By Khadija Kubau
The Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF) has called for an urgent overhaul of Northern Nigeria’s security architecture, insisting that military force alone cannot end the region’s worsening insecurity without strong grassroots intelligence, data coordination, and institutional collaboration.
The Foundation made this position known during its May 2026 Monthly Online Mentorship Programme with the themed: “An Evidence-Based Solution to the Northern Insecurity Challenges: For Regional Unity, Peace and Development.”
In a statement signed by the Director General of the Foundation, Dr. Abubakar Gambo Umar, the organisation stressed that sustainable peace requires governments, security agencies, traditional institutions, and local communities to work together through a coordinated intelligence-driven system.
According to Dr. Umar, lasting security cannot be achieved through military operations alone.
“Sustainable peace is not achieved on the battlefield alone. It requires a deeply synchronized approach where governments, formal security agencies, traditional institutions, and local communities operate as a united front,” he said.
Delivering the keynote address, security and technology expert, Dr. Umar Buba Bindir identified a major weakness in Nigeria’s current security framework as the disconnect between formal security agencies and community-based intelligence systems.
He noted that despite huge investments in military hardware and operations, insecurity has persisted due to the absence of organized real-time local intelligence for early threat detection and rapid response.
To address the challenge, Dr. Bindir presented the Political–Traditional Partnership (PTP) Model, an integrated governance and intelligence coordination framework previously implemented in Adamawa State between 2015 and 2019.
He also unveiled the Political–Traditional Partnership Management Information System (PTPMiSi), a digital platform designed to support predictive security management through the collection and analysis of grassroots data, including unusual population movements, suspicious commercial activities, irregular financial flows, and local conflict indicators.
The Foundation further proposed the establishment of digitally equipped “Palace Situation Rooms” within traditional emirates and chiefdoms to serve as local intelligence and early-warning coordination centres.
Among its recommendations, SABMF urged Northern governors, state assemblies, security agencies, and local government authorities to adopt the PTP Model across the 19 Northern states, deploy the PTPMiSi platform, establish palace situation rooms, enact laws to protect informants and regulate data governance, ensure sustainable funding, and build digital and security capacity at the grassroots level.
The Foundation maintained that security remains the foundation for economic growth, agricultural productivity, investment, and social stability in Northern Nigeria.
“Force can hold the line temporarily, but it cannot heal the crisis without coordinated leadership, reliable data systems, and deep institutional synergy,” the statement added.
