By Adamu Abdullahi
The North Central Security Summit in Makurdi, Benue State, is coming at a critical moment for a region that has endured years of killings, kidnapping, banditry, communal conflicts and displacement.
The gathering of governors, security chiefs, traditional rulers, community leaders and other stakeholders is therefore both timely and necessary.
But Nigerians have every reason to ask a difficult question: Will this summit produce action, or will it become another gathering of speeches, promises and communiqués?
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The North Central region does not suffer from a shortage of security meetings.
What is lacking is the consistent implementation of decisions reached at such meetings. Communities in Benue, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi, Abuja and other parts of the region have repeatedly witnessed attacks despite assurances from governments and security agencies.
The real test of this summit, therefore, should not be the number of dignitaries who attend or the quality of speeches delivered. Its success should be measured by what happens after the meeting.
The summit must confront the uncomfortable reality that insecurity in the North Central has become increasingly complex.
Kidnapping and banditry are not merely security problems; they have developed into organised criminal economies involving ransom payments, illegal weapons, recruitment networks and exploitation of vulnerable rural communities.
It is consequently insufficient to respond to attacks only after they occur.
The government must strengthen intelligence gathering, early-warning mechanisms and rapid response capabilities, particularly in rural communities that are often left exposed until tragedy strikes.
The emphasis on community participation is commendable, but it must be approached with caution.
Asking communities to provide intelligence without guaranteeing the safety of informants could expose ordinary citizens to retaliation from criminal groups. Community policing and intelligence sharing will only work when citizens have confidence that the state can protect them.Another concern is the tendency to treat insecurity primarily as a military problem. Soldiers and other security personnel have important roles to play, but lasting peace will require more than military deployments.
The summit must address unemployment, poverty, competition over land and other resources, farmer-herder tensions, weak rural infrastructure and the displacement of communities.Justice must also form part of the security strategy. Arrests without effective prosecution do little to discourage criminality. The criminal networks behind kidnapping, banditry and communal violence must be investigated, prosecuted and dismantled.
Equally important is the need to investigate the financing and supply chains that enable these criminal enterprises to survive.Most importantly, the summit needs a clear mechanism for accountability.
Nigerians should know who is responsible for implementing each recommendation, what resources will be committed, and when measurable results should be expected.
A public monitoring mechanism involving governments, security agencies, civil society and credible community representatives could help prevent the summit’s resolutions from being forgotten.The North Central people do not need another catalogue of promises.
They need to sleep without fear, travel without fear of abduction, return to their farms without fear of attack and rebuild communities devastated by violence.
The summit has an opportunity to become a turning point. But that will happen only if its resolutions move from the conference hall to the communities.
