Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has described governing the state as a major challenge, saying its large population and cosmopolitan character make it a “mini-Nigeria.”

Yusuf made the remarks through the Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya, who represented him at the first annual security conference of the Institute of Security and Strategic Studies (ISSS).

The governor was honoured with an Award of Excellence in Security Governance at the conference, which was themed “Building a Resilient National Security Ecosystem: Innovation, Intelligence and Community Partnership for a Safer Nigeria.”

Speaking after receiving the award, Waiya said the recognition should serve as a call to further action on security governance, noting that the Kano State Government had adopted both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies to address insecurity.

He said the administration had trained about 2,000 young men and women under the Neighbourhood Watch initiative and deployed them across the state’s 44 local government areas to complement conventional security agencies.

Waiya also highlighted the Anti-Phone Snatching Corps and the Safe Corridor programme, which he said was established to encourage youths involved in political thuggery and violence to surrender their weapons and embrace peace.

According to him, about 340 young men had been registered and profiled under the Safe Corridor programme, while the state government had committed more than N500 million to the initiative.

Speaking on the challenges of governing Kano, Yusuf said:

“As one of the speakers at the summit rightly said, governing is not an easy task. It is not for a lazy person because you are actually governing a state that is like a mini-Nigeria.

He added:

“Kano has a very large population and has recently been described among the world’s most populous cities. It is a cosmopolitan state and a melting pot for Nigerians because people from all parts of Nigeria are living in Kano.

“So, Kano is actually a mini-Nigeria, and governing it is not easy,” he said.

Meanwhile, security expert Dr Muhammad Ali called for stronger community-based security partnerships across the North-West to confront banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, border vulnerabilities and inter-community conflicts.

Ali said Kano and Jigawa were not entirely immune to insecurity despite enjoying relative stability compared with some neighbouring states.

He attributed the relative stability to factors including strong traditional and religious institutions, economic activities, proactive security measures and geographical considerations.

The security expert advocated a shift from an exclusively kinetic approach to an integrated, community-centred security framework involving traditional rulers, local communities, civil society organisations and security agencies.

He recommended the establishment of formal early-warning and early-response mechanisms, improved intelligence sharing, closer coordination between community security outfits and conventional agencies, human rights training and effective oversight.

Ali further called for greater intelligence cooperation and joint border patrols among the North-West states, urging the governors of the seven states in the region to work together to tackle insecurity.

“Finally, the Governors of the seven North Western States have to come together to agree never to disagree and as soon as that is done, I would want to assure you on my honour that in four months, we can end banditry, the economy of violence, cattle rustling and any other criminal activity bedeviling the region. So help us God,” he said.