The Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna, has called for stronger collaboration among security agencies to tackle Nigeria’s complex security challenges.
The call was made at the opening ceremony of Exercise Haske Biyu 2026 for participants of Senior Course 48, held on Saturday at the college in Jaji Military Cantonment.
The three-week exercise, themed “Building Resilient Communities Through Effective Security Collaboration,”_ will run from 13th September to 2nd October, 2026.
Declaring the exercise open, the National Security Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who was represented by the Director of Internal Security, Sani Sani, FSI, said the training is coming at a critical time in the nation’s security history.
Ribadu said no single agency can win the fight against insecurity alone, stressing that synergy remains central to success.
“Strengthening joint and inter-agency collaboration between the military and all relevant agencies remains critical to addressing internal security challenges and effectively conducting joint operations,” he said.
He noted that Exercise Haske Biyu is designed to deepen participants’ understanding of internal security and counter-insurgency operations, using both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.
According to him, the exercise provides a strategic platform for cross-fertilization of ideas among stakeholders in the national security architecture.
“Exercise Haske Biyu 2026 is therefore very important as it provides yet another platform for the cross-fertilization of ideas among all stakeholders of the national security architecture,” Ribadu said.
He urged participants to prioritize soft power over hard power, noting that military action alone rarely provides lasting solutions to conflicts.
“I urge you to pay particular attention to the use of soft power as an effective instrument for conflict prevention, management and resolution,” he added.
Ribadu also charged participants to integrate diversity analysis into operational planning and to draw lessons from past and ongoing operations.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commandant of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Air Vice Marshal Alfred Olugbenga Shogbanmu, said Exercise Haske Biyu has evolved from a military classroom drill into a national strategic forum.
Shogbanmu said the forum now brings together government institutions, security and intelligence agencies, emergency responders, academia, civil society, the private sector and development partners.
“Today’s security threats cannot be effectively addressed by any single institution acting in isolation,” he said.
The Commandant listed terrorism, insurgency, violent extremism, organized crime, cyber threats, climate-induced insecurity, misinformation, economic sabotage and farmer-herder conflicts as overlapping threats that demand integrated responses.
Speaking on the theme of the exercise, Shogbanmu said resilient communities remain the first line of defence against insecurity.
“Sustainable peace and national stability can only be achieved when security institutions work seamlessly with communities,” he said.
He added that this year’s edition will focus on intelligence-led operations, civil-military cooperation, strategic communication and technology-enabled approaches to enhance national resilience.
Shogbanmu thanked President Bola Tinubu, the College Board, the Office of the National Security Adviser and all security agencies for their support, and urged participants to actively engage to produce actionable recommendations that will strengthen national security.
The programme will feature lectures, syndicate discussions, interactive sessions and outdoor exercises targeting kidnapping, communal conflicts, militancy, terrorism and insurgency.