WHY NIGERIA NEEDS STATE POLICE

For decades, Nigeria’s security architecture has been trapped in a centralized bottleneck—a “stranger-policing” model where law enforcement officers are frequently deployed to terrains they do not understand, cultures they do not share, and communities where they remain perpetual outsiders.

This detachment has created a profound vacuum of intelligence, efficiency, and accountability. Today, as the nation stares into the abyss of unremitting banditry, kidnapping, and asymmetrical terrorism, the path toward a sustainable future is no longer a matter of debate—it is an existential imperative.

By steering the nation toward the creation of State Police, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not merely fulfilling a campaign promise; he is conducting a fundamental, visionary rescue operation for the Nigerian state.
President Tinubu deserves commendation for his relentless, courageous pursuit of this legislative reform. In the face of daunting political inertia and the stubborn resistance of established security bureaucracies, he has consistently identified the decentralization of policing as an unavoidable necessity.

​While others have chosen the path of appeasement or opted for the comfort of the status quo, President Tinubu has chosen the path of institutional surgery. He understands a reality that many in the corridors of power have ignored: the centralized security model of the mid-20th century is fundamentally incapable of neutralizing the decentralized, technologically savvy, and hyper-local threats of the 21st century.

By pushing the National Assembly to prioritize the State Police Bill, the President is demonstrating a statesmanlike commitment to preserving the Nigerian project, prioritizing the lives of the citizenry over the comfort of traditional power structures.
To understand why State Police is the only viable antidote, one must first look at the human cost of our current inaction. For far too long, the primary burden of community protection has fallen on the shoulders of the brave, yet tragically under-equipped, local security initiatives. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Southwest, where the Amotekun Corps has served as the frontline of human resilience.

​In Oyo State alone, the statistics are both harrowing and heartbreaking. Nearly 200 Amotekun operatives have paid the ultimate price in the line of duty over the last six years. These men and women, often acting with little more than bare hands, arrows, or antiquated dane guns, have stood their ground against well-funded, foreign-backed, and heavily armed terrorist syndicates.

These terrorists roam our forests with submachine guns, AK-47s, and military-grade weaponry, treating our sovereign territory as their own private killing fields. If the death toll in Oyo State alone is this high, one can only imagine the staggering aggregate sacrifice across the six states of the Southwest. We are losing a generation of local defenders who have been left to face ideological beasts with nothing but courage.

President Tinubu, by championing this bill, is essentially saying: Enough. He is moving to ensure that the protectors of our land are no longer martyrs, but professionals backed by the full authority and resources of the law.
​
Erasmus Ikhide, ikhideluckyerasmus@gmail.com