The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has declared that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity has escalated into a “state of war,” warning that the crisis now poses an existential threat to the country.
This position was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the 38th meeting of the Board of Trustees of the forum, held on April 11, 2026, in Abuja.
The meeting, presided over by the Chairman of the Board, Bashir M. Dalhatu, brought together prominent northern leaders and elder statesmen, including Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, M. D. Abubakar, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Tukur Yusufu Buratai, among others.
In the communiqué, the ACF said Nigeria’s security situation had deteriorated beyond conventional challenges, describing it as a full-blown conflict requiring urgent and decisive action.
“Nigeria’s security crisis has moved far beyond a routine governance challenge; it has since evolved… to a state of all-out war that now threatens the continued existence of Nigeria as we know it,” the forum said.
It noted that the violence, which initially manifested as insurgency in the North-East, had spread to include banditry, mass kidnappings in the North-West and North-Central, as well as persistent inter-communal clashes and farmer-herder conflicts.
According to the forum, “The scale, persistence, and human cost of violence demand a fundamental shift in national priorities. The time has come for the government of Nigeria to treat this crisis not as one issue among many, but as the overriding national emergency.”
The ACF lamented the heavy human toll of the insecurity, stating that hundreds of thousands of Nigerians had either been killed or displaced across states such as Borno, Plateau, Niger and Kwara.
“This is not even counting the large number of our armed forces personnel, including very senior military officers. Families have been shattered, livelihoods destroyed, and entire generations traumatised,” it said.
The forum also warned that the persistent insecurity was crippling the nation’s economy, particularly the agricultural sector, which it said remained a major source of livelihood in the North.
“Insecurity is now directly undermining Nigeria’s economy. Agriculture—especially in the North—is under severe threat. Supply chains are disrupted, inflation is worsened, and rural economies are collapsing,” the communiqué added.
It stressed that continued neglect of the crisis would make recovery more costly, arguing that prioritising security spending should not be seen as a distraction from development.
“Redirecting national resources toward security is not a diversion from economic development; it is a prerequisite for it,” the forum stated.
Calling for what it described as a “war-time approach,” the ACF urged the Federal Government to temporarily suspend or scale down non-essential projects and channel resources toward tackling insecurity.
“Extraordinary threats require extraordinary measures. Nigeria needs to temporarily suspend or scale down budgeting on non-essential projects and focus national energy, funding, and leadership attention on bringing the security crisis to an end without further delay,” it said.
The forum, however, clarified that such measures did not imply abandoning development efforts but rather prioritising security as the foundation for sustainable growth.
“This does not mean abandoning development—but sequencing it correctly: secure the nation first, then build it,” the communiqué noted.
The ACF further warned that Nigeria stood at a critical crossroads, stressing that failure to act decisively could jeopardise the country’s stability and future.
“The escalating security crisis threatens not just lives, but the very stability and future of the nation. The government must act with urgency and clarity of purpose—reordering national priorities, mobilising all available resources, and treating the crisis with the seriousness it demands,” it added.
It concluded that until Nigerians could live and work without fear, national aspirations would remain unattainable.
“Until Nigerians can live in peace and with dignity, work on their farms, travel without fear, every other national ambition remains on hold in practice, if not in policy. The path forward is clear: secure the nation first—decisively, comprehensively, and without delay,” the communiqué stated.
