Foundation, DAWN Commission Pledge to Sustain Akeredolu’s Push for State Police

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

The Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission and Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Foundation, have assured of their commitment to the realization of state policing as advocated for by the former governor of Ondo state, late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, during his life time.

The two bodies as part of programnes lined up to mark his 70th posthumous birthday will be organizing a colloquium with the theme, “Fundamentals and Governance of State Policing: Towards a New Architecture for National Security in Nigeria,”

The event is expected to bring together governors, lawmakers, security chiefs, traditional rulers, academics and civil society actors to discuss the future of policing and national security in Nigeria.

A representative of the Akeredolu family, Mr. Taiwo Adewole, while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, said the family choose to celebrate the late governor through ideas and conversations around issues he championed during his lifetime.

According to him, Akeredolu, who would have turned 70 on July 21, 2026, was a lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association and two-term governor of Ondo State, describing him as “a man of courage,” who spoke when silence was safer, acted when waiting was easier and stood up when others sat down.

Adewole said Akeredolu remained committed to the security and welfare of the people, particularly during periods of insecurity in the South-West.

“When farmers were killed on their farms, he did not look away. When criminals made our forests their hiding places, he drew a line. When terror came to Owo, his own hometown, he stood with his people and grieved with them,”

He recalled that as Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, Akeredolu played a leading role in the establishment of Operation Amotekun, despite opposition and doubts from some quarters.

“He believed security begins at home. He believed the people closest to a community are best placed to protect it,” he said.

Adewole added that the family had chosen not to mourn Akeredolu with tears alone but to honour him by continuing conversations around the ideas and causes he championed.

The Director-General of the DAWN Commission, Dr. Seye Oyeleye, on his part, said the commission was proud to convene the Aketi@70 Colloquium in partnership with the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Foundation.

According to him, the event scheduled for Thursday, October 8, at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, is aimed at keeping alive Akeredolu’s contributions to the debate on state policing and national security.

He said Nigeria’s security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder clashes and attacks on farms, highways and places of worship, had made the debate on policing increasingly important, noting that Nigeria’s centralised policing structure is under strain, making it necessary to have a serious conversation about how state policing can be implemented, funded, regulated and made accountable.

“The debate on state policing is no longer about whether. It is about how. How do we fund it? How do we train and equip it? How do we guard against abuse? How do we keep it accountable to the people, not to politicians?

“These are the questions this colloquium will tackle,” he said.

Oyeleye said the discussion is not a regional or Yoruba agenda but a national issue that went to the heart of Nigeria’s federal structure.

He said the experience of Operation Amotekun has demonstrated the potential of regional cooperation and the importance of local knowledge in addressing security challenges.

“Amotekun showed what is possible. Regional cooperation works. Local knowledge saves lives,”

He urged Nigerians and the media to participate actively in the discourse, stating that Akeredolu’s death should not mark the end of the ideas and conversations he started.

“Honouring Aketi is not about the past. It is about the Nigeria we must build,” Oyeleye added.