Gani Adams, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, is throwing his weight behind the creation of state police, saying Nigeria’s security crisis can’t be solved with a single, centralised force.
On Sunrise Daily, Adams backed the Southern Governors’ Forum push for state-controlled police forces, praising South-West governors for “taking the lead.” He stressed that anyone who truly cares about Nigeria should support the initiative. “Anybody who loves this country will not disagree with state police, considering the situation we have,” he said.
Brushing aside fears that governors might misuse such forces politically, Adams insisted that protecting lives and property comes first. He argued that local officers know their communities far better than outsiders. Using Arigidi-Akoko in Ondo State as an example, he noted that locals know the forests, routes, and even individuals with criminal backgrounds—information outsiders just can’t match.
Adams also highlighted a structural problem: Nigeria has three tiers of government, but only one police system. “There is no way you can run a country with three tiers of governance but only one structure of policing,” he said, calling for policing at federal, state, and local levels.
With insecurity rising, regional security outfits like Amotekun are stepping in, while calls for state police and constitutional reform grow louder. President Bola Tinubu has even urged the National Assembly to allow states to establish their own forces, giving the debate fresh momentum.
Will decentralised policing finally be Nigeria’s answer to insecurity, or is it still a long road ahead?
#StatePolice #NigeriaSecurity #DecentralisedPolicing
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