Nigeria and the African Union on Monday called for a major strategic shift toward preventing violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin.

Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), and Usman Hussain, head of administration at the African Union Counter Terrorism Centre (AUCTC), made the call on Monday in Abuja.

They spoke at the opening of the Senior-Level Workshop on the Prevention of Violent Extremism for the Lake Chad Basin States in Abuja.

They warned that terrorist groups were expanding their reach across Africa despite the years of military pressure.

In his remarks, Mr Laka said that countries in the region had invested heavily in military, intelligence, and law enforcement operations, but lasting peace would only come from addressing the root causes of extremism.

According to him, enforcement-heavy strategies alone cannot deliver sustainable peace.

“The drivers of violent extremism, which are economic, political, social, cultural, and ideological, must be tackled with informed, people-centred preventive approaches,” he said.

Mr Laka said the workshop represented a critical pivot towards prevention, anchored on human security, dialogue, community resilience, gender inclusion, education, and whole-of-society cooperation.

The NCTC official said the Lake Chad Basin had, for more than a decade, endured conflict, mass displacement, organised crime, and severe social disruption.

He added that reversing that trend required the preventive paradigm championed by the AU, ECOWAS, ECCAS, and the UN.

Mr Laka also highlighted Nigeria’s achievements through the NCTC, including the national action plan on PCVE, improved interagency coordination, enhanced data systems, strategic communications, and reintegration programmes for former extremists.

He reminded participants that the NCTC had been designated a Regional Centre of Excellence for Counterterrorism in West Africa and the Sahel following the 2024 Africa Counter-Terrorism Summit.

This, according to him, is a recognition that placed greater responsibility on Nigeria to support regional partners through capacity building, policy harmonisation and research-driven initiatives.

On his part, Mr Hussain, speaking on behalf of the AU leadership, warned that terrorism and violent extremism had become “endemic” across Africa, forming the continent’s most potent threat.

He said extremist groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, Al-Shabaab, and their affiliates were widening their operational footprint through cross-border incursions across West, Central, East, and Southern Africa.

“Their operations have created multiple layers of challenges and worsened the present security situation in Africa,” he said.

Mr Hussain praised regional blocs that had developed counter-terrorism strategies but urged others to accelerate their efforts, describing IGAD’s adoption of Africa’s first regional PCVE strategy as a model to emulate.

He urged participants to “think outside the box” and strengthen synergy among Lake Chad Basin states, stressing that sustained gains would require coordinated regional action, resource mobilisation and strong institutional cooperation.

Both AU and Nigerian officials urged participants to engage fully in developing a unified, practical roadmap for preventing violent extremism in the region.

(NAN)