Diaspora Group Seeks Return to Regional Police System

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Enugu

A United States-based socio-political advocacy organisation, Ndi Igbo Worldwide Union, has called for the return to the regional police system instead of the state police, which the federal government intends to implement.

 The call was made in a statement signed by the duo of Mazi Ben Nwankwo, president, and Chief Charles Edemuzo, secretary, saying that adopting a regional police structure remains “the proven path to security, justice, and national progress.

 “The World Ndigbo Union stands firmly with millions of Nigerians who are weary of endless insecurity, bloodshed, kidnappings, banditry, and the daily erosion of trust in our national institutions.

 “As the debate on decentralising policing intensifies, with President Bola Tinubu rightly urging constitutional amendments for state police, we assert unequivocally that State Police is not the answer. Regional police, modeled on the successful architecture of 1955–1966, is the minimum requirement for meaningful reform,” the statement read.

NIWU acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu’s push for state police was “well-intentioned” but noted that it “diverts precious time and resources from the “more viable path” to security, which is regional police structure. Regionalism worked before; it can work again,” the group stated, arguing that state police is prone to political manipulation and abuse by state governors.

In advocating regional police, NIWU noted that “Nigeria’s most progressive, productive, and peaceful era occurred between 1955 and 1966, when the Northern, Western, and Eastern Regions operated with substantial autonomy, including their own regional police forces.”

It expressed nostalgia for the defunct regional governments that “fostered rapid development unmatched to this day: world-class universities, booming agriculture, industrial growth, and competitive regional governance that drove national prosperity.”

 The group lamented that the centralisation imposed after the 1966 military incursion “dismantled this effective (regional) model, replacing it with a distant, overstretched national force often commanded by officers alien to the regions they serve.

“The absurdity of dispatching a Fulani police commissioner—answerable solely to Abuja—to police Ibibio land, Igbo communities, or any unfamiliar cultural landscape is not just inefficient, it is a recipe for alienation, mistrust, and escalated insecurity.

 “Effective policing worldwide relies on local knowledge—language, customs, geography, and relationships—not remote directives from the centre,” NIWU stated.

 The diaspora group listed the benefits of regional police to include “empowering officers indigenous to their geopolitical zones to lead security efforts with cultural competence and community trust.”

 It also stated that regional police would “align policing with Nigeria’s natural federal structure (e.g., six zones of North West, North East, North Central, South East, South West, South-South), avoiding the fragmentation and abuse risks inherent in 36 plus state-level forces.

“Provide built-in checks against any single governor weaponising police against political opponents or citizens. Revive the competitive, development-driven federalism that once made Nigeria a beacon of progress in Africa.”

NIWU commended recent expert voices raised in the national discourse on decentralisation of policing, including police reform analysts, who have echoed that regional formations offer a ‘balanced, realistic bridge to true federalism’.

 According to the group, regional police would “enhance responsiveness without the chaos of hyper-decentralisation,” hence “regional police is the minimum threshold for Nigeria to have any realistic chance of reversing insecurity and rebuilding unity.”

It warned that “failure to restore genuine regional autonomy in security and governance leaves self-determination as the only remaining option for peoples who can no longer endure systemic failure.”

The Ndi Igbo Worldwide Union, therefore, called on President Tinubu and the National Assembly “to prioritise constitutional amendments enabling regional police structures over piecemeal state-level experiments.”

It also urged all patriotic Nigerians “to demand a return to the proven federal principles that once united and propelled us forward”, adding that “the time for cosmetic fixes is over.”

While stressing that “Nigeria must return to the regions or risk losing the federation altogether,” NIWU prayed, asking God “to guide our leaders to choose wisdom, justice, and progress for all.”