As terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, organised crime and other threats spread across borders, President Bola Tinubu is calling for stronger international cooperation to help Nigeria confront an increasingly complicated security crisis. But while intelligence, weapons and technology can strengthen the fight, Nigeria’s security problems will not be solved by military force alone. TOYE FALEYE writes
A Security Crisis That Has Changed Shape
Nigeria’s security problems are no longer confined to one part of the country or linked to one particular group. The Boko Haram insurgency once dominated the national security conversation.
Today, the picture is far more complicated. Terrorism remains a serious threat in the Northeast, while banditry and kidnapping have devastated communities across parts of the Northwest and North-central regions.
Separatist violence, communal clashes, organised crime, cybercrime and insecurity on the country’s waterways have added new layers to the problem. In many cases, these threats overlap.
Criminal groups can exploit communities already weakened by insurgency. Terrorist organisations can make use of criminal networks to raise money and obtain supplies. Kidnapping gangs can operate across state and national borders. Weapons and people can move through areas where government control is weak.
This is the reality behind President Bola Tinubu’s call for greater international cooperation in the fight against emerging security threats.
Speaking through Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin at an international security conference in Abuja organised by Jama’atu Izalatil Bidiah wa Iqamatis Sunnah in partnership with the Muslim World League of Saudi Arabia, Tinubu stressed the need for coordinated and lasting responses to Nigeria’s security challenges.
It was a message with a simple underlying point: Nigeria cannot confront threats that do not stop at its borders by relying on a purely national response.
The Threat Does Not Stop at the Border
The Lake Chad Basin offers perhaps the clearest example. Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have operated across the borders of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Fighters can move from one country to another, while weapons, money and supplies can follow different routes. That makes it difficult for any one country to win the fight on its own.
Nigeria has worked with its neighbours through the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), but the broader security picture remains difficult. Instability elsewhere in the Sahel has added to the pressure, with fears that extremist groups and criminal networks could push farther south towards the more stable coastal countries of West Africa. Nigeria has a lot at stake.
As the region’s most populous country and one of its largest economies, it cannot afford to watch instability spread across its neighbourhood. At the same time, it cannot secure every border and monitor every possible route without the cooperation of its neighbours.
The same argument applies to arms trafficking, human trafficking, financial crime and other forms of organised crime. A criminal network does not need a passport to operate across several countries. Governments, however, often have to navigate different laws, agencies and jurisdictions before they can act. That gap is one of the reasons international cooperation matters.
What Nigeria Needs from Its Partners
For Nigeria, international cooperation is about much more than asking other countries to send soldiers. What the country needs most is support that can make its own security institutions more effective. Intelligence is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle.
If Nigerian authorities know where a terrorist group is operating, how it is being financed, who is supplying it and where its members are likely to move next, security forces have a much better chance of stopping an attack before it happens. That kind of information often exists outside Nigeria.
Foreign intelligence agencies may have satellite imagery, communications intelligence, financial information or other data that Nigerian agencies cannot easily obtain on their own. Sharing that information can make a significant difference. Technology is another area where cooperation can help.
Drones, surveillance equipment, secure communications systems, satellite information and sophisticated data-analysis tools are increasingly important in modern security operations.
But buying equipment is only part of the job. Security personnel have to know how to use it, maintain it and, most importantly, turn the information it produces into useful action. That requires training and long-term partnerships.
The United States, Britain and France
Nigeria has already been moving in this direction. Its security relationship with the United States has become particularly important in counterterrorism. Cooperation between the two countries has provided opportunities for intelligence sharing and joint efforts against terrorist groups operating in the Lake Chad region. Nigeria has also been seeking stronger defence and security ties with Britain and France.
These relationships matter because the countries bring different strengths to the table. Nigeria has local knowledge, troops and a long history of fighting terrorism and other forms of insecurity. Its international partners have advanced technology, intelligence capabilities, specialised training and considerable experience in dealing with transnational threats. When those capabilities are combined properly, the result can be greater than what either side could achieve alone.
But there is a warning here. Nigeria must be careful not to allow international assistance to become a substitute for building strong domestic institutions.
Why More Guns Will Not Be Enough
Nigeria has learned this lesson the hard way. Military operations have been essential in pushing back Boko Haram and other armed groups. Nigerian soldiers have fought difficult battles in some of the country’s most challenging terrain, often at considerable personal cost. Yet years of military operations have not completely ended the threats. That is because insecurity has roots that go beyond the battlefield.
A young person with no job, little hope and no confidence in government can be vulnerable to recruitment by criminal or extremist groups. A community that feels abandoned by the state may be reluctant to provide information to security agencies. A criminal suspect who is arrested but never successfully prosecuted can return to the streets. These are not problems that a military operation can solve.
This is why the government’s repeated emphasis on both “kinetic” and “non-kinetic” responses is important. The military can clear an area. The harder task is keeping it safe. That requires functioning police and courts, schools, jobs, roads, healthcare and local institutions that people can trust.
The Sahel Is Getting Closer
Nigeria’s security concerns cannot be separated from what is happening across the Sahel. Political instability, armed groups and weak state control in parts of the region have created a difficult security environment.
Extremist organisations have taken advantage of instability and ungoverned spaces, while criminal networks have continued to operate across borders. For Nigeria, the fear is that insecurity could gradually move south.
The country already has enough problems of its own. It does not need additional pressure from a deteriorating regional security environment. That is why Nigeria’s role in regional security remains important. But it is also why Abuja needs reliable partners.
The answer cannot simply be to deploy more troops every time a new threat appears. Countries in the region need to share intelligence, coordinate border operations and work together to disrupt the networks that supply armed groups.
The Gulf of Guinea Is Another Front
Nigeria’s security concerns do not end in the North. The Gulf of Guinea remains strategically important because of the volume of trade that passes through the region and the importance of the area to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Maritime crime and piracy can have consequences far beyond the sea. They can increase the cost of transporting goods, threaten energy infrastructure and discourage investment. Again, cooperation is essential.
A ship may be registered in one country, owned by a company in another, carrying cargo belonging to businesses in several countries and travelling through the waters of another state. Securing such an environment requires countries to work together. Nigeria has an important role to play, but it cannot police the entire Gulf of Guinea alone.
The Intelligence Gap
If there is one area where Nigeria’s international partnerships could make a particularly big difference, it is intelligence. Modern security operations are often won before soldiers arrive at the scene.
Knowing where an armed group is gathering, who is financing it, where its weapons are coming from or which route its members are using can give security agencies the advantage they need. The challenge is making sure that information reaches the right people quickly.
Nigeria has several security agencies, each with different responsibilities. Cooperation among them has often been a challenge. Adding international partners makes the system even more complicated.
There is little value in collecting intelligence if agencies fail to share it, or if information arrives after an attack has already taken place. Building a culture of cooperation, therefore, may be just as important as acquiring new surveillance technology.
The People Behind the Statistics
It is easy to discuss Nigeria’s security crisis in terms of insurgents, intelligence reports, military operations and international partnerships. But behind every security statistic is a person.
It is the farmer who cannot safely reach his farm. The family that pays a ransom to get a loved one back. The child whose education is interrupted because a school has become unsafe. The trader who stops travelling because the road has become too dangerous.
Insecurity also carries a high economic cost. Farmers who abandon their land produce less food. Businesses in troubled areas struggle to operate. Transport costs rise. Families spend money on security and relocation instead of education or investment. The effects spread well beyond the communities directly affected by violence.
That is why security is ultimately an economic issue as much as a military one. Nigeria cannot fully realise its economic potential while large numbers of its citizens remain afraid to travel, farm, trade or invest.
Keeping Foreign Help in Perspective
There is also a legitimate question about how much foreign involvement Nigeria should accept. Security cooperation does not have to mean surrendering control.
Nigeria remains responsible for protecting its territory and its citizens. International partners can provide equipment, intelligence, training and technical expertise, but Nigerian institutions must remain at the centre of the response. That distinction is important. The goal should be to make Nigeria stronger, not permanently dependent on foreign assistance.
The best partnerships are those that leave Nigerian security agencies with better skills, better intelligence, better equipment and stronger institutions long after a particular operation or programme has ended.
What Will Count as Success?
Ultimately, the success of Tinubu’s international security push will not be measured by the number of agreements signed in foreign capitals or the amount of military equipment delivered to Nigeria. It will be measured in ordinary places. Can farmers return to their fields without fear? Can children go to school safely?
Can families travel on major roads without worrying about kidnapping? Can businesses operate in communities that have spent years under the shadow of violence? Can people trust the police and other security agencies enough to report suspicious activity? Those are the questions that matter most.
International cooperation can give Nigeria important tools. It can provide intelligence, technology, training and diplomatic support. But those tools will only deliver lasting results if Nigeria also strengthens its police, courts, intelligence agencies, border controls and local institutions.
A Problem Too Big for One Country
Tinubu’s call for global cooperation comes at a moment when the nature of security itself is changing. The threats Nigeria faces today are not neatly separated. Terrorism can overlap with organised crime. Kidnapping can be linked to arms trafficking.
Criminal networks can exploit weak borders. Technology can allow people thousands of kilometres apart to coordinate criminal activity. The response has to reflect that reality.
Nigeria needs its neighbours. It needs its African partners. It needs the United States, Britain, France and other countries willing to share expertise and intelligence. It needs stronger regional institutions. But it also needs to fix the weaknesses at home that make insecurity harder to defeat.
Foreign partners can help Nigeria fight the war. They cannot build the country’s institutions for it. That remains Abuja’s responsibility.
For millions of Nigerians living with insecurity, the real measure of the President’s global security strategy will ultimately be much simpler than any diplomatic communiqué. It will be whether they can live, work, travel and raise their families without fear.
That is the outcome that will determine whether the search for global cooperation has truly made Nigeria safer.
