President Bola Tinubu, last week, summoned an emergency meeting of the 36 state governors and other stakeholders, to discuss the burning issues of insecurity, inflation and galloping food prices in the country.
This meeting is timely given the current realities of the nation where inflation is at the highest it has ever been in the last three decades, with the cost-of-living well over the roof leaving families scraping to afford a single meal per day.
There has also been a surge in insecurity, with daily reports of kidnappings and killings in different parts of the country. Out laws and other armed groups have taken advantage of the absence of police and local authorities in unmanned spaces to reign terror on communities.
States like Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, and even the FCT have been in the news lately over activities of bandits and kidnappers who operate from forests and mountains.
The impact of these crises is most felt on the agricultural value chain, where farm yields are dwindling and food prices daily increasing.
These different challenges calls for urgent measures as citizens are fast losing their confidence on the ability of the state to protect them. This is evident in the series of protests witnessed in different states over the past few weeks.
It is therefore not surprising that the president and the state governors are considering the possibility of a state police as a way out of the current security crises in the country.
The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, who addressed journalists after the meeting, however announced that more discussions are still needed on how to implement it.
To most Nigerians, the issue of state police is one idea whose time has come, given that the issue has been on the front burner of past administrations including that of former President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.
For instance, in 2014 the National Political Reform Conference had recommended devolving policing to allow states to create their police, in addition to enabling community policing.
However, President Jonathan who initiated the 2014 conference, and his successor, Muhammadu Buhari, both failed to implement the recommendations of the report despite the issues of insurgency that rocked their tenures.
It is therefore encouraging to have President Tinubu, in barely a year in office, already looking in that direction. Though still in the initial stage of consideration, there’s still a lot of work to be done if state police must come to reality in Nigeria.
There’s the issue of constitutional amendments if state police is to take effect. Section 214 sub section 1, of the constitution explicitly states that, “There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof.”
Thankfully, there is currently a bill to that effect in the House of Representative that has already gone through the first hearing. It will however be a marathon of a processes for the State Police bill to see the light of day.
For one, there has to be a ratification of same in at least two-third of the states assemblies before the bill can become law. However, getting the support of two-third of state assemblies should not be a cause for concern because there seem to be the will on that divide.
The challenge has always been on the side of the federal government who has never shown support for the idea of a state police. It is therefore a sharp departure from the norm, having a federal government entertaining this idea. It is a good step towards actualization of state police.
President Tinubu, himself being a former governor, perhaps can relate with the plight of the governors seeing how constrained they are in area of security as they have no control over any of the existing federal security apparatus.
However, the debilitating security situation in many of the regions has necessitated the formation of some adhoc security outfit to help give the governors in the said states some semblance of authority to deploy when in distressed situations to either support the activities of the federal securities outfits or where they are lacking, to provide security for her citizens.
A typical of this is the establishments of the Amotekun in the southwestern states, as well as the “Ebube Agwu” in the south east. Some states have also set up neighborhood watch and vigilantes services to help check some of their security challenges.
The success stories of these adhoc states controlled security outfits may have given the president Tinubu led federal government the confidence to buy into the idea of a state police.
These security outfits are however, not without their operational limitations. But inspite their lapses, they have been able to record significant successes in tackling the security challenges in their states of operations.
In other climes, systems are designed to enable state police typically operate under strict regulations and oversight mechanisms to prevent abuse by governors or any other figure.
Some of such regulations include, constituting an internal affairs or civilian oversight where state police departments get civilian oversight boards or commissions tasked with the responsibility of reviewing policies, investigating complaints of misconduct, and ensuring accountability.
Therefore, for state police to thrive in Nigeria, it must be backed with the legal framework to define its powers and limitations and ensure its personnel operate within the bounds of the law and constitution.
Training and standards should also be prioritised, so officers understand the place of respect for civil rights, proper use of force, and adherence to departmental policies and procedures.
Beyond court marshaling of erring officers, serious incidents, such as officer-involved shootings or allegations of corruption should also be investigated by independent agencies or special prosecutors to ensure impartiality and transparency.
We believe that with proper implementation of some these measures, state police when finally established in Nigeria, will help uphold the rule of law, protect civil liberties, without undue influence or abuse by political authorities.
