From Victor Osula, Abuja
Contrary to national expectations recently raised by President Bola Tinubu and the governors on the need to create state police in the face of worsened insecurity in the country, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has said the country is yet to mature and ready for the establishment of state-controlled police.
Egbetokun spoke on Monday, at the ongoing national dialogue on state police organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja
He also said the civil society and lawyers at sub-national levels will be more fully engaged, as litigations and prosecutions increase.
The minister said the agitation for the restructuring of the underpinning structure of the country has been on the front burner of agitation by various subnational groups, civic society, and public intellectuals.
“In this regard, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is taking the boldest step by any Nigerian leader on this issue, with a recent pronouncement supporting a constitutional reform to canvass and achieve the decentralization of the police structure in Nigeria,” he added
He said with the establishment of state police in Nigeria, about 10 million Nigerians will be directly and indirectly employed, with each state in Nigeria requiring an average of 20,000-30,000 police recruitment as a result.
He added that local manufacturers and producers of police fabrics and accouterment will multiply.
But at the national dialogue, Egbetokun who was represented by Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Ben Okolo, Egbetokun, spoke on the theme, “Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria”, wherein he said, “It is the submission of the leadership of the Nigeria police force that Nigeria is yet to mature and ready for the establishment of state-controlled police.”
The national dialogue is the beginning of deliberations on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (alteration) bill 2023 (Establishment of State Police) sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu and 13 others.
The proposal in the bill, designed to improve public safety and strengthen law enforcement in Nigeria by decentralising the police, also provides for state police alongside the federal police.
It outlines a constitutional framework for states that choose to establish and maintain their service.
While giving his welcome remarks, Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu who also chairs the House Constitution Review Committee said that the bill “aims to clarify the scope of the powers and responsibilities of the federal and state police, and to provide for their funding and oversight.”
Former Nigeria’s military Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan and retired Catholic Archbishop, John Onaiyekan are some of the dignitaries participating in the national dialogue.
