By Franklin Adole
The Northern Elders Progressive Group and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North-Central), Dr Abiodun Essiet, have said that a large percentage of insecurity in the North-West and North-Central regions can be addressed through non-kinetic, community-based strategies.
The two made their positions known at separate events yesterday. While the Northern Elders Progressive Group spoke in Kaduna, the presidential aide addressed stakeholders at the State House in Abuja.
The elders, represented by their coordinator, Yusuf Abubakar, urged governors in the North-West to cooperate with the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and security agencies in pursuing dialogue with bandits as an alternative to repeated military campaigns.
“We are happy with the steps being taken so far. Travelling recently from Sokoto to Gusau, and from Funtua to Zaria, I observed a more peaceful atmosphere,” Abubakar said, noting improved patrols and safety along major roads.
He stressed that dialogue was a better investment than condolence visits, arguing that “one life is far more important than any political gesture.” Responding to critics, he said negotiation had been used globally, including by powerful nations dealing with groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Abubakar condemned governors who claimed to know bandits’ movements without sharing intelligence and warned against politicising the work of NSA Nuhu Ribadu. He commended Ribadu, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Senator Shehu Buba, and other stakeholders for championing the peace initiative.
Similarly, Dr Essiet said nearly 70 per cent of insecurity in the North-Central could be resolved through dialogue, reconciliation, and intelligence sharing rather than force alone. She cited the June 5 launch of the Presidential Community Engagement Peace Initiative (PCEPI) in Jos, Plateau State, as proof that non-kinetic strategies were already producing results.
“At the heart of this initiative is the establishment of a peace structure that will cut across all the 110 local government areas in the North-Central region,” she said. The network, she explained, would actively share intelligence, facilitate dialogue, and address the root causes of conflict.
Stakeholders at the Abuja programme identified forests and porous borders as major drivers of insecurity in the North-Central. Amb. Joshua Osatimehin Wole, Commandant-General of the Nigerian Forest Security Service, disclosed that Nigeria has 1,129 forest reserves, including 174 in the North-Central, which criminals often exploit. He called for stronger inter-agency cooperation and tighter border control in Niger, Kwara, and Benue States.
Kole Shettima of the MacArthur Foundation stressed that peace was the foundation of all development, urging lawmakers to strengthen traditional institutions and adopt indigenous conflict-resolution models.
The training session also featured discussions on conflict dynamics, community engagement, and peace-building strategies, with participants developing state-level action plans tailored to their security challenges.