The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), through its Gen. Leo Irabor Early Warning Systems Centre, has launched a community-based monitoring network to enhance a shift from reactive responses to preventive security governance.

The initiative, inaugurated yesterday at the Ibeju-Lekki Local Council Secretariat, aims to identify and address early indicators of instability before they escalate into crises in one of Lagos state’s fastest-expanding development corridors.

Director General of NIIA, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, represented by the Acting Director of Studies, Associate Professor Chinasa Ohiri, underscored the Institute’s statutory role in supporting Nigeria’s external engagements, saying that Lagos’ responsibilities extended beyond conventional security concerns.

Early warning, she said, must now encompass electoral processes, governance deficits, public health emergencies and climate-related threats, including flooding and rising sea levels that increasingly threaten coastal communities.

Acting Head of the Centre, Dr Omotola Ilesanmi, stated that Ibeju-Lekki has become emblematic of Lagos’ economic ambitions, its growth driven by expanding infrastructure, industrial investments, coastal development and surging migration.

“Threats, such as political violence, inter-communal clashes, cultism, kidnapping and trafficking, rarely erupt spontaneously. They evolve gradually when early warning signs are overlooked,” she stated.

Ilesanmi, who outlined the operational framework of the Early Warning System (EWS), stressed that the newly constituted volunteer network would function as the Centre’s eyes and ears within communities.

She emphasised that the network is not designed to supplant the existing security structures but to complement them, strengthening coordination between citizens and state institutions.

Director of Human Resources, Sotunbo Adeyemi, who represented the Chairman of Ibeju-Lekki Local Council, Abdullahi Sesan Olowa, welcomed the initiative, describing it as a timely intervention as development accelerates across the corridor.