Tinubu Has Directed Us to Rebuild National Security Architecture, says Badaru

Mohammed Badaru, minister of defence, says President Bola Tinubu is determined to improve national security and restore stability across the country.

Speaking at a regional security summit in Kaduna on Saturday, Badaru said the president has directed the defence establishment to build a national security architecture capable of tackling banditry, terror cells and organised criminal networks.

“The president’s directive is to establish a strong, yet adaptive national security architecture to eradicate these threats,” Badaru said.

The minister said joint operations across Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi have reopened key routes, with movement improving on the Kaduna-Kachia, Kaduna-Birnin Gwari, Jibia-Gurbin Baure and parts of the Sokoto-Illela corridor.

He added that markets in Kaura Namoda, Shinkafi, Batsari, Giwa and Kajuru “now record higher activity”, while displaced villagers have begun returning home.

Badaru noted that the north-west “continues to face lingering threats” from bandits and criminal networks despite recent progress, and that coordinated action remains essential.

Muhammad Isa, a professor of public administration at Ahmadu Bello University, said current strategies are limited by “fragmentation, weak coordination, overstretched institutions and inconsistent policies”.

“Even where tactical gains occur, they fail to translate into sustainable peace because structural drivers of insecurity remain unaddressed,” Isa said.

He called for a more coordinated regional approach to address the mobility of armed groups, the spread of bandit enclaves and the humanitarian fallout from prolonged violence.

Babangida Hussaini, chair of the summit’s organising committee, said the event was put together to allow stakeholders to discuss the rising insecurity in the region and across the country.

He added that a national security summit will be held in Abuja on December 1 to collate Nigerians’ views on improving security nationwide.