Ogun State Governor and Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, Dapo Abiodun, has said Nigeria needs an additional 554,353 personnel to adequately staff the proposed state police system, urging the Federal Government and states to establish a sustainable funding framework. Speaking on Thursday at a colloquium marking the posthumous 70th birthday of former Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, at the University of Ibadan, Abiodun said the country would require about 184,784 recruits annually over three years, based on the United Nations ratio of one police officer to 414 citizens. “The debate is no longer whether Nigeria needs state police, but how swiftly and sustainably we establish it,” he said, describing local policing as essential to national security and economic growth.
Abiodun warned that disparities in states’ revenue could undermine the proposed reform, noting that Lagos, Rivers, the FCT, Ogun and Enugu accounted for 61.6 per cent of internally generated revenue, while 76 per cent of states generated below the national average of N13,600 per capita. He advocated a constitutional state police take-off fund featuring equal-access grants, needs-based support and performance-linked disbursements. He also called for transparent recruitment, professional training, effective oversight and safeguards against political abuse, stressing that police protection must extend equally to political opponents, journalists, peaceful protesters and minority communities. He added that insecurity threatens investment, agriculture and infrastructure, insisting that state policing is both a security priority and an economic strategy.
The governor credited Akeredolu with advancing the state police campaign through the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network, Amotekun, in January 2020. Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa said Akeredolu’s advocacy had moved from a regional initiative to the centre of Nigeria’s national policy and constitutional debate, while former Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi praised his commitment to justice and decentralised security. Director-General of the DAWN Commission, Seye Oyeleye, urged stakeholders to move from debate to implementation, focusing on funding, training, equipment, accountability and safeguards against political interference. “This is not a regional agenda. It is not a Yoruba agenda. It is a national agenda,” he said.
