Amid ongoing constitutional reforms by the National Assembly to establish state police, former military chiefs and other stakeholders have urged the federal government to strengthen internal security institutions, improve intelligence gathering, and increase funding to confront insecurity.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
