Nigeria Insecurity: Beyond the Huge Budgets, Fix the Roots

‎The latest controversy involving a Nigerian social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, and the Nigeria Police Force has once again brought the country’s worsening insecurity into sharp focus. Otse’s allegation that some security personnel may be aiding kidnappers and bandits is serious and deserves proper investigation rather than dismissal or political confrontation. If he possesses credible evidence, the appropriate authorities should establish the facts through a transparent process and ensure that anyone found culpable faces the law.
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‎But beyond the dispute over evidence lies a much bigger question that Nigeria can no longer afford to avoid: why has insecurity remained so persistent despite the enormous resources successive governments have committed to fighting it? Year after year, huge sums are appropriated for defence, policing, intelligence and other security operations. Yet Nigerians continue to face kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, communal violence and other forms of criminality. This raises legitimate concerns about whether the country is treating the symptoms while neglecting the causes.
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‎No serious strategy against insecurity can succeed without confronting the poverty and hardship that have become widespread across the country. Millions of Nigerians struggle to secure food, decent shelter, education, healthcare and meaningful employment. For young people who see little prospect of building a dignified future through legitimate means, criminal networks can become an attractive alternative, particularly in communities where government presence is weak and economic opportunities are scarce.
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‎Hunger is not an excuse for crime but a hungry and desperate population is undoubtedly more vulnerable to recruitment by criminal groups. Banditry and other forms of organised crime thrive where poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, weak institutions and the absence of economic opportunities combine. A young person without employment, skills or hope can easily become susceptible to those offering money, protection or a sense of belonging.
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‎This is why the fight against insecurity cannot be reduced to increasing the number of soldiers, policemen, weapons and security votes. These are necessary, but they cannot by themselves resolve a problem whose roots are partly economic and social. If the government spends more money every year on security without substantially reducing the conditions that make criminal recruitment possible, then the country risks spending endlessly without achieving lasting peace.
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‎Meanwhile, there is also the troubling issue of allegations of corruption and collusion within the security architecture according to Berydarkman. Where security personnel are accused of leaking information, protecting criminals or benefiting from insecurity, such allegations must not be ignored. A security system compromised from within cannot effectively defeat criminals outside it. The government must therefore strengthen internal accountability, intelligence oversight and independent investigations into misconduct.
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‎At the same time, the authorities should resist the temptation to treat every critic of the security establishment as an enemy of the state. Constructive criticism, whistleblowing and public scrutiny are essential in a democracy. If VeryDarkMan’s allegations are false, the police should establish that through credible investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution. If they are true, the country deserves to know the truth and those responsible must be held accountable.
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‎The larger responsibility, however, rests with governments. Security is not merely the absence of gunshots or kidnappings. It is also the presence of jobs, affordable food, functioning schools, accessible healthcare, justice and economic opportunity. A citizen who cannot afford basic necessities is living with insecurity even before a criminal attack occurs.
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‎Nigeria therefore needs a comprehensive security policy that combines effective policing and military operations with aggressive poverty reduction, job creation, rural development and social investment. Communities vulnerable to banditry and terrorism must be given roads, schools, markets, healthcare facilities and legitimate economic opportunities. Young people must have reasons to believe that their future can be better than their present.
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‎The government must also begin to measure security spending by results rather than by the size of appropriations. Nigerians should not merely be told that billions have been approved for security; they deserve to know what those billions have achieved. How many criminal networks have been dismantled? How many communities have been secured? How many kidnappings have been prevented? How many perpetrators have been successfully prosecuted? And, most importantly, why does insecurity remain widespread despite increasing expenditure?
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‎Until these questions receive convincing answers, every new security budget will invite greater public scrutiny.
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‎The VeryDarkMan controversy should therefore become more than another confrontation between a social media personality and the police. It should prompt a national conversation about the effectiveness of Nigeria’s security strategy. The government must investigate credible allegations, punish wrongdoing and protect the integrity of its security institutions. But it must equally confront the poverty, hunger, unemployment and hopelessness that provide fertile ground for criminality.
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‎Nigeria cannot arrest its way out of insecurity. It cannot shoot its way out of poverty. And it cannot budget its way to lasting peace without addressing the conditions that keep producing desperation and criminal recruitment.
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‎The country needs security spending that protects lives and economic policies that give citizens something worth protecting. Until the roots of insecurity are tackled alongside its symptoms, the cycle of huge budgets, renewed attacks and public outrage will continue—and Nigerians will continue to pay the price.