By 
Abiodun OBA
The Federal Government has been advised to change tactics in tackling various rising security challenges confronting the country else challenges could persist beyond 2030.
Former Defence Minister, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode advised at his country home on Sunday in Ikaram Akoko in Akoko North West Local Government Area of Ondo state that the country cannot be approaching the challenges in the same way over the years and expect different results.
Kayode noted that the security challenges had been building up over the years.
The former minister of Justice who also advocated for community policing said this has been a subject of discussion since the inception of democracy in the country but expressed optimism that it will come to fruition to tackle the security issues confronting the country.
Kayode also said Information, which is the father of intelligence, was more important than guns and said, “any other thing is a waste of time. It’s not force, it’s brain, we can do this, It’s possible.”
“Let’s change the template, take a decision we must have this community policing and we can call it any name and take for instance all the police officers I have met who have been very nice, very kind, who have provided security for us are all from the North.
“Luckily for me, I’m a northerner too. I speak Hausa, I lived in the North all my life, there’s no big deal about it but imagine when we have officers for instance in this village who cannot speak the local language, they don’t know anybody, they are strangers, how will they communicate?
“The same thing when you have the buck of the officers in the North from the southwest and Southeast, the can’t speak the local language, they don’t know anybody,
“And you see the first law of intelligence is information is being able to hear, to understand. That has to be changed.
“All Commissioners of Police should be posted to their regions for starters, You can post the commissioner for Anambra he can come from Imo it doesn’t matter, or you can post the CP for Ondo State, he can come from Ekiti. But first of all post them to their regions as the first step immediately, it will help to control things.
“Policemen are being killed in some parts of the country, let me assure you, if those policemen are from those indigenes, they will be reluctant to attack them. So let’s start with that first but community policing is a done deal. It will happen!” he said.
Kayode said more youths should be recruited from each local government into the Nigerian Army as it was obvious that they were already short-staffed, saying more officers than recruits should be recruited into various security outfits in the country.
“The military is already over tasked and they are short-staffed. We know this and government knows this. I knew this when I was there and I tried in my own way to suggest how this should be done. Let us democratise recruitment into Nigeria military services.
“Stop taking money to allow people to join our services. It is wrong. It was there when I was there, I tried everything within my power but again when you spend one year in a place you aren’t going to do much. I’m not giving an excuse what I’m saying is this is one of the ways forward.
“Right now I don’t know maybe a hundred thousand military personnel What is that? A country of 200million and we have our youths roaming the street and the devil is finding work for them. Because the devil finds work for idle hands.
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