In a decisive move to combat the raging wave of abductions, the Federal Government and state governors, on Thursday, resolved to come up with modalities that would culminate in the creation of state police to tackle the security crisis confronting the country.
This was part of the agreements reached at an emergency meeting between President Bola Tinubu and 36 state governors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The meeting was called to provide solutions to the hike in food prices, economic hardship and insecurity recorded nationwide.
The nation had been wracked by waves of abductions, attacks by suspected bandits and other violent crimes.
This had revived the clamour for the establishment of a multi-level policing system, including state police.
Addressing State House Correspondents after the session, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, explained that the process was still in its infancy and would only take shape after more deliberations between stakeholders.
“The Federal Government and the state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up state police,” Idris said, noting that “This is still going to be further discussed.”
“A lot of work must be done in that direction. But if our government and the state governments agree to the necessity of having state police, this is a significant shift.
“As I said, more work needs to be done in that direction. A lot of meetings will have to happen between the Federal Government and sub-nationals to see the modalities of achieving this,” Idris noted.
The development comes just three days after governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party decried the upsurge in kidnappings and killings across the nation, asking the president to allow the creation of state police.
On February 13, the House of Representatives said it was set to discuss a proposed legislation to create state police.
The legislation titled, ‘A bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for the establishment of State Police and related matters,’ has been slated for a second reading.
The debate for creating state police in Nigeria stems from the centralised nature of the Nigeria Police Force, which many security pundits said should be decentralised to address the security challenges across the country’s diverse regions.
Proponents argue that state police would bring law enforcement closer to the communities they serve, but critics fear it could be abused, potentially exacerbating regional tensions and undermining national unity.
According to the information minister, the President and the governors agreed that security and calm were gradually returning to the country’s most troubled spots.
Idris, however, said the officials agreed that normalcy had not been fully restored.
Consequently, the government will recruit a yet-to-be-disclosed number of forest rangers and invest in more training to “keep our forests and our borders very safe.”
The minister said, “Mr President and the state governors have all agreed that we are seeing a significant improvement in the security situation around the country. This is not to say that the security situation has been solved completely. But we have seen a significant improvement.
“In Borno, for example, areas where farmers were not able to cultivate due to security, those farmers have now returned. It is the same in Jigawa and many parts of the country. The governors, including the Governor of Plateau State, also attested that there appears to be an improvement in security in these areas.
“Mr President and the governors also thanked the security agencies for the work they are doing. Some of them even paid the supreme price.
“And the governors have also asked the president to do more. In this direction, Mr President and the state governors have also discussed the possibility of improving the numeric strength of forest rangers to train them so that they can keep our forests and our borders very safe.”
Idris also announced a joint initiative by the federal and state governments to reduce youth unemployment.
He said, “Mr President has also called on the state governors to join hands with the Federal Government to provide more for people, especially the teeming youth population.
“There is going to be a joint programme between the state governments and the Federal Government to ensure that our teeming youth population is gainfully employed so that we will reduce to the barest minimum the issue of unemployment in the country.”
Afterwards, the President and governors agreed to set up a committee to “deepen the conversations that have happened at the just-concluded meeting.”
Idris explained it was impossible to complete most of the issues raised at the meeting, adding, “So, these kinds of meetings will continue in the interest of our nation.”
A security expert, Chidi Omeje, lauded the move to establish state police, saying it was required to overcome the current security challenge.
He said, “This is what we have been advocating. There’s no way a country like ours with multiple security crises can continue to run the affairs of the police from Abuja.
“The time for state police was yesterday, not even now because most of the issues, most of the security problems you have are localized. And most of them have to do with bad governance, as far as I’m concerned.’’
But a member of the International Security Association Switzerland, Lekan Jackson, expressed concern that the police officers could become a stooge in the hands of the governors.
He said, “It cannot work. The economy is dwindling. Where is the fund? Some states owe salaries and others cannot afford to pay the minimum wage. Where will they get the money to fund the state police?
“With our political mentality in this country, the police will become a willing tool in the hands of these governors. At the end of the day, it is going to boomerang because of the way we do our things here.”
The Legal Adviser of the Labour Party, Kehinde Edun, applauded the decision to create state police, saying many concerned stakeholders, including him, had always canvassed for decentralisation of security.
He said, “It is a welcome development and I believe it will work wonders. That is how it should be. I remember when I was growing up, that was what we were used to and it was working well.
‘’That is the essence of federalism. But it was the Nigerian Civil War that brought about this issue of having everything run from the centre. It is wrong.
“We should have changed it a long time before now. That is the essence of having tiers of government. When we talk about the Federal Republic of Nigeria, true federalism involves devolution of power.
‘’It is not only state police we should have. There should also be state revenue boards, state-owned railways and airports. It is not ideal to have everything run from the centre. It is giving us problems.”
Additional reports by Adebayo Folorunsho-Francis, Solomon Odeniyi and Nathaniel Shaibu
