Enugu State Governor and Chairman, National Economic Council’s (NEC) committee on overhaul of Police and other security training institutions in Nigeria, Mr Peter Mbah, yesterday said President Bola Tinubu had declared an emergency on the institutions as part of efforts to tackle criminality and security challenges across the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Tinubu inaugurated the committee on October 23, during the council’s 152nd meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Mbah said the initiative to revamp the security training institutions across the country was consequent upon the President’s proposal to the 152nd meeting of the NEC, a fortnight ago, where he expressed deep concerns over the poor state of the facilities nationwide.
The governor, who spoke at the Police Training College, Ikeja, Lagos, during the commencement of the committee’s tour of training facilities for the police and other security agencies nationwide, clarified that the initiative predated and had nothing to do with President Donald Trump’s comments on the security challenges in Nigeria.
He explained that President Tinubu was of the view that the nation could only get the best out of its personnel if they were trained in conducive environments and exposed to 21st-century tuition and equipment.
Mbah assured that the committee, which also has governors Uba Sani (Kaduna), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Kefas Agbu (Taraba), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), and Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa) as members and former Inspector-General of Police, Baba Usman, as Secretary, would treat the assignment with the seriousness and urgency it demanded.
Speaking with journalists, Mbah said: “The president recognises that there is a need for bold and urgent steps to be taken in order to restore the pride, professionalism, and confidence of men and women in the security space.
“In the words of Mr. President, you cannot expect our men and women, who are protecting our communities and are expected to uphold law and order, to be trained in an environment that is inhumane. “That is not acceptable; that is essentially why we need to address this. This is no knee-jerk reaction or predicated on any reaction.”
