President Bola Tinubu has called for a stronger partnership with northern traditional rulers as a way to enhance security, national unity and development across Nigeria. His message was delivered to the rulers by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, at the 8th Executive Committee meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council held in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital.
Speaking at the gathering, the minister acknowledged the gains that security agencies have recorded in dismantling criminal networks in the region. At the same time, he stressed that military operations alone cannot guarantee lasting peace, arguing that the deeper drivers of insecurity have to be tackled if the progress made on the ground is to be sustained.
The Inspector General of Police, who attended as a special guest of honour, expressed concern over the rising involvement of young people in crime. He warned that unemployment, social exclusion and the weakening of community values continue to fuel criminality across the region, drawing a link between the social and economic conditions of the area and the spread of violence.
The police chief listed banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, communal conflicts and other forms of organised criminality among the threats confronting the north. He described those threats as dynamic and increasingly sophisticated, adding that addressing them requires more than conventional law enforcement and must instead rest on sustained collaboration among government institutions, security agencies, religious leaders, community stakeholders and ordinary citizens.
The host governor and his counterparts echoed that call, urging deeper cooperation among governments, traditional institutions, security agencies and citizens to confront insecurity and other developmental challenges. They said their administrations had placed traditional and religious institutions at the centre of an inclusive governance approach aimed at strengthening unity, peaceful coexistence and progress.
One of the leaders at the meeting struck a pointed tone, declaring that the time had come to act with the seriousness the situation demands. He said there had been enough of meetings that produce no results, communiques that are never implemented and promises that are not followed by action, framing the council as a moment to move from rhetoric to concrete steps.
The Northern Traditional Rulers Council and the Sultan of Sokoto commended the Inspector General of Police for personally attending the meeting, describing his presence as historic and a clear demonstration of the leadership's commitment to addressing the security concerns of northern Nigeria. With terrorism, banditry, poverty and millions of out-of-school children weighing on the region's future, the stakeholders said they were united in the need for peace, unity and development.