Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state has challenged organisers of the forthcoming North Central Security Summit to ensure that the meeting produces concrete and funded security solutions rather than becoming another platform for speeches.
Sule made the call on Thursday when he received a delegation from the Presidency and the Ministry of Defence at the Government House, Lafia.
The governor pledged his full support for the summit and confirmed that he would personally attend the event scheduled for August 31 in Makurdi, Benue state.
He urged the organisers to ensure the participation of traditional rulers, community leaders, youth representatives, security advisers and vigilante heads, stressing the need for each state to come to the summit with clear commitments and funding plans.
“Let us not draw a bogus programme at the end of the day and not be implemented because nobody is funding it,” Sule warned.
According to him, the porous borders among Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau and Kaduna states make regional cooperation imperative, as criminals could easily cross from one state to another after committing crimes.
Sule said a coordinated approach was therefore necessary to effectively tackle insecurity across the North Central region.
The governor also stressed that improved security was critical to protecting major investments in the region, including the $250 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa state.
He noted that insecurity could undermine economic activities and discourage investors if adequate measures were not taken to protect businesses, communities and critical infrastructure.
Earlier, the Presidency disclosed that the summit would be informed by findings from a survey conducted across 121 local government areas in the North Central region.
The summit is also expected to feature the launch of an early warning and early response network aimed at strengthening information sharing and enabling authorities and communities to respond more quickly to emerging security threats.
Sule urged stakeholders to use the summit as an opportunity to develop practical measures that could be implemented beyond the meeting, rather than merely adopting resolutions without the resources and commitment required for their execution.