North West Summit: Uba Sani, Defence Minister, and University Don Propose Solutions to Insecurity

From: Femi Oyelola in Kaduna

Governor Uba Sani has advocated for an integrated approach that balances military strength, community engagement, and long-term development to address the security challenges in the North West geopolitical zone.

The Governor also called for the establishment of a North-West Theatre Command, which would unify the Nigerian Army’s 1st and 8th Divisions under a single command structure. He stated that this change would accelerate intelligence sharing, enhance coordinated operations, and more effectively dismantle cross-state criminal networks.

Governor Sani made these suggestions during the Public Hearing of the North West Zonal Security Summit, organized by the Senate Adhoc Committee on National Security, in Kaduna on Saturday.

He also proposed the development of strong security partnerships beyond Nigeria’s borders, recommending the expansion of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF)—which has seen notable success around the Lake Chad Basin—to include Nigeria’s borders with the Niger Republic. He explained that this expansion would disrupt arms trafficking routes, deny criminals cross-border sanctuaries, and weaken the networks that support their operations.

However, Governor Sani warned that military force alone cannot win the battle against insecurity. He emphasized that building community trust and encouraging local participation are essential for effectively addressing the issue.

He proposed establishing permanent Security Committees at the state and local government levels, consisting of traditional rulers, religious leaders, women’s organizations, youth groups, civil society representatives, and security agencies.

These committees would act as early-warning systems, conflict-resolution platforms, and bridges of trust between citizens and the state.

The Governor further called for the creation of State Police, arguing that Nigeria’s centralized policing model is inadequate for a nation of over 230 million people with vast ungoverned areas.

He noted that with fewer than 400,000 police officers nationwide, many rural communities are left without adequate protection.

During the summit, the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, spoke on the theme **“Building Robust Regional Collaborations to Tackle Insecurity: Pathways for Securing the Future.”** He reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to ending insecurity in the country.

“The President’s directive is to establish a strong yet adaptive national security architecture to eradicate these threats. We are dedicated to ensuring that violations of our children’s rights and threats to our development goals do not occur again,” he stated.

The Minister acknowledged that, despite ongoing challenges, the current administration has made progress compared to previous conditions.

He noted that joint operations across Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, and Kebbi have reopened key routes, allowing improved movement on roads such as Kaduna-Kachia, Kaduna-Birnin Gwari, Jibia-Gurbin Baure, and parts of the Sokoto-Illela corridor.

He mentioned that markets in Kaura Namoda, Shinkafi, Batsari, Giwa, and Kajuru are now experiencing increased activity and that many villages displaced in previous years have returned. Additionally, he highlighted that many schools that had closed due to insecurity have resumed classes under enhanced security, and farmers in affected communities are returning to their fields with better support.

Nevertheless, the Minister acknowledged that the North West continues to face persistent threats from bandits, terror cells, and organized criminal networks, despite the relentless efforts of security forces.

In his keynote presentation, Prof. Muhammad Kabir Isa indicated that the current strategies aimed at ending insecurity have been unsuccessful due to their limitations. He explained that these strategies suffer from fragmentation, inadequate coordination, overstretched security institutions, inconsistent state policies, weak intelligence systems, humanitarian constraints, and a lack of a comprehensive regional framework.

According to the Professor of Public Administration at Ahmadu Bello University, “Even when tactical gains are made, they often fail to translate into sustainable peace because the structural drivers of insecurity remain unaddressed.” He emphasized the need to establish a robust regional collaboration platform that can harmonize strategies, integrate multiple levels of actors, and address both immediate threats and long-term governance and development challenges.

Prof. Isa called for regional cooperation to tackle the mobility of armed groups, the dispersion of bandit enclaves across forest areas, inconsistent policy environments, fragmented community-security structures, and the complexities of humanitarian and developmental issues.

In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the summit, Senator Babangida Hussaini, reminded that the summit was convened ‘’to bring together stakeholders in the zone to frankly discuss the increasing and alarming rates of insecurity in our zone and the nation at large.’’

He reiterated that a National Security Summit will come up in Abuja on 1st December, ‘’to provide a platform for collating the aggregate views of Nigerians on the pathways for securing our people and the country.’’

According to him, the coming National Security Summit is a testament that Mr. President is not leaving any stone unturned in the search for actionable solutions to this national emergency.’’

Senator Hussaini noted that the upper legislative chamber convened the summit ‘’to holistically examine the cross-cutting issues responsible for our peculiar security challenges and to suggest practical solutions to the problems.’’

He thanked Governor Uba Sani for the overwhelming support that contributed to the success of the historic summit, through both personal and official involvement, describing it as unprecedented.