During a recent session in the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ali Ndume raised urgent concerns about the country’s escalating insecurity, emphasizing that Nigeria’s current security workforce is insufficient to meet the growing challenges.
Speaking amid a broader debate on national security, the senator highlighted the strain on the military, police, and other security agencies, attributing much of the problem to the limited number of personnel available to safeguard a nation of over 200 million citizens.
In a video shared by TV Platinum from 5:08, Ndume detailed the numbers, explaining that the Nigerian Army has fewer than 200,000 active soldiers, while the Nigeria Police Force has less than 400,000 officers.
Even when accounting for other agencies such as the Civil Defence, Correctional Service, and the Department of State Services (DSS), the total number of security operatives across the country remains under one million.
The senator argued that such figures are inadequate to provide effective protection against widespread threats such as terrorism, kidnapping, and armed banditry.
To illustrate the gap, Ndume compared Nigeria’s security setup with that of Egypt, a country with roughly half Nigeria’s population.
According to the senator, Egypt maintains one million police officers, 500,000 active military personnel, and around 800,000 reserves.
Additionally, Egypt requires at least one adult from every family aged 18 or above to serve in a security service, creating a robust framework capable of responding swiftly to internal threats. “In every family in Egypt, if you have an adult who’s up to 18 years or above, one of them must be in one of the security services,” Ndume stated, underscoring the contrast with Nigeria’s stretched forces.
The senator stressed that Nigeria must expand and strengthen its security apparatus to match the scale of its population and the increasing complexity of its security challenges.
He called for the recruitment of more trained and well-equipped personnel to provide a more effective deterrent against criminal activities and to ensure the safety of citizens across the country. View, More,
Explore More News By Using The Button.