RIBADU’S FOUR-WEEK SECURITY MISSION

It is an opportunity to move from fragmented responses to coordinated national action, argues

KAMSON OLADEYI

National security is too important to be left to chance, fragmented responses or the assumption that yesterday’s solutions can overcome tomorrow’s threats. In a country as complex as Nigeria, where insecurity wears many faces and continually changes its character, securing the nation requires more than the deployment of troops and the mobilisation of law enforcement personnel. It demands strategic thinking, institutional cooperation, shared responsibility and leadership capable of bringing the entire security ecosystem together around a common national purpose.

This is the significance of the latest initiative by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, who has given a 33-member committee four weeks to review Nigeria’s 2019 National Security Strategy and produce a new framework for 2026.

At first glance, the assignment may appear to be a routine government exercise in policy review. But viewed against Nigeria’s evolving security realities, it represents something considerably more consequential: an effort to reposition the country’s security architecture for a new generation of threats, while strengthening the coordination required to confront them.

More importantly, it offers another demonstration of Ribadu’s leadership philosophy that places a premium on urgency, institutional collaboration, strategic foresight and measurable responsibility.

The four-week deadline is particularly instructive. By giving the committee a clearly defined timeframe, the NSA has sent an unmistakable message that national security planning cannot be trapped in endless meetings, bureaucratic procedures and documents that take years to materialise. Nigeria needs ideas that translate into action, and action that produces measurable improvements in the safety and wellbeing of its citizens.

The urgency is justified. Since the adoption of the 2019 National Security Strategy, Nigeria’s security environment has undergone significant changes. Terrorism, insurgency, banditry and kidnapping remain serious concerns, but they are increasingly connected to less conventional threats that can undermine national stability just as profoundly.

Cybercrime and cyber vulnerabilities, misinformation, economic pressures, food insecurity and environmental challenges have become important dimensions of the security conversation. These threats do not operate in isolation. They reinforce one another, exploit institutional weaknesses and create conditions that can deepen insecurity across communities.

A farmer who cannot access his farmland because of insecurity is confronting a security problem with economic and food-security implications. A community destabilised by kidnapping and banditry faces not only the immediate danger of violence but also the destruction of livelihoods, interruption of education, displacement and erosion of public confidence. A cyberattack on critical infrastructure can threaten national stability without a single gunshot being fired.

This is why Ribadu’s insistence on a comprehensive review is timely. It reflects an understanding that national security must be approached as an interconnected system rather than a collection of unrelated emergencies.

His description of the proposed National Security Strategy 2026 as an overarching compass for coordinating national security, resilience and sustainable development is particularly significant. It suggests a broader vision in which security is not measured only by the number of operations conducted or arrests made, but also by the capacity of the state to protect citizens, strengthen institutions, safeguard livelihoods and create an environment in which development can flourish. Such an approach is essential to building a more secure Nigeria.

Perhaps the most important feature of the initiative is its emphasis on bringing the various components of the national security ecosystem around one table. The 33-member committee draws representation from government ministries, the Armed Forces, intelligence agencies, law enforcement institutions, civil society organisations and academia.

The presence of the Defence Headquarters, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, National Intelligence Agency, Defence Intelligence Agency and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission underscores the breadth of expertise required for the assignment.

This is a recognition that no single institution, regardless of its capacity or constitutional mandate, can independently guarantee national security.

The military may lead in confronting armed threats, but its efforts must be supported by effective intelligence, policing, investigation, prosecution and community cooperation. Intelligence agencies must be able to share relevant information and anticipate threats. Law enforcement institutions must translate intelligence into effective action. Financial crime investigators must help disrupt the economic networks that sustain criminal enterprises.

Similarly, civil society, traditional institutions, academics and the private sector possess knowledge and capabilities that government security agencies cannot afford to ignore.

By encouraging engagement with resource institutions and strategic stakeholders, Ribadu is promoting a whole-of-society approach that acknowledges the importance of every legitimate contributor to national security.

This is exemplary leadership in practice: not the assumption that one office has all the answers, but the ability to assemble the right institutions, define a common objective and insist on collective responsibility for delivering results.

The approach also reflects the importance of bridging the traditional divide between kinetic and non-kinetic responses to insecurity. While military and law enforcement operations remain indispensable in confronting violent threats, sustainable security requires attention to the conditions that allow criminality and instability to thrive.

Poverty, unemployment, weak social protection, food insecurity, environmental degradation and misinformation can all create vulnerabilities that hostile actors exploit. Addressing these issues requires cooperation between security institutions and agencies responsible for economic planning, education, agriculture, justice, technology and social development.

The Deputy Chairman of the committee, retired Major-General Evi Onumajuru, captured this reality when he observed that conventional security threats had become increasingly intertwined with economic instability, food insecurity, cyber vulnerabilities and climate change.

His description of the proposed strategy as an inclusive, forward-looking and actionable blueprint reinforces the direction set by the NSA. The objective is not merely to update an existing policy document, but to develop a framework capable of guiding Nigeria beyond reactive responses towards anticipation, prevention and resilience.

There is also a strong connection between this initiative and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Ribadu has specifically charged the committee to ensure that the new strategy supports national objectives in human security, economic transformation and national cohesion.

That connection is important. Security is the foundation upon which virtually every development ambition rests. Investors require stability before committing capital. Farmers need safe access to their land. Businesses need predictable operating environments. Children need secure schools, while families need communities where daily life is not defined by fear.

A country cannot fully realise its economic potential when insecurity threatens its productive capacity, discourages investment and disrupts social life. Consequently, a stronger security strategy is also an investment in Nigeria’s economic future.

Ribadu’s assurance that the Office of the National Security Adviser will provide the administrative, technical and logistical support necessary for the committee’s work is another indication of the importance attached to the assignment. Leadership is not simply about issuing instructions; it is also about creating the institutional conditions that enable people to deliver on their responsibilities.

Nevertheless, the four-week deadline must produce more than an impressive document. Its real value will be determined by the quality of the recommendations, the clarity of institutional responsibilities, the availability of implementation mechanisms and the commitment to measuring results.

A credible strategy must answer difficult questions. How can intelligence-sharing among agencies become faster and more effective? How can overlapping responsibilities be addressed? What mechanisms will ensure that threats are identified before they escalate? How can communities participate meaningfully in security efforts? What benchmarks will help the government determine whether interventions are producing safer communities?

It must also provide for sustained monitoring, accountability and periodic review. A national security strategy should not become another policy document that is celebrated at its launch and forgotten during implementation.

The committee, therefore, carries a significant national responsibility. Its members must approach the assignment with intellectual honesty, patriotism and an appreciation of the human cost of insecurity. The experiences of citizens in affected communities must inform the framework as much as institutional perspectives and technical assessments.

For Ribadu, the initiative further reinforces the importance of strategic leadership at the centre of Nigeria’s security architecture. His decision to convene a broad-based committee, establish a demanding timeline and insist on an actionable framework demonstrates a clear understanding that security leadership must be proactive, collaborative and results-oriented.

Ultimately, the test of the National Security Strategy 2026 will not be the sophistication of its language or the elegance of its presentation. It will be whether it helps Nigeria prevent threats, respond more effectively to emergencies, strengthen public confidence and make communities safer.

Four weeks may be a demanding period for such an important assignment, but the urgency itself reflects the seriousness of the national challenge.

Nigeria needs a security ecosystem in which institutions work together rather than in silos, intelligence informs action, communities are treated as partners and development is recognised as an essential pillar of lasting stability.

That is the larger promise of Ribadu’s initiative. It is an opportunity to move from fragmented responses to coordinated national action, from reacting to threats to anticipating them, and from viewing security as the responsibility of a few institutions to embracing it as a shared national mission.

 Oladeyi writes from Abuja