By Olu Fasan
Recently, faced with escalating violence across Nigeria, the president, Bola Tinubu, reportedly agreed with state governors to establish state police. The news excited those calling for state police in Nigeria. But the agitation for state police is misguided; it is based on shallow reasoning, not on a rational, hard-nosed analysis of the potential consequences.
To be sure, Nigeria cannot continue to have a unitary police force that purports to “police” the entire country with orders from Abuja. Equally, however, Nigeria cannot have a mushrooming of ramshackle state “police forces”. What Nigeria needs is formidable regional police with extensive reach across a region. Truth is, in the Nigerian context, the advantages of regional police far outweigh those of state police.
