Corruption and rivalry among Nigeria’s security agencies are undermining efforts to tackle insecurity, former Ekiti State University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dipo Kolawole, has warned.
Kolawole said institutional rivalry, political interference and collaboration between some elites and criminal elements were weakening the country’s response to persistent security threats.
He spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, while delivering a lecture titled, “The Paradox of Nationhood: The Struggle for Reinventing Nigeria’s Security Architecture” at the second Joel Babatola Annual Lecture organised by the Board of Trustees of the Ekiti Council of Elders.
The political scientist argued that Nigeria’s security challenges went beyond inadequate military personnel and equipment, pointing to deeper problems involving leadership failures, weak accountability, poverty and corruption.
According to him, the separate operational structures of the Armed Forces, intelligence services, police and other security institutions have weakened intelligence sharing, coordination and the effectiveness of security operations.
“The continued incidences of crime and criminality in Nigeria impose a duty on us to surgically examine the underlying causes and proffer solutions. Yet corruption is a serious enabler of insecurity,” Kolawole said.
He called for an integrated security system that would harmonise the activities of security agencies, improve threat assessment and eliminate destructive rivalry among institutions responsible for protecting the country.
Kolawole also proposed a national strategic defence doctrine and the establishment of a non-political National Security Policy Development Team made up of professionals with relevant technical expertise.
He maintained that increased recruitment into the armed forces, police and other security agencies would also be necessary to strengthen the country’s security response.
On emerging threats, the professor warned that artificial intelligence and other sophisticated technologies could be exploited by hackers and criminal networks to compromise financial institutions, disrupt aviation operations and threaten public safety.
He called for international cooperation and a global regulatory framework for artificial intelligence and data centres, noting that technological threats were no longer limited by national borders.
Kolawole urged the government to urgently restructure and strengthen the country’s security architecture to restore public safety and national cohesion.
Emiabata Deborah Oluwabusiolami
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