Tinubu Draws Line Between Winning Battles And Winning Peace In North Central
Dr. Nafisat Makinde
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has warned that military action alone cannot deliver lasting peace in Nigeria’s North Central, saying the government must address the social, economic and environmental conditions that continue to fuel violence across the region.
Tinubu spoke Monday, August 31, at the 2026 North Central Regional Security Summit in Makurdi, Benue State, where he was represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume. His remarks were contained in a statement issued by Yomi Odunuga, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the SGF. The summit is the second in a series of regional security engagements convened by the Ministry of Defence, following the South East Regional Security Summit in Umuahia on July 30.
The summit comes amid continuing insecurity in the region, including farmer-herder clashes, abductions and communal violence. Tinubu identified competition over land and water, climate change and desertification, unresolved land-use disputes, weak local dispute-resolution mechanisms and the availability of illicit weapons as conditions in which violence takes root. “No single agency, no single tier of government and no single community can secure this region acting alone,” he said.
Tinubu said his administration had recorded gains in security operations, including the neutralisation of terrorist commanders, the surrender of thousands of fighters, the rescue of captives and the restoration of normalcy in some communities. He said the government had strengthened cooperation among the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force and intelligence services, acquired new platforms and advanced capabilities for the Army, Navy and Air Force, improved troop welfare and was rebuilding the indigenous defence industry through the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act.
But the president said military gains would not translate into lasting peace if the grievances behind the violence remained unresolved. “Military action alone will not deliver lasting peace to the North Central. Force can suppress violence; it cannot resolve the grievances that produce it,” he said. He said the government was therefore combining security operations with development measures, including the transition from open grazing to modern, settled livestock production to protect farmland, improve pastoral incomes and reduce a major source of conflict, alongside investments in irrigation, mechanised agriculture, rural roads and access to credit.
Tinubu also cited the Ministry of Defence’s Reclaiming the Ungoverned Space for Economic Benefits Programme, which he said would draw on the experience of retired military personnel to secure and revive communities recovering from violence. He urged traditional and religious leaders to serve as the first line of early warning and reconciliation, saying their knowledge of local communities could help identify tensions before they escalate. He also called on them to reject inflammatory rhetoric from the pulpit, palace or political podium.
The president urged citizens to share information with security agencies, refuse to shield criminals because of kinship or sentiment and resist the recruitment of young people into violence. He said women, who often bear the greatest burden of conflict, should be central to peacebuilding, while young people needed opportunities that would make “a rifle a far less attractive prospect than a livelihood.” He also called on development partners and the private sector to invest in the region, saying factories, farms and jobs could contribute to its security.
Tinubu directed Defence Minister Christopher Musa to transmit the summit’s recommendations to him and report on their implementation. He said each recommendation must have an identified owner, a defined timeline and a measurable outcome, warning against another communiqué being “filed away and forgotten.” He said the ultimate test of the summit would be whether “a farmer in this region sleeps more soundly a year from now.”