I-G calls for national renewal through town-gown partnership against insecurity

The Inspector-General(I-G) of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, has urged a united national effort to tackle insecurity through stronger collaboration between security agencies and academic institutions.

He made the call on Thursday at the third edition of the Annual Security Summit 2025, organised by Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Ijanikin, Lagos.

The summit had its theme as, “Strengthening the Partnership between Town and Gown in the Age of Insecurity.”

Egbetokun stated that the time had come for Nigerians to view security not merely as the duty of the police but as a shared responsibility rooted in civic values, education, and moral discipline.

“A nation’s first line of defence is not its army; it is its people, educated, disciplined, and united by the rule of law

“Truth is surrendered before peace is broken.

“That is why gatherings like this matter; they speak to the conscience of our country,” he said

I-G commended LASUED for what he described as “awakening,” noting that the summit demonstrated the university’s commitment to using education as a tool for peacebuilding and national renewal.

Explaining the essence of the Town-Gown Partnership, Egbetokun, described it as a “total approach” to security reform, uniting communities (“the town”) and academic institutions (“the gown”) in pursuit of peace and development.

“When the teacher and the officer walk together, crime loses shelter.

“When ideas and enforcement work together, peace begins to take shape. Nigeria’s future will not be secured by guns, but by brains and moral discipline,” he said.

The police boss urged universities to focus on applied research that would support data-driven policing, community dialogue, and public trust-building in order to strengthen law enforcement and social cohesion.

Egbetokun outlined five pillars for effective collaboration between the police and academia.

According to him, these include, data-driven policing, youth behavioural studies, cybersecurity and digital ethics, community conflict management, and public trust evaluation.

He explained that these initiatives would help predict and prevent crime, promote responsible citizenship, and rebuild confidence between citizens and the police.

Addressing Nigeria’s evolving security landscape, the police chief warned that the country was now facing threats that were faster, smarter, and harder to detect, including cybercrime, misinformation, and digital manipulation.

He observed that a single keystroke could inflict more damage than a bullet, and that a viral post could ignite violence faster than a match could light a flame.

He stressed that the nation could not fight 21st-century crime with 20th-century tools.