North West Security Summit: Leaders Propose Integrated Strategy Unified Command
The North West Zonal Security Summit, organized by the Senate Adhoc Committee on National Security Summit in Kaduna, brought together key stakeholders who proposed an integrated approach combining military coordination, community engagement, and regional collaboration to end insecurity in the geopolitical zone.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State advocated for a comprehensive, three-pronged strategy that balances military action with long-term governance solutions.
His key proposals included.He called for the establishment of a unified command structure by bringing the Nigerian Army’s 1st and 8th Divisions under a single leader.
This, he argued, would “accelerate intelligence sharing, enhance coordinated operations, and dismantle cross-state criminal networks more effectively.”
He also recommended expanding the mandate of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to cover Nigeria’s border with the Niger Republic, aiming to disrupt arms trafficking and deny criminals cross-border sanctuaries.
Warning that military might alone cannot win, he proposed establishing permanent Security Committees at the state and local government levels, comprising traditional rulers, youth groups, and security agencies, to serve as “early-warning systems” and bridges of trust.
Governor Sani argued for the creation of State Police, stating that the centralized policing model cannot meet the security demands of a nation with over 230 million people and vast ungoverned spaces.
The Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to eradicating security threats through a strong and adaptive national security architecture.
While acknowledging that the North West faces lingering threats from bandits and terror cells, he highlighted progress recorded by the administration. Joint operations have led to improved movement on key routes like Kaduna-Kachia and Sokoto-Illela corridor. Markets in areas like Kaura Namoda, Giwa, and Kajuru are recording higher activity.
Displaced villages have seen residents return, and many schools that had closed due to insecurity have resumed academic activities under better protection.
In his keynote presentation, Prof Muhammad Kabir Isa, a Professor of Public Administration at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, critiqued current strategies, calling them limited by fragmentation, inadequate coordination, and weak intelligence systems.
Prof. Isa argued that tactical gains often fail to translate into sustainable peace because the structural drivers of insecurity remain unaddressed.
He called for robust regional collaboration to harmonize strategies, integrate multi-level actors, and specifically address:
* The mobility of armed groups.
* The dispersion of bandit enclaves across forest belts.
* Inconsistent policy environments among states.
The summit was convened by the Senate Adhoc Committee to gather aggregate views ahead of a larger National Security Summit scheduled to hold in Abuja on December 1st.
