Tinubu stated this in an address delivered by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the 2026 North Central Regional Security Summit held in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Monday.
The summit was themed, ‘Collaborative Approaches to Strengthening Security and Regional Stability.’
Despite opposition to the Federal Government’s ranching policy in some quarters, the President said his administration remained determined to modernise livestock production and address some of the factors driving violent conflicts in the region.
He said the Federal Government’s approach to security must go beyond military operations to include measures addressing the social, economic and environmental factors fuelling insecurity.
Tinubu identified competition over land and water, climate change, desertification, unresolved land-use issues, weak local dispute-resolution mechanisms and the proliferation of illicit weapons as some of the factors sustaining violent conflicts in the North Central.
‘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.
The President said his administration would continue to combine kinetic operations with developmental interventions, including investments in irrigation, mechanised agriculture, rural roads and access to credit under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He said the transition from open grazing to modern ranching was part of the broader effort to transform the region’s vulnerabilities into economic opportunities.
Tinubu also charged traditional rulers, religious leaders, women, youths, development partners and the private sector to strengthen collaboration with government and security agencies in tackling insecurity and building lasting peace across the region.
According to him, no single security agency, tier of government or community could secure the region acting in isolation.
‘No single agency, no single tier of government and no single community can secure this region acting alone. Insecurity does not respect state boundaries or agency mandates. Criminals move freely across local government areas while our responses are too often slowed by rivalry, duplication and the withholding of information. That must end,’ he said.
The President said his administration had strengthened Nigeria’s security architecture through enhanced collaboration among the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force and intelligence services, as well as the acquisition of new platforms and advanced capabilities for the military.
He added that the government was rebuilding the country’s indigenous defence industry through the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act, while improving the welfare of troops to enhance their operational effectiveness.
Tinubu commended the Armed Forces and other security agencies for gains recorded against terrorists and other criminal elements, noting that terrorist commanders had been neutralised, thousands of fighters had surrendered, captives had been rescued and normalcy restored to several communities.
He also paid tribute to military personnel, police officers and other security operatives working in the North Central, particularly those who had paid the supreme price in defence of the country.
The President urged traditional and religious leaders to serve as the first line of early warning and trusted voices of reconciliation in their communities.
He said their closeness to the grassroots placed them in a strategic position to detect emerging threats and prevent disputes from escalating into wider conflicts.
‘To our revered traditional rulers and religious leaders, you hold an authority that no uniform confers. You know your communities intimately. You know when a stranger arrives, when a young man falls into bad company, and when a quarrel between two families is about to become a conflict between two peoples,’ he said.
Tinubu urged them to reject inflammatory rhetoric, warning that the country had suffered considerably from reckless statements around ethnic, religious and other differences.
He also called on communities to take greater responsibility for their security by providing timely information to security agencies and refusing to harbour criminal elements.
‘Security begins with you. I call on every citizen to share information with the security agencies, to refuse to shield criminality out of kinship or sentiment, and to resist those who would recruit our sons into violence for a handful of naira,’ he said.
The President acknowledged the critical role of women in peace-building, saying they should be placed at the centre rather than the margins of security conversations.
He also assured young people that his administration remained committed to expanding economic opportunities and creating livelihoods capable of insulating them against recruitment into criminality and violent groups.
Tinubu further highlighted the Reclaiming the Ungoverned Space for Economic Benefits Programme of the Ministry of Defence, which is designed to deploy the experience of retired military personnel towards securing and reviving communities recovering from violence.
He directed the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa (retd.), to transmit the outcomes of the summit to him and report on the implementation of its recommendations.
The President warned against producing another communiqué that would be ‘filed away and forgotten,’ insisting that the summit must come up with practical recommendations backed by clearly identified responsibilities, timelines and measurable outcomes.
He commended the Ministry of Defence and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, North Central, for organising the summit, describing it as the second in a series of regional security engagements following the South-East Regional Security Summit held in Umuahia on July 30, 2026.
Tinubu said the regional engagements reflected his administration’s conviction that Nigeria’s security must be built from communities upwards rather than exclusively from the nation’s capital.
He also commended the government and people of Benue State for hosting the summit and praised the resilience of people across the North Central region in the face of security challenges.
Alia seeks collaborative approach to insecurity
In his welcome address, Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, said the theme of the summit was apt, considering the insecurity ravaging parts of the country.
Alia said Benue and other states in the North Central had continued to face security challenges that required a collaborative strategy involving all stakeholders.
He said, ‘It is my considered position that our diversity should be a source of strength rather than weakness. What are those things that unite us, and what are those things that divide us and breed insecurity?
‘The issues are multidimensional, and as such, the solution must be collaborative. I have said this in different rooms and I will say it again here: the moment we set aside our differences to confront the enemy of insecurity; half the battle is already won.’
The governor, however, said collaboration must go beyond communiqués and reach traditional institutions and community leaders.
He emphasised that the North Central had the highest level of ethnic diversity in the country, but said its diverse communities must align around the common goal of peace.
‘Our heritage does not breed violence,’ he said, citing the identities of the states in the region, including Benue as the ‘Food Basket of the Nation’, Kogi as the ‘Confluence State’, Kwara as the ‘State of Harmony’, Nasarawa as the ‘Home of Solid Minerals’, Plateau as the ‘Home of Peace and Tourism’, Niger as the ‘Power State’, and Abuja as the ‘Centre of Unity’.
Alia commended the Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, North Central, for organising the summit.
He said the North Central geopolitical zone occupied a strategic position in Nigeria’s socioeconomic configuration, stressing that insecurity in the region had consequences for the entire country because of its vast natural resources and economic importance.