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Tinubu is not only a major proponent of federalism; he is an ardent supporter of state police as part of the package. He is one of the earliest advocates of a decentralised police force as a means of strengthening federal practice. Indeed, he had championed the idea of state police since his time as the Governor of Lagos State (1999–2007). As a matter of fact, many who knew the passion the president had for federalism would never have imagined that more than two years into his presidency, we would still be talking about state police in theory in the country.

But such a crucial decision cannot be made by fiat in a democratic setting. Consultations have to be done so as to secure the necessary buy-ins, laws have to be redrafted to accommodate the change from a central police force to a decentralised one, setting the boundaries, the arms state police could bear, etc. All of these and more have to be settled before state police could become a done deal.

In fairness to the president, he had, among other things, taken some steps to set in motion the machinery for its take-off. In February 2024, barely eight months after being sworn in as president, Tinubu initiated the creation of a joint committee to explore the establishment of state police to tackle insecurity, at an emergency meeting with governors. He had said then: ”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.’’

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“Both the Federal Government and the state governments agree to the necessity of having state police; now this is a significant shift. But like I said, more work needs to be done in that direction”, he said. ⁣

Also, in November, last year, he reaffirmed his commitment to state police by urging the National Assembly to review laws to allow willing states to create their own police force. Again, last December, the president pushed for constitutional reforms for state police during the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Caucus meeting.

True, the idea of state police has not gone down well with some Nigerians, including very prominent ones at that. Someone like former President Muhammadu Buhari did not like it and he did not hide his dislike for it. As far as he is concerned, ‘’it is not an option’’ in the country’s security architecture. Like many people, he had his reasons: governors would abuse the officers and men of state police. Two, many state governments lacked the resources to fund the arrangement.

Even several former IGPs, including the immediate past IGP, Kayode Egbetokun do not want state police. Indeed, they do not want anything by whatever name called to contest the internal security space with them. The case of the NPF is like that of a bean cake seller who does not want another to fry; they don’t want competition.

I hope the new acting IGP, Mr Tunji Disu, has a different mindset. Otherwise, he would end up like yester-years' IGP here today.

Yet, we cannot blame those who do not want state police. Human beings generally do not want change. But change would always come because the world itself is dynamic. The only thing that is permanent, as they say, is change.

However, we cannot dismiss the fears of those against state police with a wave of the hand. Our experience  with many of our governors since the return to civil rule in 1999, in particular, is enough teacher that some of them would want to use state police as their private army. Many of the governors behave like emperors. They don't want anyone to challenge them. Some are too petty that they won't mind unleashing the state police on their political enemies to settle political and other scores.

Imagine governors who for two years have refused to hands off local government administration in their states despite the judgment of the Supreme Court that the local governments must be autonomous. For people who covet power to this extent, it is going to be too tempting to put state police in their care.

Perhaps to strengthen the hands of the anti-state police group is the fact that we once had regional police in the country but they were subjected to all manner of abuses and they later became history.

These points notwithstanding, state police is now a thing we cannot continue to ignore. There is no doubt that the central police structure is no longer adequate to protect Nigerians. Perhaps the fault is not in the officers and men, but in the system.

Effective policing entails certain basic requirements: AI, as a matter of fact, sums up the challenges militating against effective policing in Nigeria: "The Central Police in Nigeria, known as the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), has faced significant challenges in securing the nation due to a combination of systemic, structural, and operational weaknesses. Key factors include severe underfunding, a low police-to-citizen ratio, deep-seated corruption, and a centralised command structure that is ill-suited to managing the country's vast and diverse security challenges."

We can only expect them to perform miracles in the face of these shortcomings.

The underfunding is so loud that many state governments render tremendous assistance to the NPF. A state government like Lagos has had to set up a security trust fund that has realised several billions in support of the federal police force and other security agencies. Other states have responded in various other ways, providing vehicles, communications and other gadgets for them.

As a matter of fact, the NPF would have collapsed but for such help from the state governments.

As of today, governors are said to be the chief security officers of their states. But, they cannot even control the commissioners of police in their states? An example was sometime in January 2022, when a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) openly defied Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s order to vacate the Magodo Phase 2 Estate. The defiant CSP told the governor that his team was sent from Abuja under the orders of the IGP and the Attorney-General of the Federation and so was not answerable to the governor.

Mercifully, the people that matter to the idea -- governors and the National Assembly – seem to have agreed on the need for it. No one can deny the fact that the people who can best protect a place are those from that environment. They know the terrain, unlike people hundreds of miles away who are only transferred there and transferred out again when they are beginning to understand the terrain.

Of course there will always be teething problems when the idea takes off. What we need are clearly spelt-out rules of engagement for the state police. In other parts of the world, they have all manner of police force, including even campus police. All of them know where their jurisdiction starts and ends. It may be tough initially for us because it is novel, at least to the extent that we stopped regional policing several decades ago.

The question of funding can be addressed between the Federal Government and the state governments.

President Tinubu deserves kudos for remaining steadfast in his belief in a decentralised police force, especially now that he is president. Not many people in his shoes would have maintained such stance now that level has changed. Some other persons would have changed position because they want to retain the firm grip of the central police force. But, what use would that have served in a country that is besieged by many mindless criminals troubling the peace of law-abiding citizens?

Let the major stakeholders hold whatever talks they want to hold. What Nigerians now want to see is more of movement, not just motion, on state police. This is something that should have taken off as early as yesterday. We cannot spend forever bringing it into fruition.