There is no denying the fact that insecurity has become one of Nigeria’s most urgent and existential challenges. No nation can develop without guaranteeing the safety of lives and property, and Nigeria is no exception. Addressing insecurity, particularly kidnapping, terrorism, violent crime, and widespread lawlessness, requires not only government action but the active engagement and commitment of the Nigerian people.
In recent years, many have advocated for the creation of state police as a solution to Nigeria’s security crisis. As far back as 2023, I publicly opposed this idea in an article titled “State Police: A Solution in Search of a Problem.” In that piece, I acknowledged the perceived benefits of state police but argued that the dangers far outweigh any potential advantages under Nigeria’s current political and cultural conditions.
Nigeria is not yet politically mature enough to deploy state police without grave consequences. Given our history, state police would almost certainly be abused by state governments as instruments of political persecution. Rival political factions, traditional power blocs, and criminal networks would compete for influence and control, leading to a dangerous fragmentation of authority and a near-total breakdown of law and order. Until Nigeria undergoes deeper political and ethical reform, state police would likely worsen insecurity rather than resolve it.
The Real Problem: Intelligence Failure, Not Manpower
Nigeria’s core security challenge is not the absence of armed personnel but the lack of reliable, timely, and actionable intelligence. Security agencies often respond after crimes have occurred rather than preventing them. Yet insecurity thrives only where information fails. What Nigeria needs is not more guns and military hardware, but a robust, nationwide, bottom-up intelligence architecture, what I describe as a Network of Integrated Intelligence Agents.
This model proposes the deployment of one-million-man civilian intelligence agents across Nigeria, operating from the ward level to local governments, states, and ultimately integrated into a National Intelligence Coordination and Counterterrorism Center in Abuja. Every ward would have an intelligence hub, feeding real-time information upward through secure technological platforms.
These agents would not be recruited based on academic qualifications alone. On the contrary, the network must deliberately include street vendors, farmers, market women, transport workers, artisans, youths, and community leaders, ordinary Nigerians who already know what is happening in their neighborhoods. They would serve as the eyes and ears of the state. Furthermore, such a robust effort on a national scale will, in addition to helping eliminate the insurgency and insecurity, also boost job creation, reduce poverty, and help reduce the number of persons vulnerable to being recruited by the insurgents and bandits.
Using simple technology, smartphones, encrypted reporting platforms, and centralized data analysis, all information would be transmitted in real time, verified, analyzed, and converted into actionable intelligence. In truth, if Nigeria had reliable intelligence, it would not need to recruit massive numbers of additional police officers or go the route of creating a state police force. Security is everyone’s business; thus, it is time the government engages the public more and seeks their support in this fight for the soul of the nation.
Redefining “Stakeholders” in National Security
In Nigeria, the term stakeholders is often misused to refer only to elites, wealthy individuals, or politically connected persons or groups. This is a dangerous misunderstanding. A stakeholder, by definition, is any individual or group with an interest in the success or failure of a project, enterprise, or venture. By this definition, every Nigerian, at home or in the diaspora, is a stakeholder in Project Nigeria. Security cannot be outsourced solely to government agencies. If you see something, you must say something. Silence enables criminality.
The Deeper Crisis: Culture and Ethics
However, insecurity in Nigeria cannot be discussed honestly without confronting the deeper issue: a cultural and ethical crisis. Across insecurity, corruption, unemployment, and governance failures, the same root causes recur:
- Unethical behavior
- Greed
- Lack of integrity
- Pervasive permissiveness and impunity
These four factors define Nigeria’s national dysfunction. Criminals are arrested only to be released through influence, bribery, or political interference. Convicted kidnappers and terrorists escape punishment. High-profile political actors accused of massive looting walk freely, celebrated by supporters who benefit from their crimes. A society that glorifies wealth without questioning its source cannot expect security. A nation that prioritizes forgiveness over justice, emotion over accountability, and connections over consequences will remain unsafe and insecure.
Justice, Accountability, and Hard Choices
Nigeria must make a clear decision: does it want a lawful, ethical society, or does it want to continue on its current path? True security requires difficult but necessary reforms, including:
- Special tribunals for kidnapping, terrorism, and economic sabotage, modeled after military tribunals.
- Swift trials with limited technical delays.
- Severe penalties for convicted offenders and those who provide material support to criminals.
- An end to selective justice and political immunity.
- Stand up a one-million-man intelligence agents across the nation.
- A comprehensive biometric identity database system to prevent identity manipulation.
- Responsible firearm ownership laws to enable lawful community self-defense.
- Enable an additional one-million-strong people’s militia with military embeds to defend local communities and take the fight to the insurgents.
- Redirect funds from the purchases of major military hardware to fund the human intelligence infrastructure network.
Most importantly, Nigerians must accept personal responsibility. If your child, spouse, or relative is engaged in criminal activity, it is your duty to report them. A society that protects criminals because of blood ties is complicit in its own destruction.
Nigeria does not need state police. What it needs is a nationwide, integrated intelligence network powered by ordinary citizens, supported by technology, enforced by ethical leadership, and sustained by a culture that values integrity over impunity. Insecurity will not end through force alone. It will end only when Nigerians collectively reject corruption, criminality, and moral compromise and commit themselves to justice, accountability, and national responsibility.
Security is not the job of government alone. It is the responsibility of us all.
Osaikhuiwu writes from Houston, Texas.
