Why W’Africa Must Rethink Its Security Beyond Battlefield
Raheem Akingbolu, who attended a recent security retreat convened by the Amandla Institute in partnership with the Open Society Foundations, argues that West Africa can not shoot its way to peace but rather govern its way there.
It a recent West Africa Security Retreat convened by the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement, in partnership with the Open Society Foundations, some of West Africa’s most experienced diplomats, former intelligence chiefs, military strategists and policy experts confronted a question that has become impossible to ignore: why does insecurity appear intractable and continue to spread despite decades of military operations, expanding defence budgets and increasingly sophisticated security architecture?
While the conversations took place behind closed doors, one conclusion stood out with remarkable clarity. West Africa must begin to rethink security beyond the battlefield if it hopes to secure lasting peace.
That conclusion deserves wider public attention because the region stands at a defining moment. For more than three decades, West Africa has battled one security crisis after another. Governments have deployed troops, acquired sophisticated weapons, strengthened intelligence capabilities and entered regional security arrangements in a determined effort to contain violent extremism, organised crime and insurgency. Yet, despite these enormous investments, insecurity has become more adaptive, more organised and increasingly transnational.
The security threats confronting the region today bear little resemblance to those of two decades ago. What began as isolated insurgencies has evolved into a complex web of terrorism, kidnapping, arms trafficking, illicit mining, cyber-enabled crime, banditry and communal violence. Criminal organisations no longer operate within clearly defined national boundaries. They recruit in one country, finance their activities in another and execute operations elsewhere, exploiting porous borders and weak institutional coordination with alarming efficiency.
It was against this backdrop that the retreat became particularly significant. Rather than producing another communiqué filled with familiar recommendations, the retreat created a rare platform for honest reflection among practitioners who have spent decades shaping Africa’s security landscape. Their discussions were neither academic exercises nor political speeches. They were informed by experience gathered from intelligence operations, diplomacy, military command and regional policymaking.
One lesson echoed throughout the retreat. The region’s greatest challenge is no longer simply defeating armed groups. It is building institutions capable of preventing violence before it erupts, restoring public confidence in government and creating conditions where peace can endure long after military operations have ended. Winning battles and winning peace, participants agreed, are fundamentally different objectives.
For too long, public discourse has tended to equate security almost exclusively with military capability. Whenever violence escalates, governments understandably deploy additional troops, intensify operations and procure new equipment. Such actions remain necessary. No responsible government can surrender communities or territories to terrorists or criminal organisations. Yet experience across West Africa repeatedly demonstrates that battlefield victories alone rarely translate into lasting stability.
Time and again, armed groups have been dispersed only to regroup elsewhere. Communities liberated through military action have sometimes relapsed into violence because the underlying drivers of conflict remained unresolved. Where poverty persists, governance weakens and justice becomes inaccessible, insecurity often returns in new and more dangerous forms. Military force can suppress violence temporarily, but sustainable peace requires something far more enduring.
That broader understanding formed one of the most valuable outcomes of the retreat. Participants repeatedly returned to the relationship between governance and security. Weak institutions, corruption, youth unemployment, fragile public services, social exclusion and declining confidence in government were identified not merely as development challenges but as strategic security concerns. Extremist organisations and criminal networks thrive where citizens lose faith in the ability of the state to protect them or improve their lives.
The lesson is increasingly evident across the region. Terrorist groups flourish where governance is absent. Organised crime prospers where law enforcement lacks capacity. Kidnapping expands where economic desperation combines with weak justice systems. In many vulnerable communities, criminal organisations have gradually assumed functions traditionally associated with the state, providing income, protection or influence where legitimate institutions struggle to maintain their presence. Restoring effective governance is therefore not separate from security; it lies at the heart of it.
Another important insight reinforced during the retreat concerned intelligence. Modern security is no longer measured solely by how effectively governments respond to attacks. Increasingly, it is measured by their ability to anticipate and prevent those attacks from occurring. Prevention requires intelligence systems that are predictive rather than reactive, collaborative rather than isolated and capable of responding as quickly as the criminal networks they seek to disrupt.
Unfortunately, those criminal networks frequently cooperate more effectively than the institutions pursuing them. They exchange information, exploit technology and move resources across borders with remarkable speed, while intelligence agencies are often constrained by institutional rivalry, limited trust and uneven technical capacity. Closing that gap requires more than better equipment. It demands stronger political commitment to information-sharing and collective action.
The retreat equally reinforced the need to broaden the very definition of intelligence. Beyond conventional surveillance, participants stressed the growing importance of financial intelligence capable of tracing illicit funding, disrupting criminal economies and exposing the networks that sustain extremist and organised criminal groups.
Equally valuable is community-based intelligence. Traditional rulers, women, youth leaders and local communities are often the first to detect signs of radicalisation or emerging conflict. Ignoring such local knowledge weakens the entire security architecture and leaves governments reacting to crises that could have been prevented.
Regional cooperation emerged as another recurring theme throughout the discussions. West Africa is not short of institutions or policy frameworks. Over the years, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has established early warning mechanisms, conflict prevention structures and collective security arrangements that compare favourably with those of many regional organisations. The difficulty has rarely been the absence of structures; it has been inconsistent implementation, inadequate funding and fluctuating political commitment.
Participants argued that the region must increasingly take ownership of its own security priorities. While international partnerships remain valuable, no region can sustainably outsource its long-term security. The retreat therefore renewed calls for stronger investment by member states in regional institutions and greater commitment to making existing mechanisms more responsive, better coordinated and operationally effective. Africa’s security, many agreed, should ultimately be driven by African priorities, African institutions and African responsibility.
The conversations also reflected on the changing geo-political environment within which West Africa now operates. The withdrawal of some foreign military partners, the growing engagement of new global actors and evolving relationships among regional blocs have created fresh diplomatic complexities. These developments require thoughtful statecraft rather than emotional reactions. While geopolitical interests may shift, the region’s overriding priority must remain the protection of its people and the preservation of regional stability.
One issue attracting considerable attention was the evolving relationship between ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States. Whatever political differences currently exist, participants maintained that terrorism, organised crime and illicit trafficking remain common enemies that recognise neither borders nor ideological divisions. Geography itself makes cooperation unavoidable. Sustained dialogue, practical engagement and mutual trust will ultimately serve the region better than prolonged institutional fragmentation.
Another dimension of modern conflict that featured prominently during the retreat was the battle for information. Today’s conflicts are fought not only in forests, deserts and border communities but also across digital platforms, where misinformation and deliberate disinformation increasingly shape public perceptions. False narratives spread with extraordinary speed, often eroding confidence in governments and security institutions before facts can emerge. Participants argued that strategic communication should therefore be recognised as an essential pillar of contemporary security, complementing military operations by strengthening public trust and countering narratives that fuel instability.
Perhaps a most encouraging outcome of the retreat was its reaffirmation that West Africa is not starting from scratch. The region possesses experienced professionals, established institutions and decades of practical lessons drawn from peacekeeping, mediation, intelligence cooperation and conflict management.
The challenge is not a shortage of ideas. Rather, it is the political resolve to implement existing frameworks consistently, strengthen public institutions and address the governance deficits that continue to fuel insecurity.
That message carries important implications for policymakers. Security should not be viewed solely through the lens of defence expenditure or the number of military operations undertaken. It should equally be measured by the strength of democratic institutions, the credibility of the justice system, the opportunities available to young people and the confidence citizens place in public leadership. A secure society is one in which people can travel freely, cultivate their farms, educate their children, invest in businesses and pursue their aspirations without fear.
The significance of the Amandla Institute’s initiative lies precisely in its willingness to create a platform where difficult conversations can take place before crises deepen. In a region where governments are often compelled to respond after violence has erupted, creating opportunities for strategic reflection may prove just as valuable as deploying additional troops. Good policy begins with honest diagnosis, and lasting solutions are rarely born in the heat of conflict.
The region will undoubtedly continue to require capable armed forces, effective intelligence services and robust regional cooperation. Yet the conversations in Ilisan-Remo offered a timely reminder that peace cannot be secured by military strength alone. It rests equally on accountable governance, resilient institutions, inclusive economic growth and the trust that binds citizens to the state.
That may well be the enduring legacy of the security retreat. It challenged some of the assumptions that have shaped security thinking across West Africa for decades and reminded the region that the ultimate measure of success is not simply the defeat of armed groups but the creation of societies where violence struggles to take root in the first place.