State police will become governors' personal militia if we are not careful

The House of Representatives just passed a constitutional amendment bill for state police and everyone is celebrating like we have finally solved insecurity in Nigeria. Let me slow down and ask one question: have we forgotten that we are talking about Nigerian politicians? Captain Abdullahi Bakoji (rtd), a security expert, gave an interview to Daily Post where he said state police could work because indigenes know their terrain better. That part is correct. But he also warned that without proper safeguards, state governors will use these forces to arrest opposition members and suppress dissent. That is the real conversation we should be having.

Professor Murtala Muhammad of the Nigerian Political Science Association also weighed in and said the prospects for the bill are stronger now than at any time since 1999. He pointed to the United States, Canada, India and Germany as examples of federal systems where decentralised policing works. But here is the difference — those countries have functioning institutions. In Nigeria, we have governors who cannot pay salaries but will somehow find money to fund a police force that answers only to them. The proposal that governors should appoint state commissioners of police is a disaster waiting to happen. You are essentially handing the keys of the security apparatus to the same people who already control local government funds and run patronage networks.

Let me be clear: I am not against state police. The federal police are overstretched and cannot cover every village. But the foundation must be loyalty to the constitution, not loyalty to a governor or a political party. If we rush this reform without independent oversight bodies, legislative scrutiny and secure tenure for police leadership, we will end up with a situation where opposition rallies are broken up by state police and critics of the government are arrested on trumped up charges. Are we ready for that reality or are we just chasing headlines?