Businessman and social commentator, Isaac Fayose, has called on the Nigerian government to significantly increase the salaries of security personnel, particularly operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), as part of efforts to address the country’s worsening security challenges.
Reacting to the growing wave of kidnappings, banditry, and violent attacks across various parts of Nigeria, Fayose compared the earnings of Nigerian security operatives with those of their counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom.
According to him, agents of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reportedly earn between $50,000 and $100,000 annually, while police officers in the United Kingdom earn between £34,000 and £90,000 per year. He contrasted this with what he described as the relatively low earnings of DSS personnel in Nigeria, which he claimed range between ₦4 million and ₦12 million annually.
Fayose argued that poor remuneration is one of the factors contributing to insecurity in the country, stressing that adequately compensating security operatives would improve their motivation, effectiveness, and commitment to duty.
“Paying our security agents poorly is part of the reason we have insecurity in Nigeria. Increase DSS entry salary to ₦1 million per month and see how effective they will be,” he stated.
