As insecurity continues to plague various part of Nigeria, the federal government appears to have finally come around to the idea of having state police.
Yesterday, at a meeting with 36 state governors, attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the national security adviser (NSA), the inspector-general of police (IGP), the director-general of the Directorate of State Service (DSS), and some ministers at the State House in Abuja, it approved the composition of a committee to begin the groundwork for the establishment of state police.
President Bola Tinubu, in a statement by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, approved the establishment of a committee comprising state governors and representatives of the federal government to, among other things, explore the modalities for establishing state police.
He further endorsed the training and equipping of forest rangers by sub-national governments to safeguard human and natural resources in local communities.
According to reports, following the seemingly intractable security challenges across Nigeria, especially terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, rustling, and communal violence, there have been growing calls for decentralisation of the policing structure in the country, most recently by Governor of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
This is as the president said his administration was evolving home-grown solutions to address the nation’s food security challenges by setting up schemes to support local production and discourage all forms of rent-seeking associated with food importation.
He said: ‘’My position at this meeting is that we must move aggressively and establish a committee to look critically at the issues raised, including the possibility of establishing state police.
‘’From Kano, we have read reports about large-scale hoarding of food in some warehouses. The national security adviser (NSA), the inspector-general of police, and the director-general of the Department of State Services should coordinate very closely and ensure that security agencies in the states inspect such warehouses with follow-up action.
‘’We must ensure that speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers are not allowed to sabotage our efforts in ensuring the wide availability of food to all Nigerians.
‘’What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food. We should be able to get ourselves out of the situation we found ourselves in, because importation will allow rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense. We would rather support farmers with the schemes that will make them go to the farm and grow more food for everyone in the country.”