The National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser (NCTC–ONSA), Major General Adamu Laka, has called for a shift towards informed, people-centred preventive strategies in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism, emphasising that sustainable security cannot be achieved through military responses alone.
He argued that understanding the social, economic, and political factors that drive radicalisation is essential for developing effective, long-term solutions.
Laka made this call while declaring open the Senior-Level Workshop on the Prevention of Violent Extremism for the Lake Chad Basin States, organised by the African Union Counter-Terrorism Centre and hosted by the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser (NCTC–ONSA) in Abuja.
He said: “Across the Lake Chad Basin, our countries have invested heavily in counter-terrorism measures, deploying military, intelligence, law-enforcement and judicial capacities to respond to the persistent threat of violent extremism.
“Yet, as the concept note clearly highlights, enforcement-heavy responses alone cannot deliver sustainable peace. The drivers of violent extremism—economic, political, social, cultural and ideological—require deliberate, informed and people-centred preventive approaches that address root causes rather than symptoms.
“Accordingly, this workshop represents a critical shift toward prevention. It emphasises human security, dialogue, community resilience, gender inclusion, education, research, and whole-of-government/whole-of-society collaboration—elements that have proven indispensable in building peace and transforming vulnerable communities into agents of stability.”
The Lake Chad Basin has endured more than a decade of conflict, displacement, transnational organised crime, illicit trafficking, and social disruption. To change this trajectory, our region must embrace the preventative paradigm advocated by the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Economic Community of Central African States, and the United Nations.”
He stressed that the centre has intensified efforts to operationalise its regional role through advanced training programmes, the development of standardised frameworks for intelligence cooperation, strengthened early-warning mechanisms, and the promotion of strategic partnerships with African Union institutions, regional economic communities, and international partners.
He added that the workshop is a key component of a broader vision to build a robust, collaborative, and prevention-oriented security architecture that serves the entire Lake Chad Basin.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Head of the Administration Unit at the African Union Counter-Terrorism Centre (AUCTC), Dr. Usman Hussain, restated the need for extensive resource mobilisation to strengthen the delivery of mandates by member states and regional institutions.
He stressed that one initiative worth applauding is the development and adoption of Regional Counter-Terrorism Strategies by the ECCAS, ECOWAS and SADC regions.
According to him, “The other regional economic communities are called upon to follow suit and adopt their own regional strategies, as this facilitates uniformity of responses at the regional level and boosts the likelihood and feasibility of regional cooperation in matters of counter-terrorism, counter-violent extremism and the prevention of violent extremism.”
