State Police: Tinubu’s Date With History

By now, discerning citizens should person got accustomed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s benignant of administration. Rightly oregon wrongly, his enactment attack has been likened to that of Lee Kuan Yew, the erstwhile Prime Minister of Singapore, regarding imaginativeness and the willingness to marque pugnacious decisions. It tin not beryllium safely argued, though, that helium has the passionateness to combat corruption arsenic Yew had. While his benignant has garnered tremendous praise, it has besides faced arsenic matched disapproval for being overly focused connected consolidating powerfulness with a sinister intent.

But each pupil of powerfulness knows powerfulness is simply a double-edged sword.

Its affirmative connotation suggests that large powerfulness indispensable besides travel with large responsibility.   Looking astatine powerfulness from different perspective, it is argued that the greater the power, the much unsafe the abuse.

Interestingly, some person their places successful history.

Since we cognize him arsenic President,

Tinubu has been capable to consolidate powerfulness successful a mode that nary erstwhile President ever did. Not adjacent the 2 Generals who were besides ex-heads of state, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, had thing adjacent Tinubu’s swagger arsenic President.

Fools tread wherever angels fear. Tinubu did and appears to beryllium winning. We person seen him region substance subsidies and propulsion for harsh economical reforms, which, expectedly, sparked debates astir the equilibrium betwixt advancement and national welfare.

It is connected the spot of this enactment benignant that I americium tempted to instrumentality the President earnestly connected his committedness to make a authorities policing strategy for the country. “I americium reviewing each the aspects of security; I person to make a authorities police. We are looking astatine that holistically. We volition decision insecurity. We indispensable support our children, people, livelihood, places of worship, and recreational spaces. They can’t intimidate us,” helium said.

Tinubu is right. As Nigeria grapples with the complexities of modern information challenges, it has go progressively wide that a one-size-fits-all attack to instrumentality enforcement is nary longer tenable. The nation’s information landscape, marred by terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping, demands a much nuanced and effectual response. One imaginable solution lies successful the instauration of authorities constabulary forces, tailored to the unsocial needs and dynamics of each state.

Since coercion emerged astir 2002-2003 successful Bornu State with the enactment of Boko Haram, different forms of convulsive crimes, particularly kidnapping person travel to specify our regular life. Nigeria ranks poorly successful the Global Peace Index (147th retired of 163) and Global Terrorism Index (8th globally successful 2024). Indeed, criminals person intimidated america enough.

Unfortunately, each nationalist situation that demands captious thinking, rational determination making and pragmatic argumentation implementation ends up connected the butcher array of parochial politics. Sometimes I marvel astatine Nigeria’s reasoning and attack successful solving existential problems and resolving the situation of modernisation. That precisely has been the destiny of the authorities constabulary idea. Will President Tinubu interruption the jinx?  I americium acceptable to marque a stake connected him.

As galore advocates, including this writer, person argued ceaselessly since the Obasanjo years, decentralising policing successful Nigeria would let authorities constabulary forces to make a deeper knowing of section information challenges and taste nuances. This, successful turn, would alteration them to physique spot with communities, respond much efficaciously to emergencies, and stitchery quality much efficiently. By empowering authorities governments to instrumentality ownership of their security, Nigeria tin foster a consciousness of accountability and transparency successful policing practices.

Theoretically and practically, this is conscionable the sensible happening to bash for a national and ample state similar Nigeria. Countries with national systems, specified arsenic the United States, Germany, Canada, India, and Brazil, person successfully implemented aggregate constabulary forces. These nations person recognised the worth of decentralised policing successful addressing unsocial information challenges and promoting effectual instrumentality enforcement.

For instance, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) works successful tandem with state-level constabulary departments to tackle crimes that transcend authorities borders. Similarly, Germany’s authorities constabulary forces (Landespolizei) collaborate with national agencies to support instrumentality and order.

State constabulary forces would beryllium amended equipped to respond to section information threats, physique spot with communities, and supply captious enactment to nationalist information efforts. Today, determination are 17,985 constabulary agencies successful the United States, 48police forces successful the United Kingdom, which is simply a unitary state.  India, arsenic fragmented and divers arsenic Nigeria, offers an unthinkable acquisition successful effectual policing. The Indian Constitution establishes a legislative and enforcement part betwixt the centre and the states.

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