Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state has stated that the total personnel required for the proposed State Police in the country will not be fewer than 500,000 men and women.
The number of the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, is, according to checks less than 500,000 personnel, which has been described as grossly inadequate for a vast country like Nigeria.
The Ogun state helmsman who’s also the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum made the remark in Ibadan, Oyo state while delivering the keynote address at a lecture to mark the 70 years posthumous birthday of a former governor of Ondo state, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, noting that the success of the state police will depend on the capacity of the state governments to provide adequate funding.
The late Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, until his death, was a staunch advocate of the establishment of state police.
He stated that poor states in the country may fid it difficult to provide the required funding for state policing, saying the quest for the country to have a dual policing system has moved from advocacy to reality.
Abiodun made the remark following reports that the constitutional requirement for establishing State Police in the country have been met after 30 state Houses of Assembly endorsed the bill, which has now been sent to the National Assembly for passage before it’s forwarded to the president for assent.
Nigerian Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele said yesterday that the two chambers of the Assembly will ensure the swift passage of the bill, and make sure it’s ready for presidential assent before the end of December 2026.
Speaking Governor Abiodun said for the country to meet the United Nations’, UN, requirement of one policeman to 414 citizens, a total of 554, 353 personnel will be required, amounting to over 184, 000 policemen and women recruited annually.
He explained that a situation where the police system in the country is centralized is no more accepted, saying the debate in no longer whether State Police is required, but the speed at which it will be made a reality.
The Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum stressed that security is local, saying personnel must understand the terrain and language of the places and people they are supposed to police, adding that state police is not a threat to the country’s unity as being contended among some who oppose its establishment.
“Security is intrinsically local. You cannot police a community whose language you do not speak, whose terrain you do not know. State policing is not a threat to unity; it is the bedrock of stability and prosperity,” Abiodun said.
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