The Senate’s decision to organise a two-day national security summit in response to the escalating killings and insecurity across Nigeria is yet another classic example of substituting urgent action with endless deliberation.
Development Diaries reports that at the resumption of plenary, the Senate resolved to hold a two-day national security summit to brainstorm a solution to the rising wave of killings and other forms of insecurity in the country.
According to media reports, the decision followed a motion sponsored by the senator representing Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim.
While the loss of innocent lives in Plateau, Benue, Zamfara, and other places demands immediate, coordinated intervention, the Senate is choosing to brainstorm, debate, and philosophise instead of pressing the executive to act with the urgency the situation demands.
Data from Open States reveal that 35 Nigerian states collectively allocated a staggering N214 billion toward improving security, funding local security outfits, purchasing arms, and setting up defence initiatives in 2025 alone.
This was in a bid to end the rising tide of violence across the country.
Yet, the insecurity crisis has persisted.
Between 2019 and 2025, at least 367 people lost their lives during festive periods such as Christmas and Sallah. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Nigeria recorded 2,819 abductions, 3,190 deaths, and 1,123 injuries across 428 of the country’s 774 local government areas, a reflection of how far security has continued to deteriorate, despite heavy investment.
At this point, Nigerians are not in need of another talk shop with recycled rhetoric, they need a government that responds with strategy, resolve, and boots on the ground.
The insistence on hosting a summit shows a detachment from the grim reality ordinary Nigerians face daily.
Senators like Enyinnaya Abaribe and Adamu Aliero were right to oppose the motion, not because insecurity should be ignored, but because summits have historically offered more photo-ops than progress.
What is urgently needed is an audit of existing security policies and agencies, the immediate deployment of resources to volatile regions, a shake-up of security leadership where necessary, and mechanisms to ensure that the N4.91 trillion allocated to defence and security in the 2025 budget is effectively used to deliver results, not pad the accounts of contractors and officials.
According to a 2023 report by the CLEEN Foundation, titled ‘National Crime and Safety Survey’, only 34 percent of Nigerians feel safe in their communities, and nearly 60 percent have little or no confidence in the ability of security agencies to protect them.
Fixing this does not require another summit; it requires decisive action, political will, and a government that puts lives ahead of lip service.
If the Senate truly wants to help, Development Diaries calls on it to start holding the executive accountable. It must demand a full-scale review of how security funds have been used, call for visible changes in military strategy, and insist on timelines for implementation.
Anything less, including this summit, will be remembered as yet another distraction that cost the country more time, more lives, and more trust in its leadership.
Photo source: The Nigerian Senate
