Nigeria’s security system isn’t only broken, but bleeding, and Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu is done whispering about it.

At a high-stakes Constitution Review Dialogue in Abuja, the Deputy Speaker didn’t mince words. Standing before service chiefs, policy heads, and legal bigwigs, he dropped the kind of truth Nigerians have felt for years but rarely hear echoed from power: “The day Nigerians fear police more than terrorists, we’ve lost the point of internal security.”

And honestly, he’s not wrong. From SARS brutality to constant harassment at checkpoints, young Nigerians especially have been living in fear of those meant to serve and protect.

Kalu added, calling out the disjointed security response that’s left places like Yelewata and Daudu in Benue State bleeding. Communities are being attacked, lives lost, and yet security agencies are moving like they’re playing different games on different fields. Intelligence is collected but not shared. Agencies aren’t syncing. And people keep dying.

He said security agencies working in silos won’t cut it anymore. We need collaboration. Urgency. A full reset. Because intelligence without teamwork is just noise.

The House Committee on Constitution Review, which he’s part of, has started consultations across the country to identify the loopholes in our security laws. He’s pushing for reforms that go beyond talking points — local policing that works, clear roles for each agency, accountability from top to bottom. As he put it: “Policing must evolve. The laws must change. Our people deserve to sleep with both eyes closed.”

Then Interior Minister, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, stepped up and gave it to us straight. Nigeria’s borders are leaking like a faulty pipe, and the Immigration Service is trying to cover over 4,000km with a budget of less than N10 billion. Do the math. You can’t fight terrorism with paper and prayers.

Tunji-Ojo said something that stuck: “You kill one terrorist today, and twenty more enter through our open borders.” That’s the reality. And while everyone keeps shouting “military! military!” every time security comes up, he reminded the room that internal security is not about the army — it’s police, intelligence, immigration. Not tanks and guns, but systems and structure.

He also dragged the current police funding model. Imagine running a national security agency that has to wait for Abuja to release funds before they can even buy fuel. That’s not security, that’s sabotage.

Both men agreed that the constitution must be rewritten to reflect today’s threats — tech-driven crime, cross-border terrorism, organised violence. Nigeria’s laws are still living in the 1990s, but the crimes we’re facing are from 2030. The law needs to catch up.

Kalu was clear: the National Assembly won’t shy away from passing amendments that protect people and hold security agencies to account. “We cannot continue to bury victims of preventable attacks,” he said. “The law must be the people’s shield.”

It wasn’t just a bunch of suits talking either. The summit had service chiefs, civil society groups, legal scholars, the people who can actually do something. But whether or not they will, that’s another story. Nigerians have heard big grammar before. What they want now is results.

Because people aren’t asking for miracles. They just want to be able to walk down the street without praying they don’t run into uniformed trauma. They want safety, not survival mode.

The question is, will this be another round of talk? Or the start of real chang