A Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, Prof. Omololu Soyombo, has said that tackling the problem of insecurity in Nigeria requires comprehensive, long-term solutions that address the factors contributing to it.

He noted that creating employment opportunities, reducing poverty, improving education and implementing meaningful institutional reforms would go a long way to address Nigeria’s security challenges.

Speaking on Friday in Lagos during his exaugural lecture titled, ‘Why We Are Where We Are: A Sociological Analysis of the Trials and Travails of Security Control in Nigeria” and the presentation of his autobiography to mark his 70th birthday, Soyombo stated that crimes occur everywhere in Nigeria but violent crimes such as terrorism, kidnapping and banditry are more prevalent in the northern states.

According to him, insecurity is more concentrated in rural areas, with the perpetrators targeting places of worship, schools, markets and military bases, while making occasional forays into urban areas and cities.

He added: “Prominent school attacks include: Chibok, Dapchi, Kagara, Greenfield and Oriire. Borno State was reported to be the most impacted state, with 38,255 deaths from terrorism as at 2023.

“The question now is: how did we get to where we are now? What are we doing wrong? What are we not doing right? This lecture is useful for addressing many of the pressing problems of our contemporary Nigerian society – whether the challenge of under-development, political instability, moral degeneration, infrastructure decay, high unemployment, high poverty, unbridled corruption, terrorism, banditry, poor healthcare services and infrastructure, high child and maternal mortality, low technological development, poor electricity supply, etc. All the problems are intertwined in such a way that once we find the key to solving one of the problems, it can give a clue to solving other problems.”

He added that from a demographic perspective, the age of 70 is remarkable and worth celebrating.

“In my case, it is even more so because it also marks a milestone point-statutory retirement. I would have served the University of Lagos for 45 years, one month, and five days. Demographic statistics indicate that only 7.3 per cent of people in the world live to be 70 years or older. More specifically, for Nigeria, only about 1.6 per cent of the population are 70 years or older, although the percentage has been growing in recent times.”

“This is, perhaps, not surprising, given the relatively low life expectancy in Nigeria – 54 years for males and 55 years for females. Life expectancy at birth in Nigeria is among the lowest in the world – no thanks to our relatively high infant and child mortality rates, poor health infrastructure and limited access to healthcare, as well as relative poverty, which has implications for malnutrition and health care access. Congratulations to everyone here who is 70 years or older,” he said.

Soyombo used the occasion to institute a N100,000 Prize for the Best Graduating Student in the institution’s Master of Criminology degree programme every year.