Yoruba leaders propose security summit to address insecurity in South-West Nigeria
Recently, a broad coalition of Yoruba leaders — including South-West governors and deputies, traditional rulers, federal and state legislators, university vice-chancellors, captains of industry, market leaders, religious figures, youth groups, and civil society representatives — proposed the urgent convening of a Yoruba Security and Civic Renewal Summit to address escalating insecurity in the South-West region. The proposal cites rising kidnappings, violent attacks, criminal occupation of forest corridors, assaults on travelers, and threats to rural livelihoods as urgent concerns requiring coordinated action.
The proposed summit aims to develop practical strategies for regional security cooperation, strengthen intelligence-sharing mechanisms, enhance community resilience, improve coordination with security agencies, and promote sustained civic engagement on public safety matters. Signatories stress the summit must transcend ceremonial gestures and partisan politics to deliver actionable solutions leveraging the region's collective moral, intellectual, political, economic, and cultural resources.
While no date has been set for the proposed summit, the initiative reflects growing concern among Yoruba leaders about security challenges that have intensified economic pressures, eroded public confidence in institutions, and threatened social stability across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti states. The group stresses that isolated interventions are insufficient and calls for sustained mobilisation to address the security crisis.
Will this proposed summit lead to concrete security cooperation in Yorubaland, or will it remain another well-intentioned initiative without follow-through?