First Daily Dialogue: Ex-military chiefs, politicians, others back state police, urgent security reforms

Former military chiefs, politicians and security experts have called for the establishment of state police, emergency funding for security agencies and comprehensive reforms of Nigeria’s security architecture to address the country’s worsening insecurity.

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They made the call on Tuesday at the First Daily Sixth Anniversary National Dialogue on Security held in Abuja, against the backdrop of recent moves by the National Assembly to amend the Constitution and establish state police services.

The dialogue, themed “Declaration of State of Emergency on Security: Matching Words with Action”, brought together the military chiefs, government officials, lawmakers, security experts, traditional rulers, legal practitioners, civil society organisations and members of the diplomatic community.

The speakers included two former Chiefs of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor and Martin Luther Agwai; a former Bayelsa State Governor and Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson; and representatives of Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri.

Participants broadly agreed that Nigeria’s security crisis could no longer be addressed through military deployment alone, stressing the need for stronger internal security institutions, better intelligence gathering, increased funding and greater involvement of sub-national governments.

Delivering the keynote address, Mr Irabor, a general, said the declaration of a state of emergency on security must translate into concrete action rather than remain a statement of intent.

“I believe the emergency on security was a statement of intent. It is necessary to fast-track the work beyond the talk,” he said.

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The former defence chief called for substantial increases in funding for the armed forces and other security agencies, arguing that the scale of Nigeria’s security challenges required stronger financial backing.

He also backed the establishment of state police, provided it is structured in line with global best practices and supported by effective accountability mechanisms.

Mr Irabor further called for the development of Nigeria’s military-industrial complex to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign defence capabilities.

He urged citizens to support security agencies through vigilance, accountability and active participation, saying the fight against insecurity required a collective national commitment.

The call for state police comes shortly after both chambers of the National Assembly approved constitutional amendment proposals seeking to establish state police services.

The House of Representatives on 23 July passed the Executive-sponsored Constitution Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026, seeking to provide a constitutional framework for the creation and operation of state police services across the country.

The Senate had earlier approved its version of the constitutional amendment proposal.

The proposed reform would create a dual policing structure, with state police operating alongside the Federal Police Service.

The move is intended to decentralise policing and bring security responses closer to communities, particularly amid concerns over the size of the country and the increasing burden placed on the existing centralised police structure.

However, the approval by the two chambers does not by itself establish state police.

The different versions passed by the Senate and House will have to be reconciled, after which the constitutional amendment must secure approval from at least two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly before it can proceed to the President.

‘Military is deployed everywhere’

Speaking at the dialogue, Mr Dickson blamed the weakening of Nigeria’s internal security institutions for the increasing deployment of the military across the country.

He said the military was established primarily to defend Nigeria’s territorial integrity, but had increasingly been forced to undertake internal security responsibilities because of weaknesses within the police and other institutions.

“The military’s primary responsibility is territorial integrity. Internal security was only meant to be a subsidiary mandate, but it has now become the main focus because the military is deployed everywhere,” Mr Dickson said.

He said the situation had overstretched the armed forces and diverted them from their core constitutional responsibility.

The former governor argued that insecurity could not be resolved through continued military deployments alone.

“It’s not just military, military, military. It’s better to fight the causes of criminality,” he said.

Mr Dickson called for comprehensive reforms to rebuild internal security institutions and legislative measures to address the underlying causes of criminality.

He also advocated sustained national conversations on security, saying Nigeria had yet to engage in sufficiently robust dialogue capable of producing lasting solutions to the crisis.

Governors seek greater security powers

Representing Governor Diri, the Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, Nimibofa Ayawei, backed constitutional reforms that would give governors greater responsibility for security in their states.

Mr Ayawei said governors were held accountable by citizens whenever insecurity worsened in their states despite lacking operational control over the police.

He described the ongoing constitutional amendment process as an opportunity to devolve greater security responsibilities to sub-national governments.

He consequently backed state police as part of a broader restructuring of Nigeria’s security architecture.

Security requires whole-of-society approach

Mr Agwai, who co-chaired the dialogue, said Nigeria’s security challenges had evolved into complex internal threats that could no longer be left solely to the military and other security agencies.

He said governments, communities, the media and citizens all had important roles to play in addressing insecurity.

Development lawyer Frank Tietie, who participated in a panel session, called for emergency funding for security institutions.

Mr Tietie argued that extraordinary security threats required extraordinary financial commitments and urged government to substantially increase funding for the police, armed forces and other law enforcement agencies.

He also supported the establishment of state police, but stressed the need for robust accountability mechanisms to prevent abuse.

Political affairs analyst Mojeed Dahiru, meanwhile, said national unity remained critical to addressing insecurity.

He urged leaders to respect Nigeria’s multi-religious character and promote inclusion, tolerance and equal treatment of citizens.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Publisher of First Daily, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the dialogue was designed as a non-partisan platform for generating practical and implementable solutions to Nigeria’s security crisis.

He urged policymakers to move beyond rhetoric and embrace intelligence-led and technology-driven reforms capable of tackling terrorism, kidnapping, banditry and other violent crimes.

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The dialogue featured keynote presentations, panel discussions and interactive sessions on terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal violence, intelligence sharing, constitutional reforms, inter-agency collaboration and community participation in security management.

Participants broadly agreed that reversing Nigeria’s security crisis would require stronger institutions, increased investment in security, constitutional reforms, improved intelligence gathering and sustained collaboration among government, security agencies and citizens.

The event formed part of activities marking the sixth anniversary of First Daily Media Network and reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to promoting informed national conversations and policy-driven solutions to issues of critical national importance.