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 incom
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