The Advocacy Intelligence and Development Partners (AIDP) has said Nigeria’s current security challenges are the consequence of prolonged structural failures, weak institutions and socio-economic neglect, warning that the situation has evolved into a national emergency requiring urgent reforms.
In a statement issued in Abuja and signed by its Convener, Mr. Osabinu Olufemi, the organisation said the country must confront the root causes of insecurity with honesty and a shared commitment to national survival.
AIDP said the crisis sweeping across parts of the country, especially the North, cannot be separated from decades of missed opportunities in governance and development.
According to the group, the region’s longstanding political influence did not translate to meaningful investments in education, job creation, pastoral modernization or social infrastructure, leaving millions of youths susceptible to radicalisation and criminal recruitment.
“The absence of sustained development and social investment created a fertile ground where banditry, kidnapping and armed militancy gradually became alternative means of livelihood for young people,” it said.
The organisation identified illegal mining as one of the most dangerous accelerators of violence in the North, noting that the region is rich in gold, tin, columbite, lithium, tantalite and other strategic minerals.
AIDP alleged that well-connected cabals, working with foreign partners, have turned illegal mining into a sophisticated criminal economy.It said the cartels provide equipment, cash and in some cases high-grade weapons to illegal miners, enabling them to operate outside the control of government agencies.
“In exchange, strategic minerals are taken out of the country at minimal cost, while communities are left without development, without security and without any benefits from their own natural resources,” the organisation said.
AIDP added that local youths, driven by poverty and unemployment, are increasingly being recruited as miners, labourers, informants and armed guards for illegal mining sites.
The group warned that the growing acceptance of criminality among young people is one of the most alarming dimensions of the crisis.
It said the combination of poverty, lack of opportunities and weak state presence has contributed to the perception that violence is a profitable and legitimate occupation.
“This transformation represents an existential threat to Nigeria’s stability. A society where criminality becomes a recognised economic path is one that risks long-term breakdown,” it said.
AIDP called for fairness and balance in the management of Nigeria’s natural resources, stressing that regions such as the South-South have borne the burden of petroleum exploitation for decades in the interest of national unity.
It noted that the Southeast and Southwest also possess valuable minerals like coal, bitumen, kaolin, limestone and gemstones, yet extraction has remained largely within the confines of federal regulations.
The group argued that the same standard must be applied to the mineral wealth of the North.“Bringing northern mineral resources under full federal regulation will expand internally generated revenue, curb illegal mining networks and ensure that host communities benefit legitimately rather than through criminal operations,” the statement said.
It added that community royalties, taxes and development funds can still be protected but must operate under a transparent and legal framework.
AIDP said addressing insecurity requires an integrated approach that tackles both the economic and governance dimensions of the crisis.
It recommended stronger border control, improved intelligence gathering, empowerment of security agencies, comprehensive pastoral reforms and decisive action against illegal mining networks.
The group also called for expanded investment in education, skills acquisition and rural infrastructure to discourage youths from joining criminal groups.
“While the challenges are daunting, they are not insurmountable. Nigeria has the human and material resources to overcome insecurity if leaders at all levels commit to reforms driven by transparency, vision and collective interest,” Olufemi said.
He urged stakeholders, communities and policymakers to demonstrate political will and unity of purpose, adding that the nation’s future depends on confronting the crisis with integrity and urgency.