The immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has asked the Federal and State Governments to urgently fix governance in order to solve security problems ravaging the country.
Egbetokun, who noted that there is no military solution to a governance problem, called for strategic redefinition of Nigeria’s security strategy.
He made the submission while presenting his keynote address at the 20th International Conference and General Assembly of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP) held at the Lead City University, Ibadan, with the theme, “Security Governance and Global Dynamics.”
According to the retired police boss, Nigeria’s security strategy must be redefined around “the daily security of Nigerians: food security, job security, health security and school security.”
“A hungry, unemployed youth is a recruitment base for any extremist ideology. Policing poverty with bullets is a losing strategy,” he stated.
Egbetokun said, “For a family, security means having food. It means being able to live without fear. It means access to healthcare. It means employment and economic opportunity. It means protection from violence. It means knowing that institutions will treat citizens fairly.
“Perhaps the greatest challenge we (Nigeria) face(s) is not the absence of knowledge. We know many of the risks. The problem is the governance gap between the emergence of threats and our ability to respond collectively.”
He stressed that global security system that protects borders while ignoring poverty, displacement, climate vulnerability and social exclusion will remain fundamentally incomplete.
“We must reform the governance of security, not just the equipment of security. I led the Nigeria Police Force. I know the dedication of our officers.
“But I also know the structural deficits. We need to unbundle policing. A single federal police structure for 230 million people is ungovernable.
“We need a constitutionally defined multi-level policing system — federal, state, and community — with clear rules of engagement, funding, and accountability.
“We must however approach devolution of policing powers to the states and local communities with caution. Security governance means clarity of roles,” he added.
In his remarks, the President, Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP), Prof. Benjamin Aluko, lamented that the international system was experiencing unprecedented levels of uncertainty, protracted violent conflicts ethno-religious tensions and extremism in its diverse dimensions.
He stated that state fragility and rapidly declining capacity of critical state and international institutions have become defining features of human existence.
In virtually all the nations of the world, he noted that questions of security governance have become central to debates and efforts at promoting peace, justice, human rights, development and social order in the global community.
While declaring the conference open, the Vice Chancellor, Lead City University, Ibadan, Prof. Kabiru Adeyemo, said security was not merely the protection of territorial borders.
According to him, security is about people, access to justice, trust in institutions, economic opportunities, social inclusion and ensuring that citizens can pursue their aspirations without fear.
The Vice Chancellor maintained that where governance was weak, insecurity thrived, where justice was absent, conflict grew and where citizens lost confidence in institutions, instability became inevitable, insisting that where governance was accountable, inclusive and responsive, peace flourished.
