Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has argued that Nigeria’s centralised policing structure has failed to adequately protect lives and property, saying obsolete laws that concentrate police authorisation in Abuja have hindered timely responses to crime and insecurity.
Speaking during the ARISE NEWS Town Hall on State Police, Kalu said security remains the foremost responsibility of government and that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has rightly placed it at the top of its agenda.
“For every government, the position of the law has made it that the protection of lives and property should at all times be the issue on the front burner. What we have found is that it is critical that we prioritise security, and this government has chosen it as the first item on the agenda of this administration,” he said.
Responding to a question on whether Nigeria’s security challenges are fundamentally a policing problem or a governance problem, Kalu insisted that the two are inseparable.
“You can’t take policing outside governance. That is the truth because policing is part of governance. The primary purpose of government is to protect lives and property, and in protecting lives and property, you use security structures and systems. The police is one of those structures.”
He argued that Nigeria’s current policing framework has not delivered the expected level of security, attributing the shortcomings largely to an outdated centralised system.
“The obsolete laws that centralise authorisation points for policing have failed us over the years. It is the responsibility of government to constantly assess how well our laws have served us and whether our security structure has delivered on the expectations of Nigerians.”
Kalu said the National Assembly undertook extensive consultations across the country and found widespread support for reforms that would bring policing closer to local communities.
“As parliament, which is the people’s House, we consulted Nigerians through public hearings, and we found a general consensus that this issue must be addressed. We must retool the current structure that protects lives and property.”
According to him, lawmakers examined several options, including restructuring the existing system, increasing funding, and decentralising police operations.
“One of the things we noticed was that proximity is key in policing. If the authorisation point is in Abuja and incidents are happening far from Abuja, by the time authorisation comes, the crime may already have been committed.”
He explained that delayed response times undermine the effectiveness of law enforcement.
“If you don’t respond within the expected time, the police will not achieve the purpose for which it was established. That is why we said we should unbundle what we currently have so that response time to incidents of crime will be quicker.”
Kalu also stressed that policing is more effective when officers are familiar with the communities they serve.
“We also want to bring policing closer to the people who understand the terrain. I have always said that those who live in the forest understand the forest better and are better positioned to protect it. Someone who understands the waterways in the creeks can secure that environment more effectively than someone brought in from a distant part of the country who may not understand the language, culture or local realities.”
He noted that Nigeria’s vast geographical size and growing population further strengthen the case for decentralised policing.
“We are dealing with a country covering about 923,768 square kilometres and a population of over 220 million people. The United Nations recommends one police officer for every 450 citizens. Based on figures from the Inspector-General of Police, Nigeria currently has one police officer serving more than 600 people, and we need to recruit about 190,000 additional officers just to meet the minimum benchmark.”
Kalu maintained that allowing states to establish their own police services would significantly improve security response across the federation.
“If we unbundle the system, states will have policing structures that are closer to the people, making response times much faster than they are today. I believe that will enable us to police the country more effectively.”
Addressing concerns that governors could abuse state police for political purposes, Kalu said the proposed constitutional amendment contains safeguards to prevent misuse.
“Many have argued that governors will abuse state police. I always ask them: we currently have state High Courts across the federation. How many governors have used those courts to jail members of the opposition simply because they disagree with them?”
He acknowledged that the concerns are legitimate but said lawmakers had anticipated them while drafting the legislation.
“Those fears are legitimate. That is why we have introduced two guardrails in the proposed law. Although we are moving policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, we are not leaving it open-ended. We have built safeguards into the legislation to ensure that state police cannot be abused. We have put mechanisms in place to guide the states in managing the state policing system we envisage.”
Boluwatife Enome
