The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, has emphasised that Nigeria’s first line of defence lies with its citizens, not the military, urging stronger collaboration between security agencies, academic institutions, and local communities to build a safer nation.
Egbetokun remarked on Thursday while delivering a keynote address titled “Securing Nigeria Through the Town–Gown Partnership” at the Strategic Conference on Security and Development organised by the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Oto–Ijanikin.
He stressed that lasting security must be built on education, discipline, morality, and civic responsibility.
“The nation’s first line of defence is not its army; it is its people educated, disciplined, and united by the rule of law,” the police chief stated.
Commending LASUED for hosting what he described as an “awakening,” Egbetokun said universities must serve not only as centres of learning but also as “refineries of national conscience.”
He outlined a national security framework anchored on what he termed the Town Gown Partnership a model that fuses academic research with practical policing strategies and community engagement.
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According to him, the “town” represents ordinary Nigerians traditional leaders, entrepreneurs, clerics, youths, and workers while the “gown” embodies universities and research institutions.
“When these two realms merge, a nation moves from reaction to prediction, from survival to innovation,” he said.
Egbetokun reiterated that collective civic responsibility, supported by education and community collaboration, remains central to achieving sustainable peace and national development.