The Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Adegoke Fayode, mni, psc, fisn, has called for urgent national action to secure and safeguard Nigeria’s economic resources from mismanagement, corruption, and systemic exploitation.
He made the call while delivering a paper titled “Securing and Safeguarding Nigeria’s Economic Resources: A Call to Serve.”
Fayode said the protection of economic resources remained central to every nation’s quest for stability, prosperity, and sovereignty.
According to him, the global economy is worth over $500 trillion, yet vast inequalities persist because of corruption, weak institutions, and illicit financial flows.
He disclosed that developing nations lose about $1.6 trillion annually to financial crimes and mismanagement, a situation he described as a tragedy of governance and accountability.
The AIG stressed that the real challenge is not scarcity but the lack of capacity to protect, manage, and deploy available resources responsibly.
He noted that to secure national assets is to safeguard the nation’s future, and to serve in that mission is to defend the country’s economic integrity.
Fayode observed that Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation, stands at a critical crossroads in its developmental journey.
He said the country is endowed with abundant natural and human resources but remains trapped in a paradox of poverty amid plenty.
According to him, Nigeria has over 37 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 209 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as well as significant deposits of solid minerals.
He, however, lamented that despite these riches, 63 percent of Nigerians still live in multidimensional poverty as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2023.
Fayode blamed this situation on chronic mismanagement, weak institutional capacity, and large-scale economic sabotage.
He cited data from the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) which showed that the country loses an estimated $26.3 billion annually to oil theft, illicit financial flows, and illegal mining.
Between 2009 and 2020, he said, Nigeria lost over $46 billion to crude oil theft and unremitted funds—resources that could have transformed the nation’s infrastructure, education, and healthcare sectors.
He explained that beyond oil, the agricultural and maritime sectors also suffer from smuggling, sabotage, and institutional leakages.
The AIG warned that such economic losses undermine national stability, weaken institutions, and erode the foundations of sustainable development.
He defined economic resource security as the deliberate protection of a nation’s productive assets—both tangible and intangible—from theft, abuse, and subversion.
According to him, this involves protecting oil and gas infrastructure, mineral resources, public finances, digital assets, human capital, and intellectual property.
He said the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) occupies a strategic position in this effort and must evolve into a knowledge-driven, intelligence-led, and digitally equipped institution.
Fayode emphasized that the Police must move beyond traditional crime-fighting to intelligence-based economic protection.
He called for stronger synergy among security agencies such as the EFCC, ICPC, DSS, NSCDC, and the Nigeria Customs Service.
According to him, collaboration, intelligence sharing, and ethical discipline are vital to securing the nation’s economy from internal and external threats.
The AIG explained that there is a strong connection between national security and economic stability.
He warned that when national wealth is plundered or mismanaged, the result is unemployment, poverty, social unrest, and political instability.
Conversely, he said, when resources are well-managed, stability, good governance, and public confidence thrive.
He urged the Police to see economic protection as an essential pillar of national defense, noting that every act of pipeline vandalism, smuggling, or cyber fraud weakens the state.
Fayode said a credible and accountable Police Force helps build investor confidence, enhances institutional legitimacy, and encourages public cooperation.
He identified cybercrime, oil theft, illegal mining, corruption, terrorism, and insurgency as key threats to Nigeria’s economy.
According to him, Nigeria loses about ₦127 billion annually to cyber and financial crimes, while over $2 billion is lost yearly to oil theft.
He added that illegal mining has created parallel economies that fund armed groups and exacerbate insecurity.
The AIG said corruption, weak oversight, and bureaucratic opacity continue to drain public resources and hinder national development.
He noted that terrorism, banditry, and attacks on farmlands disrupt production and threaten food security.
“These threats are interlinked and reinforce one another,” he stated. “We must adopt preventive, technology-driven, and intelligence-based policing to address them.”
Fayode said securing Nigeria’s economic resources requires redefining the Police’s role from enforcement to developmental security.
He identified innovation, technology, and inter-agency coordination as key pillars of this transformation.
He also emphasized that moral integrity and professional ethics are critical to achieving economic security.
“To serve Nigeria faithfully is to ensure her resources are preserved for all, not plundered by a few,” he declared.
Fayode warned that corruption, complacency, and complicity remain the greatest internal threats to the nation’s progress.
He said the ethical revolution needed to transform Nigeria must begin with security agencies through accountability and integrity.
The AIG called on policymakers to strengthen institutions, embrace digital reforms, and improve the welfare of security personnel.
He argued that national prosperity is not automatic but the result of deliberate leadership and courageous reform.
Concluding his presentation, Fayode said securing Nigeria’s economic resources is a patriotic obligation and a defense of national sovereignty.
He urged all Nigerians to rise in unity to protect the nation’s wealth from internal and external predators.
“Every drop of oil, every ounce of mineral, every kobo of tax, and every innovation must serve the Nigerian people,” he said.
He added that the Police’s traditional creed of “to serve and protect” must now expand to include “to secure and sustain.”
Fayode said the time to act is now, calling on officers, citizens, and leaders to commit to defending the nation’s economic destiny.
