Former Minister of Transportation and two-time Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has issued a stark warning to Nigeria’s leadership, asserting that the country’s deepening insecurity crisis will not be resolved through reliance on military force alone.
Speaking during an interactive session with youth members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Coalition on Sunday, Amaechi argued that the persistent nature of banditry, kidnapping, and other violent crimes is fundamentally rooted in economic despair rather than ethnic or religious divisions.
”Any leader who wants to resolve the issue of insecurity in Nigeria will know that physical policing alone will not be the solution,” Amaechi was quoted as saying. He stressed that escalating militarization without simultaneously addressing the underlying economic issues is a losing strategy: “No matter how much you equip the police and the army, the other people will continue to equip themselves to fight back the state actors.”
The former Governor maintained that the lack of legitimate economic opportunities acts as a powerful incentive for crime. Recalling his time leading Rivers State, he reiterated a belief he held during his tenure: “If you deny people legitimate sources of income, they will create illegitimate ones, such as kidnapping, banditry, and armed robbery.”
Amaechi offered a development-focused blueprint, noting that his own administration tackled severe insecurity by combining law enforcement with comprehensive physical and social development. This approach included constructing primary schools and healthcare centres, localizing contracts to ensure community money circulation, and improving roads in rural areas.
He insisted that this integrated strategy—creating alternatives before enforcement—is key to national stability. “We didn’t just say, ‘If we catch you kidnapping, we shoot you.’ No. We created alternatives first, then policed the state. People knew that if they got involved in banditry or kidnapping, they were lawbreakers, not freedom fighters,” he explained, calling for policies that expand opportunities and rebuild citizen trust in government.
