The immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Dr Kayode Egbetokun, has urged federal and state governments to address governance failures as part of efforts to tackle insecurity in Nigeria.
Egbetokun said military force alone could not resolve security challenges rooted in poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, stressing that “there is no military solution to a governance problem”.
He spoke while delivering the keynote address at the 20th International Conference and General Assembly of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice at Lead City University, Ibadan.
The conference was themed, “Security Governance and Global Dynamics”.
Egbetokun, a Fellow of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice, said Nigeria needed to redefine its security strategy around the everyday needs of citizens.
He called for greater attention to food, employment, healthcare and education, warning that an unemployed and hungry youth could become vulnerable to extremist recruitment.
The former police chief, who said he had spent more than three decades in frontline security practice, identified what he described as the “globalisation of disorder” as a major challenge facing modern security systems.
According to him, no country can afford to treat its security challenges as purely domestic because threats are increasingly interconnected across borders.
Egbetokun said the major challenge was not a lack of knowledge about emerging threats but the governance gap between the emergence of such threats and the collective response to them.
He added that a global security system that focused on protecting borders while neglecting poverty, displacement, climate vulnerability and social exclusion would remain incomplete.
Also speaking, the President of SPSP, Prof Benjamin Aluko, said the world was witnessing a dangerous convergence of ethno-religious tensions, violent extremism and state fragility.
Aluko said the situation had made security governance central to efforts to achieve peace, justice and development, adding that the international system was at a tipping point.
He described the conference theme as timely and deliberate, while commending the founder of the society, Prof Isaac Olawale Albert, for its conceptualisation.
In a goodwill message, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Joash Amupitan, represented by the Ogun State Public Affairs Officer, Oludare Ajayi, identified insecurity as the biggest threat to credible elections.
He called for stronger security measures and improved logistical preparedness ahead of elections.
The Vice-Chancellor of Lead City University, Prof Kabiru Adeyemo, said security should be viewed beyond the protection of lives and property to include access to justice, strong institutions and economic opportunities.
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