By Engr. Kabiru Garba
Kano State remains one of Nigeria’s most populous states, where security is not an abstract policy but a daily reality.
For every citizen, security is the bedrock of daily life, commerce, and culture. It is undoubtedly a concern that resonates from the crowded city markets to the vast, farm-lined hinterlands.
For Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, confronting this challenge has demanded a strategy that is equally multifaceted. It requires moving beyond a centralised command to embedding safety within the communities themselves. This is not a top-down decree, but rather a ground-up compact.
This conviction now drives a multi-million naira, multi-layered initiative aimed at turning the tide through visibility, mobility, and local intelligence.
The most visible symbol of this compact is the newly inaugurated Kano State Neighbourhood Watch Corps.
On Tuesday, at the Sani Abacha Stadium, the governor stood before 2,000 recruits, comprising of 1,870 men and 130 women drawn from every one of the state’s 44 Local Government Areas.
Their passing-out parade activated a frontline distinct from the conventional vigilante groups. These corps members have undergone formal training and will be legally equipped. Their primary advantage is intrinsic: they are local. They know the alleyways, the dialects, the rhythms, and the people.
Their mandate is to act as the first line of defence and intelligence, helping to combat crimes like banditry, kidnapping, and rural violence that have tested the region’s peace.
Recognising that even the most knowledgeable personnel need mobility to cover ground, the state has made a substantial investment in logistics.
At the inauguration, Governor Yusuf commissioned 88 new Hilux patrol vehicles and 440 motorcycles for the corps. This fleet is a force multiplier, designed to make security presence constant. The practical goal is to shrink emergency response times, enable patrols across difficult terrain, and ensure a visible, reassuring presence that deters crime before it begins.
This deployment is part of a sustained financial commitment. Just before the launch, the governor approved N484 million to procure 300 Boxer motorcycles to further amplify the corps’ reach at the community level.
This sequential investment reveals a strategy of layered reinforcement, building capacity piece by critical piece.
The neighbourhood watch initiative is the Kano’s newest layer in a security architecture that has been under construction.
Months earlier, in November, the governor targeted areas under acute pressure. He provided 10 vehicles and 50 motorcycles to the federal-state Joint Task Force (JTF). This aimed at boosting their operational efficiency in seven frontline local government areas: Kiru, Tsanyawa, Kunchi, Gwarzo, Shanono, Tudun Wada, and Doguwa.
This support was a direct response to immediate threats, enhancing rapid response and inter-agency coordination in the state’s most vulnerable regions.
Perhaps the most forward-thinking layer of Governor Abba’s strategy focuses on protection beyond immediate conflict.
In May this year, he approved the immediate recruitment of 17,600 security guards for public schools across Kano.
This move, while distinct from law enforcement, addresses a deep societal anxiety. By hardening these soft targets, the government seeks to safeguard not only buildings but the state’s future, its children, and to restore a fundamental sense of normalcy and security to education.
Taken together, these actions sketch a comprehensive philosophy that simply says security is interconnected. It requires empowering formal task forces, establishing legitimate community-based forces, and proactively protecting critical social infrastructure.
Analysts observe that the governor’s approach tackles Kano’s complex security situation on three fronts: strengthening formal joint operations with the JTF, establishing a dedicated, locally-rooted armed corps, and hardening soft targets like schools.
Meanwhile, the substantial allocation of resources, from hundreds of millions for motorcycles to over a hundred patrol vehicles signals a clear prioritization of security expenditure in our dear state, Kano.
Therefore, it is the hope of every citizen that the true measure of this security compact will determine the state’s trajectory of peace and prosperity for years to come.