must be countered with facts. A transparent audit of land disputes, compensation claims, and chieftaincy matters should be carried out. Its findings should be displayed on an accessible dashboard so that citizens rely on verified data rather than speculation. At the same time, visible quick-impact projects, such as the repair of markets, jetties, feeder roads, and street lighting, should be executed in mixed communities. Contracts for such projects must be transparently shared across the three groups.

ALSO READ: Warri Must Choose Peace Over Possession

Beyond these immediate measures, Warri requires deeper structural reforms. A digital cadastral and land registry should be established using satellite mapping and verified boundary agreements. Certificates of Occupancy and land allocations should be made searchable online. Local government arrangements also need review by an independent panel using technical rather than partisan criteria, with all minutes and recommendations published openly.

Benefits from oil and gas activities must be shared by rule, not favour. A community-audited framework should govern surveillance jobs, clean-up contracts, and corporate social responsibility projects, with allocations tied to population, impact, and skills. Annual audits of this framework should be made public. At the same time, livelihoods must be placed at the centre. A youth compact should reserve at least thirty percent of routine public works for mixed-ethnic cooperatives, while apprenticeships and certifications in maritime services, welding, ICT, and logistics link training directly to income.

Healing also requires reckoning with the past. A transitional justice panel should document harms of previous crises, recommend restitution, and memorialise victims so that families feel recognised and cycles of vengeance can end. Lasting peace further depends on strong institutions. A Metropolitan Warri Development Authority, ring-fenced from ethnic capture, should be created to manage urban services such as drainage, transport, and waste.

Environmental restoration is equally urgent. Shoreline protection, mangrove replanting, and oil spill clean-ups should be prioritised, alongside public health screenings in affected communities. The findings must be shared in plain language to restore trust in government and industry.

Education and culture can play a unifying role. Scholarships should encourage mixed-ethnic project teams, while inter-school sports and debate leagues bring young people together. A tri-ethnic committee should curate an annual Warri Heritage Festival to celebrate both difference and shared destiny. Disputes should also be addressed early through a permanent mediation centre, staffed with trained mediators, to manage land, tenancy, and chieftaincy cases before they explode into open conflict.

All these steps must rest on firm principles. Equity and transparency should guide every decision, with open records for land, jobs, and contracts. Conversations must be based on shared facts, not speculation. No group should emerge as victor or vanquished; rights and responsibilities must be balanced fairly. Women and youth, who bear the heaviest burdens in times of conflict, must have deliberate seats at the table. Security must act with discipline and impartiality, protecting without provoking. Progress should be tracked through clear timelines, public reporting, and transparent procurement. And finally, leaders must use language that unites—speaking of shared prosperity and shared responsibility- for words shape expectations, and expectations shape behaviour.

This framework continues the earlier call in Warri Must Choose Peace Over Possession. That first essay asked the moral question: possession or peace. This second reflection offers the practical answers: how to begin with trust, repair structures, share benefits, and lock in reforms that will outlast governments.

Warri does not need another cycle of conflict; it needs a foundation of coexistence. True ownership is not by conquest but by shared responsibility. The future of Warri will be written in peace, or it will not be written at all.

By Sir Divramredje Lawrence Efeturi, KSJI, Assoc.CIEPUK

About the Author
Sir Divramredje Lawrence Efeturi, KSJI, Assoc.CIEPUK, is a writer and public commentator. He writes frequently on governance, justice, and peace in Nigeria, exploring the intersection of history, politics, and community life in the Niger Delta, while advocating fairness, dialogue, and shared prosperity as the pathway to lasting peace.

This essay is the second part of a two-part reflection on Warri’s challenges and future. The first, “Warri Must Choose Peace Over Possession,” examined the history and moral choices before the city. This continuation offers a practical framework for building lasting peace.