All of the National Confab delegates present at the plenary
session on June 26, 2014, Thursday, have voted for creation of state
police in order to improve security situation in Nigeria.
The
delegates supported the idea of its creation because Nigeria, with its
enormous population of over 170 million people and big territory, is too
large to be controlled by Abuja-based federal police.
The American model is much more suitable for a large federative state. According to it, police is divided into federal police, state police and county police, National Guard, as well as some others at various levels.
One of the disadvantages of the existing national system is that state governors, who are the chief security officers of their respective states, do not have power over the police, which is being controlled by the Inspector General of Police, appointed by the Federal Government.
Such prominent Nigerian politicians as the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola and many others have advocated for change in the system.
Tinubu, during his visit to Chicago, the USA, attributed the rise of insecurity in Nigeria to the reluctance of the Federal Government and its disagreement to share security responsibilities with all the states of the federation.
In one of his works, titled “Nigeria and the Search for True Federalism” the APC leader stated that the monopolisation of security control has turned Nigeria into one of the most dangerous places on the globe, created a good soil for growing Boko Haram insurgency:
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Some delegates of the National Conference. Photo credit – @qwikgist
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The American model is much more suitable for a large federative state. According to it, police is divided into federal police, state police and county police, National Guard, as well as some others at various levels.
One of the disadvantages of the existing national system is that state governors, who are the chief security officers of their respective states, do not have power over the police, which is being controlled by the Inspector General of Police, appointed by the Federal Government.
Such prominent Nigerian politicians as the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola and many others have advocated for change in the system.
Tinubu, during his visit to Chicago, the USA, attributed the rise of insecurity in Nigeria to the reluctance of the Federal Government and its disagreement to share security responsibilities with all the states of the federation.
In one of his works, titled “Nigeria and the Search for True Federalism” the APC leader stated that the monopolisation of security control has turned Nigeria into one of the most dangerous places on the globe, created a good soil for growing Boko Haram insurgency:
“The roots of these security challenges have mostly local origins. A centralised structure, however, tends to deploy security officials and units with insufficient knowledge and understanding of local issues.
“Instead of helping, the security personnel often worsen the situation because of their lack of knowledge. Community policing has proven effective in many different social conditions around the world. It is an idea whose time has come for Nigeria. However, it cannot be applied purposefully under the current security structure. Thus, our security apparatus remains big but uninformed.”The National Conference was inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan himself in Abuja on March 17, 2014. The crucial national socio-political event is meant to provide a platform for Nigerians to discuss issues of common concern.
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