Nigeria will require an additional 554,353 personnel to adequately staff the proposed State Police system, Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum and Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has said.

Abiodun also called for the establishment of a dedicated State Police Take-Off Fund to ensure that disparities in the financial capacity of states do not undermine the proposed security architecture.

The governor spoke on Thursday while delivering the keynote address at the posthumous 70th birthday colloquium of the late former Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan.

The colloquium, organised under the theme, “Fundamentals and Governance of State Policing: Towards a New Architecture for National Security in Nigeria,” brought together governors, former governors, lawmakers, security chiefs, traditional rulers, academics, civil society actors, family members and associates of the late governor.

Abiodun, who is also Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum Committee on State Police and a member of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, said State Police had moved beyond advocacy to a national imperative requiring urgent and practical implementation.

According to him, data from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, based on the United Nations ratio of one police officer to 414 citizens, indicated that Nigeria would require 554,353 additional State Police personnel, translating to about 184,784 recruits annually over three years.

“The debate is no longer whether Nigeria needs State Police, but how swiftly and sustainably we establish it,” Abiodun said.

He argued that the country could no longer sustain a security architecture in which virtually every policing responsibility was centralised in Abuja, stressing the need to bring policing closer to the people.

“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,” he said.

Funding challenge

Abiodun, however, warned that the financial realities of the states must be addressed before the proposed policing structure could become effective.

He said only five states — Lagos, Rivers, the Federal Capital Territory, Ogun and Enugu — accounted for 61.6 per cent of Internally Generated Revenue, while 76 per cent of states generated below the national average of N13,600 per capita, with half earning less than N6,334 per capita.

He warned that the disparities could undermine the reform if the Federal Government and states failed to establish a financing mechanism that guaranteed minimum policing capacity across the federation.

“Insecurity in low-revenue states spills over nationally. Underfunding one state’s police becomes everyone’s crisis,” he said.

The governor therefore advocated a constitutional State Police Take-Off Fund based on equal-access grants, need-based top-ups and standards-linked disbursements.

He argued that security should not become a function of the financial strength of the state in which a citizen resides.

Abiodun said the Presidential Working Group was already developing operational blueprints, financial models, accountability mechanisms and legislative oversight arrangements for the proposed system, including frameworks for recruitment, training, governance and redress for abuses.

He identified eight fundamentals that should underpin the State Police architecture: a clear legal framework; professional and merit-based recruitment and training; personnel welfare; predictable and sustainable funding; effective use of technology; safeguards against political abuse; deliberate community engagement; and coordination across state boundaries.

The governor said recruitment must be transparent, properly vetted and representative, while officers must receive training in investigation, evidence handling, lawful arrest, conflict management, proportionate use of force and protection of vulnerable persons.

He also insisted that political affiliation must not determine access to police protection.

“Political opponents, journalists, peaceful protesters and minority communities deserve equal protection.

“Disagreement with a government cannot diminish a citizen’s rights. We must earn public confidence through safeguards that work,” he said.

Abiodun called for adequate welfare for personnel, including regular remuneration, proper equipment, medical care, insurance and dependable support for their families.

“Welfare, discipline and accountability should develop together,” he said, adding that funding arrangements must be transparent and sustainable enough to cover salaries, training, maintenance, communications, investigations and equipment replacement.

He also warned against allowing private interests to dictate police operations, saying security trust funds should only supplement public financing under clear rules and public accountability.

“Private contributions must follow clear rules and public accountability; they must never purchase influence over investigations or preferential treatment,” he said.

Safeguards against abuse

The governor canvassed the use of secure communications, coordinated databases, surveillance and reliable emergency reporting systems to strengthen intelligence gathering and response.

He, however, stressed that technology must operate within the law and with safeguards for privacy and accountable access to information.

Abiodun said the proposed system must also prevent the police from becoming an instrument of political repression, insisting on independent complaints mechanisms, legislative scrutiny and judicial remedies.

He called for the involvement of traditional rulers, religious leaders, women’s organisations, youth groups, farmers, transport workers and other community stakeholders in building an effective intelligence-gathering system.

“Fear of criminals must never be compounded by fear of approaching the authorities,” he said.

The governor said coordination between federal and state security agencies would be critical, particularly because criminals could exploit jurisdictional boundaries if agencies failed to share intelligence and conduct joint operations.

He explained that the proposed architecture was not designed to abolish the Nigeria Police Force but to establish a multi-tier policing system.

Under the arrangement, he said, the Federal Police would focus on national security, inter-state crime and counter-terrorism, while State Police would handle intra-state enforcement, community intelligence and crime prevention.

“This is not an invitation to disintegration. Our framework incorporates federal oversight, constitutional safeguards, independent State Police Service Commissions, and intelligence-sharing protocols,” Abiodun said.

‘Security reform is economic strategy’

The Ogun governor linked the proposed reform directly to Nigeria’s economic development, arguing that insecurity was no longer merely a law-and-order problem but a threat to investment, food production, infrastructure, livelihoods and national prosperity.

“National security today is not just physical protection, it is economic security, food security, health security, financial security and freedom of worship. None survives in lawlessness,” he said.

He added: “We cannot build a $1 trillion economy on fragile security. FDI will not flow where investors fear. Agriculture cannot thrive when farmers cannot access farms. Infrastructure cannot yield returns when corridors are unsafe.”

“Securing states through State Police is not merely a security strategy; it is our primary economic strategy,” he declared.

Aiyedatiwa: Akeredolu’s campaign now national

Abiodun credited Akeredolu with helping to move the State Police debate from theory to practical regional action, recalling the late governor’s role in the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network, popularly known as Amotekun, in 2020.

He said the initiative was created in response to kidnapping, banditry and attacks on farmers and travellers across the Southwest.

“When others weighed political expediency, Aketi stepped into the arena,” Abiodun said.

He added that Akeredolu understood that “no Governor can be Chief Security Officer in name only, without operational command.”

Abiodun said Amotekun demonstrated that local intelligence and regional cooperation could complement the Federal Police and provide faster responses to security threats.

He also noted Akeredolu’s support for regional economic development, including the emergence of the Southwest Development Commission.

“The greatest tribute is not to praise his past, but to complete his unfinished work,” Abiodun said.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for supporting State Police reform through a constitutional framework and urged stakeholders to ensure that the process was concluded.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has shown the courage to champion and lead this conversation. We must now push this reform across the finish line,” he said.

In his remarks, Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, said Akeredolu’s advocacy for State Police had moved from a regional campaign to the centre of Nigeria’s national policy and constitutional conversation.

Aiyedatiwa, who was Akeredolu’s deputy before succeeding him as governor, said the late governor regarded public office as an instrument of service rather than an ornament of status.

He described Akeredolu’s career as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State, President of the Nigerian Bar Association, governor and Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum as one defined by legal scholarship, courage and commitment to justice.

“The establishment of the Southwest Security Network, the Amotekun Corps, represented a bold assertion that those closest to the people must have a meaningful role in protecting them,” Aiyedatiwa said.

He said what Akeredolu and other advocates had advanced as a response to the realities of Nigeria’s federal structure had now entered the centre of the country’s national policy debate.

“What Akeredolu and other progressive voices once advanced as a necessary response to the realities of our federal structure has now entered the very centre of Nigeria’s national policy and constitutional conversation,” he said.

Aiyedatiwa said the challenge was to develop a State Police system that would be responsive, professional and accountable while protecting citizens against abuse.

He identified credible recruitment and vetting, professional training, sustainable funding, effective oversight, respect for human rights, clearly defined jurisdictions and safeguards against abuse as essential components of the proposed architecture.

DAWN: Debate now about ‘how’

Also speaking, the Director-General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN, Commission, Dr Seye Oyeleye, said the debate had moved from whether Nigeria should establish State Police to how the system would be implemented.

“The debate on state policing is no longer about whether. It is about how. How do we fund it? How do we train and equip it? How do we guard against abuse? How do we keep it accountable to the people, not to politicians?” he said.

Oyeleye said the issue was not a regional or ethnic agenda but a national imperative arising from Nigeria’s federal structure and security realities.

“This is not a regional agenda. It is not a Yoruba agenda. It is a national agenda. State Policing goes to the heart of our nationhood,” he said.

He said the experience of Amotekun had demonstrated the value of regional cooperation and local intelligence in addressing security challenges.

“Amotekun showed what is possible. Regional cooperation works. Local knowledge saves lives,” he said.

Former Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, also paid tribute to Akeredolu, recalling his courage, commitment to justice and advocacy for a decentralised security architecture.

Fayemi, who worked closely with Akeredolu during their years in the Southwest Governors’ Forum, said the late governor’s contribution to the debate on multi-level policing had outlived his tenure.

The colloquium also featured tributes from Akeredolu’s family, friends and professional associates, as well as panel discussions on the future of State Police and the region’s security architecture.

The event was attended by governors, former governors, lawmakers, security chiefs, traditional rulers, academics, civil society actors and other stakeholders. (Vanguard)