Diri’s aide urges FG to embrace community-based security
The Technical Adviser to the Bayelsa State Governor on Communication and Strategy, High Chief Abednego Don Evarada, has called on the Federal Government to adopt a community-based security model to address Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
Evarada said stronger collaboration between security agencies and local communities would enhance intelligence gathering and improve efforts to tackle terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
*Diri's aide urges FG to embrace community-based security
Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa
The Technical Adviser to the Bayelsa State Governor on Communication and Strategy, High Chief Abednego Don Evarada, has called on the Federal Government to adopt a community-based security model to address Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
Evarada said stronger collaboration between security agencies and local communities would enhance intelligence gathering and improve efforts to tackle terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
He made the call while delivering the keynote lecture, titled “Security Challenges and National Security: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Nigerian Security Architecture,” at the 2026 Feast of Barracuda organised by the National Association of Seadogs (NAS), Oxbow Marino Deck, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
According to him, Nigeria is facing one of its most complex security crises, with threats ranging from terrorism, banditry and kidnapping to piracy, oil theft, cultism, cybercrime, separatist agitations, farmer-herder conflicts and organised criminal networks.
Evarada said incidents such as the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls and the Owo church attack exposed serious weaknesses in intelligence gathering, threat assessment and emergency response, while also highlighting poor coordination between security agencies and local communities.
“The lesson from these attacks is clear. Security agencies know the terrain but not always the people, while communities know the people but often do not trust security agencies. Criminals exploit that gap,” he said.
He noted that although Nigeria operates one of the world’s most centralised policing systems, the arrangement has significant operational limitations.
According to him, the federally controlled policing structure promotes national coordination and uniform standards but struggles to respond effectively across the country’s vast territory and diverse communities.
“No centralised structure, regardless of its resources, can effectively monitor every village, creek, forest or urban settlement from a distant command centre,” he said.
Evarada said delayed responses, weak local intelligence and limited public trust continue to undermine national security efforts, adding that criminal networks often possess better knowledge of local communities than the institutions responsible for protecting them.
He urged the Federal Government to study successful security models in other countries that prioritise community policing and citizen participation.
According to him, community policing encourages intelligence sharing, builds public trust, strengthens early threat detection and makes security a shared responsibility.
“The most successful security systems in the world recognise that lasting security depends on strong partnerships between citizens and security agencies,” he stated.
Earlier, the Steerer of Oxbow Marino Deck, High Chief Douglas Etulankimor Sampson-Eteli, explained that the Feast of Barracuda is the flagship annual programme of the National Association of Seadogs, founded in 1952 by Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka and six others.
He said the concept originated from the experiences of early seafarers, who regarded the barracuda as a dangerous predator that threatened safe navigation and trade. According to him, sailors celebrated after overcoming the fish, making it a symbol of victory over danger.
Sampson-Eteli said NAS adopted the barracuda as a metaphor for the societal ills that hinder justice, equity and national development.
“Feasting on the barracuda symbolises identifying, confronting and defeating the challenges facing society,” he said.
He added that the annual event combines public lectures, civic engagement and humanitarian activities, including the symbolic unveiling and sharing of a barracuda fish.
According to him, NAS chapters across the world use the Feast of Barracuda to examine pressing social, political and economic issues, while also supporting communities through book donations, medical outreaches, visits to orphanages and other humanitarian initiatives.
