In the Amhara region of Ethiopia, a large number of Fano insurgents including their leaders have surrendered to the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF). As part of the process, they laid down all weapons in their possession and submitted themselves fully to state authority. This is what a serious peace process looks like.
Peace is not merely a handshake, a press conference, or a photo opportunity. It is accountability. It is disarmament. It is the clear reassertion of the state’s monopoly on the use of force.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian experience tells a different story.
In Nigeria, so-called “peace deals” often allow armed groups and terrorists to retreat back into the forests with their weapons intact. After negotiations, these same actors appear on television boasting about how many lives they could have taken — and how they remain armed, powerful, and unafraid. Such outcomes do not represent peace; they signal weakness.
A peace deal that leaves killers armed is not peace. It is a pause — a dangerous intermission before the next wave of violence. When criminals are rewarded with legitimacy instead of consequences, the message sent to law-abiding citizens is devastating: violence pays.
True peace requires firm conditions. Disarmament must be non-negotiable. Leaders must be identified and held accountable. The state must assert authority, not negotiate it away. Anything less emboldens terror and undermines national security.
Ethiopia’s example shows that peace can only endure when the gun is surrendered, not celebrated. Nigeria must decide whether it wants peace in name — or peace in reality.
By: Godwin Offor
