Abuja, Nigeria – January 31, 2026 – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has advocated for the swift reactivation of a regional standby force to enhance collective defense and counterterrorism capabilities across West Africa and the Sahel region. He proposed designating Nigeria’s National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Abuja as a central hub for intelligence coordination and operational support.
The call was articulated in Nigeria’s official statement, delivered by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, during the High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security (also referred to in some reports as the Conference on Security Situation, Operational Challenges and Future Risk Trajectories in West Africa and the Sahel). The two-day event took place in Accra, Ghana, from January 29 to 30, 2026, under the auspices of Ghanaian leadership, bringing together intelligence chiefs, security officials, ministers, and heads of state or their representatives from the region.
A statement released on Saturday in Abuja by Magnus Eze, Special Assistant on Communications and New Media to the minister, detailed President Tinubu’s positions. The conference, hosted in Accra and chaired by Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, focused on addressing escalating threats including terrorism, violent extremism, transnational organized crime, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and emerging cyber-enabled risks.
President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s steadfast commitment to regional peace and stability, stating: “Nigeria is favourably disposed to more collaborative and multilateral approaches aimed at dealing with the security crisis in the Sahel.” He highlighted Nigeria’s ongoing efforts in monitoring and disrupting terrorist networks through partnerships with continental and regional bodies, such as the Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit, Liaison Fusion Unit, Eastern African Fusion Unit, and the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA).
Notably, Tinubu referenced a 2025 Memorandum of Understanding signed between the NCTC and the African Union to advance collaborative counterterrorism initiatives continent-wide. “The centre is therefore well positioned to support regional mechanisms and serve as an intelligence coordinating hub in our unified counter-terrorism efforts,” he added.
The president expressed deep concern over the volatile security landscape, noting rising casualties from violence—including among women and children—and the exploitation of power vacuums by militant groups. He pointed out that thinly spread defense formations and the lack of a unified counterterrorism focal point have enabled Sahel-based terrorists to expand southward into littoral states such as Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana.
Tinubu also warned of emerging threats from drug cartels potentially relocating operations to weaker West African jurisdictions amid intensified crackdowns in South America. Such shifts, he cautioned, could foster dangerous alliances between traffickers and insurgents, with cash exchanged for logistics, secure smuggling routes, and operational support.
A key obstacle identified was political fragmentation, including the emerging divide between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—comprising Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, which withdrew from ECOWAS effective January 2025. Other challenges include overreliance on foreign support and reluctance by some states to cede defense decisions to supranational bodies.
“To address longstanding and emerging misapprehensions among member states, there is a need to separate political proclivities from security collaborative initiatives, to pave the way for sustainable security partnerships,” Tinubu urged. He called for de-escalation of tensions between ECOWAS and AES members and the establishment of an inclusive framework aligned with shared security and economic priorities.
Beyond military measures, the president advocated addressing root causes of instability—poverty, governance deficits, marginalization, and the over-militarization of counterterrorism strategies. He emphasized the growing exploitation of cyberspace by terrorist groups for misinformation and disinformation, which erodes public trust and stability.
Drawing on Nigeria’s advancements through the National Cyber Security Centre in Abuja, Tinubu recommended that other states leverage this infrastructure to build regional cyber defense mechanisms.
“Security cooperation remains central to Nigeria’s national interest and regional stability,” he concluded. “Through joint initiatives, intelligence sharing and coordinated operations, Nigeria seeks to enhance our collective ability to combat terrorism, transnational organised crime and other forms of insecurity that undermine our individual and collective development.”
The Accra conference concluded with discussions among heads of state and government on January 30, aiming to produce recommendations for a unified regional strategy. Participants, including intelligence chiefs and strategic stakeholders, focused on intelligence sharing, border management, joint operations, and integrating development and social cohesion into security responses.
The event reflects heightened urgency in West Africa, where terrorism has shifted as a global epicenter from the Middle East to the Sahel and coastal states, claiming significant lives daily according to regional assessments. Ghanaian Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, in her opening remarks, stressed proactive cooperation, timely information-sharing, and coordinated responses to borderless threats like violent extremism, organized crime, and cyber risks.
President Tinubu expressed optimism that the deliberations would yield a sustainable, inclusive counterterrorism framework. As regional divisions persist—exacerbated by the AES-ECOWAS split—Nigeria’s push for renewed multilateralism and utilization of its NCTC underscores efforts to bridge gaps and prioritize collective security amid evolving risks.
