Former Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun has warned that tackling insecurity in Nigeria will require more than deploying security personnel and weapons.
Speaking on Tuesday at the 20th International Conference and General Assembly of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice at Lead City University, Ibadan, Egbetokun argued that poverty, unemployment and governance failures can create conditions that make people vulnerable to crime and extremist recruitment.
The immediate-past police chief called for a broader security strategy centred not only on physical protection but also on food, jobs, healthcare and education.
He summed up his position by saying that “policing poverty with bullets is a losing strategy.”
Why Egbetokun Links Poverty to Insecurity in Nigeria
Egbetokun argued that national security should be understood from the perspective of ordinary citizens.
For families, he said, security includes having access to food, healthcare, employment and protection from violence, as well as confidence that public institutions will treat citizens fairly.
He also warned that unemployed and economically vulnerable young people could become easier targets for extremist organisations seeking recruits.
His comments place economic hardship and social exclusion at the centre of the debate over insecurity in Nigeria, rather than treating violent crime and extremism purely as policing or military problems.
no Military Solution to a Governance Problem
Egbetokun told participants that Nigeria must address weaknesses in governance if it hopes to achieve lasting security.
He said there was “no military solution to a governance problem”, arguing that governments must tackle the social and institutional conditions that allow insecurity to grow.
His position reflects a wider argument that security policy cannot be separated from employment, economic opportunity, access to basic services and public confidence in institutions.
The conference, themed “Security Governance and Global Dynamics,” brought together participants to examine evolving security challenges and how institutions can respond to them.
Egbetokun Calls for Multi-Level Policing
Beyond poverty and governance, Egbetokun also advocated changes to Nigeria’s policing structure.
He argued that a single federal policing system is inadequate for a country with a population of more than 200 million people and called for a constitutionally defined system involving federal, state and community policing.
However, he said any devolution of policing powers must be accompanied by clear responsibilities, adequate funding and accountability mechanisms.
The debate over state police has remained a major part of discussions about how Nigeria should respond to kidnapping, terrorism, banditry and other security challenges across different parts of the country.
What Egbetokun Says Nigeria Must Change
At the heart of Egbetokun’s argument is a shift from viewing security only in terms of armed responses.
He called for a system in which governments address both immediate threats and the underlying conditions that can contribute to instability.
This would mean combining effective policing with job creation, education, healthcare, social inclusion and stronger institutions.
His remarks suggest that reducing insecurity in Nigeria will depend not only on how effectively security agencies respond to criminals, but also on whether government policies reduce the economic and social vulnerabilities that criminal and extremist groups can exploit
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