From agency silos to operational synergy: Strategic Communication and security management in Nigeria

Abstract

The proliferation of crime weakens the national security system of any country, often necessitating innovative security management strategies to address the situation. In recent decades, Nigeria’s security system has become progressively complicated due to the heightened rate of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal violence, and organised crime. Despite various government initiatives and responses by security agencies, the level of insecurity remains atrocious, indicating a clear limitation with the current security approach. This paper, therefore, examines the role strategic inter-agency communication can play in improving security management in Nigeria. Communication accommodation theory and social exchange theory provided the theoretical framework to advance the thesis of this paper. The paper analysed the challenges of agency silos and inter-agency rivalries in hindering inter-agency collaboration. With conceptual and theoretical insights, the paper explored how strategic inter-agency communication can be used to break agency siloes and enhance operational synergy through formal communication protocol establishment, exploitation of technology-aided platforms, and the normalisation of joint training. The paper concluded that strategic inter-agency communication can facilitate the exchange of intelligence information, productive operational synergy, and collaborative responses for security management in Nigeria.