The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his resolve to establish state police in Nigeria, describing the move as long overdue.
In a statement made available to New Telegraph by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, Afenifere said the President’s pronouncements and actions on the matter show clear commitment toward ensuring the project becomes reality.
“We are aware that President Bola Tinubu is committed to having state police take off as soon as possible, going by his pronouncements and the steps his government has taken on this issue,” Ajayi stated.
He cited the President’s remarks during a town hall meeting in Makurdi, Benue State, as well as at a constitution review dialogue in Abuja, as strong indicators of his determination to establish state policing structures.
President Tinubu had visited Benue following the killing of over 200 people and the destruction of property in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area, by suspected bandits. While addressing residents, he reaffirmed his vow to protect democracy, freedom, and prosperity.
“We were elected to govern, not to bury people,” the President said, lamenting the rising insecurity in Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, and other parts of the country.
Afenifere also applauded Tinubu for reminding Nigerians that “the value of human life is greater than that of a cow,” a pointed reference to the recurring herder-farmer clashes.
At the Constitution Review Legislative Dialogue on National Security, held in Abuja and organized by the House of Representatives in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser, the President—represented by Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Badaru—described the 1999 Constitution as outdated in addressing modern security threats.
“The debate over state police is no longer theoretical,” the Minister said on the President’s behalf. “It is grounded in the daily fears and anxieties of Nigerians: farmers afraid to tend their fields, traders unsure of safe passage, and communities abandoned to self-help.”
Ajayi expressed optimism that state police will soon become a reality, noting that the majority of state governors and Houses of Assembly have now thrown their weight behind the proposal.
He recalled that the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers, Rt. Hon. Debo Ogundoyin, had recently declared the readiness of state legislatures to support the constitutional amendments needed to create state police. Ogundoyin, who is also the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, described the reform as “a patriotic and strategic necessity.”
President Tinubu had similarly acknowledged the urgency for constitutional review, stating:
“Our Constitution must evolve or risk becoming a danger to the very unity it was meant to protect.”
Ajayi noted that Nigeria’s centralized police structure, established in 1960, has long been under the exclusive control of the federal government. Yet calls for decentralization have persisted, including recommendations from the M.D. Yusuf-led Presidential Committee on Police Reform (2006) and the Parry Osayande Committee (2012)—both of which advocated for state police. However, successive administrations failed to act on the recommendations.
In 2021, governors from Nigeria’s 17 southern states unanimously called for state police during meetings held in Asaba, Lagos, and Enugu. The most recent Council of State meeting also reflected growing consensus among governors for decentralizing security.
“In view of this alignment between the executive, legislative arms, and state governments, we are hopeful that the state police initiative will soon take off,” Ajayi concluded.
