Amid Nigeria’s deepening security crisis, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori has issued a stark warning that government alone can no longer shoulder the burden of protecting lives and property, urging citizens to take a more active role in confronting the country’s unending violence.

Speaking at the 2026 Maris Annual Public Service Lecture in Asaba, the governor described insecurity as an existential threat to national unity, insisting that collective vigilance and cooperation between citizens and security agencies are now indispensable.

Represented by Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Kingsley Ashibuogwu, Oborevwori painted a grim picture of the persistent insurgency in the country.

“Security is no longer the exclusive preserve of government,” he stressed, saying there is need for community-based policing and citizen intelligence as part of a broader security architecture.

The governor highlighted his administration’s investments in operational support for security agencies.
.
The lecture, themed “Insecurity: The Bane of Nigeria’s Unity and Progress,” brought together policymakers, scholars and security experts, many of whom echoed concerns that Nigeria’s crisis has outgrown conventional responses.

In a keynote address, former Chief of Defence Staff Lucky Onyenuchea Irabor delivered a more structural critique, describing insecurity as the single greatest threat to Nigeria’s survival.

Irabor argued that the roots of the crisis lie far deeper than criminality, pointing instead to unresolved political grievances and historical divisions that have festered over decades.

“The acrimonies and deep-seated animosities that have attended Nigeria’s political journey remain unresolved,” he said, warning that these enduring fault lines continue to fuel violence and distrust across regions.

He called for the institutionalisation of a national reconciliation policy, stressing that without deliberate efforts to heal longstanding wounds, security interventions would remain unsustainable.

“There is a need for healing of wounds and closure of political invectives. This requirement is urgent,” Irabor added.
The former defence chief also took aim at what he described as Nigeria’s chronic governance failure—arguing that the problem is not a lack of ideas or strategies, but the absence of political will to implement and sustain meaningful reforms.