At the inaugural National Summit on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) in Abuja, ActionAid Nigeria and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) have advocated for enhanced community resilience, livelihood support, and greater private sector engagement to address the root causes of violent extremism in Nigeria.The Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Mamedu, identified climate change, unemployment, and social media manipulation as key drivers of radicalization. He highlighted that the 90% reduction in the size of Lake Chad has significantly exacerbated insecurity in the region. Furthermore, he noted that joblessness and poverty continue to increase the vulnerability of youth to recruitment by extremist groups, a process often facilitated through social media platforms.“For us in ActionAid, preventing violent extremism has been a priority since 2016 through our SARVE programmes. We believe building community resilience, promoting accountability, and strengthening partnerships are critical to curbing radicalisation,” Mamedu stated.The GCERF National Coordinator, Yetunde Adegoke, emphasized a strategic shift from donor-dependent initiatives toward sustainable, locally-owned solutions. These include integrating communities into agricultural value chains and cooperatives. Adegoke cited successful examples, such as Fulani women cooperatives whose daily income increased from less than ₦100 to over ₦600 through participation in dairy production for major food companies.She explained that this approach not only improves livelihoods but also fosters peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders, while creating sustainable funding models for PCVE networks. “Global PCVE funding is shrinking, so Nigeria must begin to build resilient structures that will remain long after donors exit. Our goal is to support state and local action plans, scale up successful models, and ensure that communities themselves lead the way,” Adegoke said.The summit was organized by the PCVE Knowledge, Innovation and Resource Hub in partnership with the PAVE Network, with support from the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), ActionAid, and GCERF. It convened government officials, security agencies, civil society organizations, and private sector representatives to develop sustainable strategies against violent extremism.