As Northern Leaders Unveil Fresh Security Blueprint

It is expected that the resolutions reached by the governors of the 19 northern states and traditional rulers at their meeting in Kaduna last week will offer residents some relief from the region’s worsening security challenges, Davidson Iriekpenwrites 

A few months after they gathered in Kaduna for a meeting on the insecurity in their region, the governors of the 19 states in the North met last Monday again to deliberate on solutions to the widening crisis.

This time, the meeting was held with the traditional rulers led by the Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Sa’ad Abubakar II, in attendance.

The leaders discussed how to tackle the worsening insecurity situation and other socioeconomic challenges affecting the region. They conducted a comprehensive assessment of the problem and proffered sustainable solutions that, when implemented, would go a long way in addressing the insecurity ravaging the region.

Discussions also extended to other critical issues affecting the region’s development and overall progress.

Among the governors present were Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe State), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Umar Bago (Niger), and Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa). Also present were some deputy governors representing other states in the region, including Kwara, Benue, Plateau, Yobe, Adamawa, Kogi, Katsina, Borno, Taraba, Sokoto, Kano, Kebbi, Bauchi, and Jigawa states.

The northern region has been grappling with heightened security threats – ranging from killings, banditry, and kidnapping to farmer-herder conflicts and disruptions to economic activities.

Different groups of terrorists are simultaneously running amok, putting the entire region under siege. No fewer than 350 people have been abducted by the criminals, with at least seven people killed during attacks in some states, in the past two weeks.

Notable among such attacks are the invasion of schools in Kebbi and Niger states, which led to the abduction of over 300 schoolchildren and teachers.

In Kwara, 38 worshippers were kidnapped during an attack by gunmen at a Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku that left at least three people dead.

Last Sunday, gunmen attacked a church in Kogi State, kidnapping a pastor and his wife. The attack on the newly established Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area (LGA), occurred during service.

Suspected bandits reportedly abducted a bride-to-be and her bridesmaids in a fresh attack on Chacho village in Wurno LGA of Sokoto State.

Last Monday, the Ojibara of Bayagan in Ifelodun LGA of Kwara State, Kamilu Salami, and six others reportedly escaped from the grip of bandits, who had earlier demanded N150 million from the community before the traditional ruler could be freed.

The situation in the region is terrible. Not only has insecurity devastated the area, but it has also spread wide-scale poverty and hunger as farmers no longer go to their farms, which is the primary source of their livelihood.

The situation has also seriously affected education, further increasing the number of out-of-school children and spreading mass illiteracy.

Confronted with these challenges, the leaders, in unison, agreed that only a joint action could halt violence.

In his welcome address, the host governor, Uba Sani, said the gathering underscores their resolve to adopt a unified approach in confronting the escalating security and socioeconomic challenges affecting the north. He emphasised the need to create a state police, noting that the country’s centralised policing system cannot meet the demands of current realities.

“The public conversation about insecurity in the north has become more complicated. A few voices driven by political motives have worked to create the impression that northern governors have grown complacent; nothing could be further from the truth. We know the weight of the mandate entrusted to us, we lead the urgency of every security threat and every developmental need,” he said, noting that the people demand clarity, responsiveness, and results. 

“Every governor sitting here works tirelessly to secure our communities. We coordinate, compare strategies, share intelligence, and hold one another accountable,” he continued.

 “We operate an informal, effective peer review mechanism where no idea is too small to be tested and no successful intervention is too insignificant to be replicated.” Sani further reiterated the need for state police, stating that with fewer than 400,000 police officers nationwide, many rural communities are left without meaningful protection.

“Your excellencies, our region has gone far; we are dismantling new obstacles and building new pathways of cooperation and development. But the challenges remain; some inherited, some emerging, some shaped by global uncertainty. What matters now is that we face them together, with clarity and determination.”

The chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Governor Yahaya, added that the security challenges confronting the north are multifaceted and affect both Muslims and Christians.

According to him, the present security situation in the north requires that leaders of the region unite and collectively address the key drivers of insecurity, such as underdevelopment and illiteracy, just as he cautions against promoting divisive and one-sided narratives that undermine national cohesion, entrench divisions, and ultimately harm their collective efforts to tackle the challenges.

“To return northern Nigeria to the path of stability and prosperity, we must work together, hand in hand, to confront these challenges by investing massively in human capital development, critical infrastructure, and socioeconomic opportunities. In this light, we placed the issues of Almajiri and out-of-school children at the forefront of our agenda today.

“My dear colleagues, the reality of millions of our northern children roaming the streets instead of being in classrooms is not only unacceptable but also a stain on our collective conscience. We must move beyond rhetoric and take decisive and coordinated actions to put every child in school and equip them with the knowledge and skills required to achieve their God-given potential.”

Yahaya also urged investment in critical transport and energy infrastructure that will unlock economic opportunities.

“Our challenges are local, and their solutions, to a large extent, lie in this hall (the political and traditional leaders of northern Nigeria). I therefore call on all of us to engage in today’s discussions with the seriousness it demands. We must create local solutions to address our local problems.”

At the end of the meeting, the governors announced far-reaching resolutions issued in a communiqué. It includes their commitment to unity, stability, and the collective development of the region, as well as a pledge of renewed support for actions taken by President Bola Tinubu to intensify military operations against insurgents and criminal elements in their hideouts. They hailed the sacrifices of the security personnel engaged in counter-insurgency operations nationwide.

In one of its major resolutions, the forum reiterated full support for the establishment of the State Police. It urged federal and state lawmakers from the region to fast-track the legislative process required to actualise it.

The governors also identified illegal mining as a key driver of insecurity and recommended that the president direct the Minister of Solid Minerals to suspend mining activities for six months. The suspension, they said, would allow for a comprehensive audit and revalidation of all mining licences in consultation with state governments.

As part of broader security reforms, it approved the creation of a Regional Security Trust Fund. Each state and its local governments will contribute N1 billion monthly to be deducted at source under an agreed framework to strengthen security operations across the North.

On his part, the Sultan, who led the traditional leaders, called on the region’s governors to listen more attentively to their critics and to use constructive feedback to strengthen governance across the north. He also called for more frequent engagement between governors and traditional leaders across the three geopolitical zones, proposing structured meetings to harmonise decisions affecting the north.

Nigerians are waiting to see how the state governors and the federal government go about ensuring that the deliberations at the meeting are implemented to restore peace and development to the region.