For decades, Nigeria has invested enormous resources in combating terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal violence and organised crime. Yet, despite remarkable sacrifices by our Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force, intelligence agencies and other security services, insecurity continues to mutate and spread across different parts of the country.
This reality calls for a fundamental shift in our thinking. Nigeria’s insecurity is national in its consequences, but it is overwhelmingly local in its origins, organisation and execution. Criminals do not emerge from nowhere. They are recruited from communities, supplied within communities, sheltered in communities and operate across forests, villages, border settlements and highways located within Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas.
The truth is simple: while national institutions provide strategic direction, the battle against insecurity is ultimately fought where the crimes occur.
It is therefore time for Nigeria to redesign its security architecture around the 774 Local Government Areas as the country’s primary security ecosystem.
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Every Local Government Area should possess a comprehensive security profile identifying its peculiar threats, vulnerable communities, criminal routes, flashpoints, illegal arms circulation, drug distribution networks and emerging security risks. Security planning should no longer be based on broad state-wide assumptions but on accurate, community-specific intelligence.
Equally important is the establishment of functional Local Government Security Councils comprising security agencies, traditional institutions, religious leaders, women, youth, farmers, herders, transport unions and other credible community stakeholders. Such platforms would strengthen early warning, conflict prevention, intelligence sharing and community resilience against criminal infiltration.
The Nigeria Police Force must equally be strengthened at the divisional level. Police divisions are the closest formal security institutions to the people, yet many operate with inadequate manpower, poor mobility, limited communication equipment and insufficient operational resources. A police division that cannot respond promptly cannot effectively protect lives and property.
The ongoing national conversation on policing should also recognise that a country as large and diverse as Nigeria requires a carefully regulated system of decentralised policing. Federal and state policing institutions can coexist successfully under clear constitutional safeguards that guarantee professionalism, operational coordination, accountability, respect for human rights and protection against political interference. Decentralisation should strengthen national security— not weaken it.
Likewise, community security initiatives such as neighbourhood watch groups and vigilante organisations should be brought within a lawful regulatory framework. Proper registration, training, vetting and supervision will enable them to complement formal security agencies without becoming parallel or partisan forces.
However, no security strategy can succeed without addressing the social and economic conditions that fuel criminality. Youth unemployment, drug abuse, weak educational opportunities, unresolved communal disputes, poor infrastructure and the absence of government services continue to create fertile ground for criminal recruitment. Security and development must therefore proceed together.
Nigeria must also reclaim its forests, border communities, mining corridors and other ungoverned spaces that have increasingly become safe havens for criminal groups. Intelligence-led operations, technology-driven surveillance and sustained inter-agency collaboration remain indispensable in achieving this objective.
Perhaps most importantly, governments at all levels must begin measuring security success by clear and transparent outcomes. Response time, reduction in violent crimes, successful prosecution of offenders, recovery of illegal arms, community confidence and respect for the rule of law should become key indicators of performance.
The security challenges confronting Nigeria are undoubtedly complex, but they are not insurmountable. The country possesses capable security institutions, resilient communities and abundant human resources. What is now required is a security philosophy that places citizens and communities at the centre of national security.
Nigeria cannot continue to fight predominantly local security problems through an excessively centralised operational approach. The future demands a system that is nationally coordinated, professionally managed, constitutionally safeguarded, intelligence-driven and locally responsive.
The road to a safer Nigeria does not begin or end in Abuja. It begins in every ward, every community and every one of our 774 Local Government Areas.
That is where criminality takes root. That is where trust is built. That is where intelligence is generated. And ultimately, that is where Nigeria’s victory over insecurity will be won.
The future of Nigeria’s security lies not merely in strengthening our national institutions but in empowering every Local Government Area to become an active partner in safeguarding the nation. If we secure the 774 Local Government Areas, we secure Nigeria.
DIG Mohammed Usaini Gumel (Rtd), FSPSP, FIPMA psc, is a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police and a public policy contributor on policing, democratic governance and security sector reform in Nigeria. He’s the current National Secretary of Project 774 Network for Asiwaju. Management
