AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
The President of the Nigerian Society for Criminology (NSC), Prof. Oludayo Tade, has called on President Bola Tinubu to intensify efforts to tackle insecurity across the country, warning that Nigeria’s security challenges now have both national and transnational dimensions.
Tade made the call in a statement following the just-concluded Fourth International Conference of the NSC held at Cosmopolitan University, Abuja, with the theme, “Securing Nigeria and Protecting Nigerians.”
According to the criminologist, the growing sophistication of criminal networks requires stronger intelligence gathering, improved border security, and enhanced collaboration among security agencies to effectively combat terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
He warned that persistent insecurity continues to threaten lives, livelihoods, economic activities and national development, stressing that urgent and coordinated action is needed to address the situation.
The NSC president noted that the conference underscored the importance of improving the economy to reduce the tendency toward criminal activities while sustaining military and security operations against terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.
“As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Tinubu must protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and ensure that Nigerians are free from the fear of travelling on roads or being abducted from schools and their communities,” Tade said.
“The first constitutional duty is to protect lives and property, and not doing that efficiently indicates failure. Nigerians need to experience and feel secure, and Nigeria must be protected from terrorists entering the country. Their local collaborators in and outside government must be fished out and punished. The President must display the political will to secure Nigeria and Nigerians.”
The university don also urged the Federal Government to improve welfare packages for security personnel who become incapacitated or lose their lives in the line of duty, arguing that officers risking their lives to defend the country deserve better support alongside their families.
Tade’s remarks come amid growing concerns over insecurity in several parts of the country, including the abduction of scores of teachers and students during coordinated attacks on Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School; and L.A. Primary School, Esiele, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on May 15, 2026.
At the conference, the keynote speaker, Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja, urged the Federal Government to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of protecting citizens and securing the nation.
According to Ibrahim, Nigeria is grappling with a three-dimensional crisis encompassing political economy, citizenship and democratic governance.
He attributed the political economy crisis largely to decades of public corruption that have weakened public institutions and strained government resources.
The crisis of citizenship, he said, is reflected in ethno-regional tensions, the Boko Haram insurgency, farmer-herder conflicts, separatist agitations, militancy in the Niger Delta and indigene-settler disputes.
Ibrahim further argued that widespread public dissatisfaction with governance and a perceived failure of democratic institutions have eroded trust between citizens and the state.
“The only way forward is for the Nigerian state to do its work, secure the country and protect citizens,” he stated.
At the conference, Tade and members of his executive team were re-elected for a second term following what participants described as exemplary leadership of the society.
The Chairman of the NSC Board of Trustees, Prof. Etannibi Alemika, commended the executive committee and called for increased research-driven approaches to addressing Nigeria’s social and security challenges.
He stressed the need for policymakers to rely on empirical evidence and scholarly research in formulating effective responses to crime and insecurity.
The Nigerian Society for Criminology is the country’s leading professional and academic body for criminologists, security practitioners and scholars, promoting research-based solutions to crime and advocating evidence-based policies in criminal justice, law enforcement and public security.
