Nigeria has been ranked as the 144th most peaceful country out of 163 in the world, as Iceland, Denmark and Ireland are ranked in the best three, according to Global Peace Index for 2023 report.
Others following the top three from four to 10 are New Zealand, Austria, Singapore, Portugal, Slovenia, Japan and Switzerland in that order, with the ranking based on 23 indicators.
The indicators are grouped into three criteria (societal safety and security; extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and degree of militarisation), revealing 84 countries recording improvement and 79 showing deterioration.
Nigeria, the most populous African country, projected by Goldman Sachs to be the fifth-largest economy in the world by 2075, queued behind Israel, which is 143rd on the log.
The two European war-torn neighbouring countries – Ukraine and Russia are in 157 and 158 positions on the table respectively. Sudan, which is currently plagued with an internal war between its army and paramilitary forces holds the 155th position.
The report says, “For the sixth year in a row, Afghanistan emerged as the least peaceful country in the world followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
According to the Institute of Economics and Peace, six of the nine regions in the world deteriorated in peacefulness in 2023. It further says, “The terrorism impact indicator had the second largest deterioration since 2008.”
In Africa, Botswana is the first most peaceful nation and 42nd in the world, and Sierra Leone followed as second, but 47th on the globe. Ghana, Senegal and Madagascar were third, fourth and fifth coming as 51st, 52nd and 55th in the global ranking.
Speaking about factors that adversely affect peace, the IEP Global Peace Index says, “There have been deteriorations in the level of trust in governments, grievances between groups, measures of corruption, press freedom, conflicts between elites and misinformation.
“Regionally, the largest improvements in peacefulness occurred in North America and the Middle East and North Africa region. North America’s improvement was mainly driven by Canada, which this year gains two positions to 11th place in the index.”
“You can’t have development without peace, and you can’t have peace without development,” IEP Global Index added.
