Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto
European Union (EU) has formally launched a sweeping 18-month initiative aimed at curbing conflict and rebuilding resilience in North-west Nigeria, with over half a million people in Sokoto State expected to benefit directly.
At a high-level External Stakeholders Grant Opening Meeting held Wednesday in Sokoto, EU unveiled the RECAP project, Resilience, Engagement, and Conflict Prevention for At-Risk Populations’ Protection in Sokoto State.
The €4.5 million intervention targets communities battered by insecurity, climate shocks, displacement, and deepening poverty.
Funded by EU, RECAP will be rolled out by a consortium led by Action Against Hunger Nigeria, alongside International Alert and local partner, Save The Child Initiative.
The project will run in close coordination with Sokoto State Government, traditional rulers, civil society groups, and community leaders across 10 local government areas.
Speaking at the launch, Ms. Xenia Stoll, Political Officer at the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said the project signalled a deepening partnership between EU and Sokoto State.
Stoll described conflict prevention and inclusive governance as “strategic imperatives” for the region.
She stated, “The European Union values the relation with Sokoto State. We support the governor and state authorities in their efforts to provide stability and prosperity for their population.”
Stoll added, “Through RECAP we jointly commit to conflict prevention, social cohesion, and human security in Northwest Nigeria.”
She said the project will directly confront drivers of violence, including exclusion, competition over scarce resources, and economic marginalisation.
“This action strengthens local capacities for peace and contributes to long-term stability in Sokoto State,” she stated.
According to the implementing partners, the overlap of climate stress, armed conflict, and poverty in Sokoto demands a new approach.
Mr. Thierno Samba Diallo, Country Director for Action Against Hunger Nigeria, stated, “In Sokoto State, conflict, climate stress, poverty, and displacement intersect in ways that demand inclusive, locally owned solutions.”
Diallo stressed that the project marked a shift from crisis response to sustainable peace. He stated, “This project reflects our collective responsibility to move beyond crisis response and invest in sustainable peace.
“Through RECAP, we are committed to strengthening community resilience, restoring trust, and empowering women and youth as central actors in peacebuilding and recovery.”
The RECAP project forms part of EU’s broader engagement in Sokoto State, which includes political dialogue with state authorities, civil society support, engagement with religious and traditional leaders, development cooperation, and humanitarian assistance.
Organisers say the intervention is closely aligned with both national and state development plans. The emphasis, they say, is on transitioning from externally driven emergency relief to community-led development that can withstand future shocks.
Sokoto State Government welcomed the intervention as aligned with its own peacebuilding and development agenda.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Umar Abubakar, who represented Governor Ahmed Aliyu, pledged full institutional backing for the project.
“The focus on dialogue, livelihoods, water governance, and protection directly aligns with our development and peacebuilding priorities,” Abubakar said.
He added, “We remain committed to providing the necessary institutional support to ensure that this project delivers lasting benefits for our communities.”
Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, said the sultanate council supported any initiatives aimed at improving the welfare of women and children in the state.
The sultan, represented by the Sarkin Kilgore, Muhammad Jabbi Kilgore, stated that the Sultanate Council was committed to backing any programme that helped ameliorate the plight of vulnerable groups.
He commended the donor organisations for the ongoing projects in the state. He described the interventions as timely and impactful for communities facing economic and social challenges, especially women and children.
The sultan urged the donors to sustain the current projects and consider replicating them in other parts of Sokoto State.
He stressed that expanding the reach of such initiatives would ensure more families benefitted and contributed to broader development across the state.
RECAP is designed to move beyond short-term humanitarian aid towards locally owned, conflict-sensitive recovery. It integrates mediation and community dialogue with youth and women’s economic empowerment, improved water and natural resource governance, and dignity-centred health and gender-based violence services.
With implementation now underway, the consortium will work across 10 local government areas to reach an estimated 537,000 people.
Activities will prioritise areas where farmer-herder tensions, banditry, and climate-induced resource scarcity had eroded social cohesion.
