By Adeyinka Adeniran
Prominent political figures, legal luminaries, security chiefs, and key stakeholders across Southwest Nigeria converged on the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, on Thursday, to celebrate the posthumous 70th birthday of the former Governor of Ondo state, late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
The event, organized by the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Foundation in partnership with the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission and the Southwest Governors’ Forum, turned into an advocacy platform for the urgent institutionalization of state policing across the nation.
Speaking on the theme, “Fundamentals and Governance of State Policing: Towards a New Architecture for National Security in Nigeria,” the Governor of Ogun State and Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, Prince Dapo Abiodun, emphasized that decentralized policing is no longer a matter of political debate, but an imperative economic and security necessity.
Abiodun recalled the dark periods between 2019 and 2022 when the region was heavily besieged by insecurity, culminating in the tragic June 5, 2022 attack at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, which compelled Akeredolu to fearlessly champion the creation of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Operation Amotekun.
He said, “When history called, Aketi did not whisper; his defining quality was the courage to speak when silence was easier. A police structure managed entirely from Abuja cannot police 200 million people across 923,000 square kilometres.”
He revealed that data from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) indicates a deficit of over 554,000 police personnel nationally, advocating for a constitutional State Police Take-Off Fund to assist states with lower internal revenue capacities to build sustainable police forces.
He warned that the success of the reform would depend on a sustainable financing arrangement that would not leave poorer states behind, stressing that State Police had moved beyond advocacy to a national imperative requiring urgent and practical implementation.
The colloquium brought together governors, former governors, lawmakers, security chiefs, traditional rulers, academics, civil society actors, family members, friends and professional associates of the late governor.
Explaining the empirical data from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, he said the data showed that, based on the United Nations ratio of one police officer to 414 citizens, the country would need 554,353 additional State Police personnel, translating to about 184,784 recruits annually over three years.
“The debate is no longer whether Nigeria needs State Police, but how swiftly and sustainably we establish it,” Abiodun said, insisting that the country could no longer sustain a security architecture in which every policing responsibility was effectively centralised in Abuja.
He said the security challenges confronting the country had exposed the limitations of the existing arrangement, stressing that policing must be brought closer to the people.
“Security is intrinsically local. You cannot police a community whose language you do not speak, whose terrain you do not know. State policing is not a threat to unity; it is the bedrock of stability and prosperity,” he said.
The governor, who is also Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police and a member of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, said the financial realities of the states must, however, be addressed before the new policing structure could become effective.
According to him, only five states, Lagos, Rivers, the Federal Capital Territory, Ogun and Enugu, accounted for 61.6 per cent of Internally Generated Revenue, while 76 per cent of the states generated below the national average of N13,600 per capita, with half earning less than N6,334 per capita.
Abiodun warned that such disparities could undermine the proposed reform if the Federal Government and states failed to establish a financing mechanism that guarantees minimum policing capacity across the federation, saying, “insecurity in low-revenue states spills over nationally. Underfunding one state’s police becomes everyone’s crisis.”
He consequently advocated the establishment of a constitutional State Police Take-Off Fund, built around equal access grants, need-based top-ups and standards-linked disbursement, arguing that security must not become a function of the financial strength of the state in which a citizen resides.
The Ogun governor said the Presidential Working Group was already developing operational blueprints, financial models, accountability mechanisms and legislative oversight arrangements for the proposed system, including frameworks for recruitment, training, governance and redress for abuses.
He outlined eight fundamentals that must underpin the State Police architecture, a clear legal framework; professional and merit-based recruitment and training; personnel welfare; predictable and sustainable funding; effective use of technology; safeguards against political abuse; deliberate community engagement; and coordination across state boundaries.
The governor said recruitment must be transparent, properly vetted and representative, while officers must be trained in investigation, evidence handling, lawful arrest, conflict management, proportionate use of force and protection of vulnerable persons.
He also insisted that political affiliation must never determine access to police protection, adding, “political opponents, journalists, peaceful protesters and minority communities deserve equal protection. Disagreement with a government cannot diminish a citizen’s rights. We must earn public confidence through safeguards that work.”
Abiodun further called for adequate welfare for personnel, including regular remuneration, proper equipment, medical care, insurance and dependable support for their families.
“Welfare, discipline and accountability should develop together,” he said, adding that funding arrangements must be transparent and sustainable enough to cover salaries, training, maintenance, communications, investigations and equipment replacement.
He warned against allowing private interests to dictate police operations, saying security trust funds could supplement public financing only under clear rules and public accountability.
“Private contributions must follow clear rules and public accountability; they must never purchase influence over investigations or preferential treatment,” he said.
The governor also canvassed the use of secure communications, coordinated databases, surveillance and reliable emergency reporting systems to strengthen intelligence gathering and response, but stressed that technology must operate within the law and with safeguards for privacy and accountable access to information.
Abiodun said the proposed system must also prevent the police from becoming an instrument of political repression, insisting on independent complaints mechanisms, legislative scrutiny and judicial remedies.
He urged the involvement of traditional rulers, religious leaders, women’s organisations, youth groups, farmers, transport workers and other community stakeholders in building an effective intelligence-gathering system.
“Fear of criminals must never be compounded by fear of approaching the authorities,” he said.
The governor said coordination between federal and state security agencies would be critical, particularly because criminals could exploit jurisdictional boundaries if agencies failed to share intelligence and conduct joint operations.
He explained that the emerging architecture was not designed to abolish the Nigeria Police Force but to establish a multi-tier policing system in which the Federal Police would focus on national security, inter-state crime and counter-terrorism, while State Police would handle intra-state enforcement, community intelligence and crime prevention.
“This is not an invitation to disintegration. Our framework incorporates federal oversight, constitutional safeguards, independent State Police Service Commissions, and intelligence-sharing protocols,” Abiodun said.
He linked the reform directly to Nigeria’s economic survival, arguing that insecurity was no longer merely a law-and-order problem but a threat to investment, food production, infrastructure, livelihoods and national prosperity, noting that “national security today is not just physical protection, it is economic security, food security, health security, financial security and freedom of worship. None survives in lawlessness.
“We cannot build a $1 trillion economy on fragile security. FDI will not flow where investors fear. Agriculture cannot thrive when farmers cannot access farms. Infrastructure cannot yield returns when corridors are unsafe.
“Securing states through State Police is not merely a security strategy; it is our primary economic strategy,” he declared.
Abiodun credited Akeredolu with helping to move the debate from theory to practical regional action, recalling that the late governor played a leading role in the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network, popularly known as Operation Amotekun, on January 9, 2020.
He said the security initiative was born out of the need to respond to the realities of kidnapping, banditry and attacks on farmers and travellers across the Southwest, adding “when others weighed political expediency, Aketi stepped into the arena.”
He added that Akeredolu understood that “no Governor can be Chief Security Officer in name only, without operational command.”
Abiodun noted that Amotekun had demonstrated that local intelligence and regional cooperation could complement the Federal Police and provide faster responses to threats.
The governor said Akeredolu’s vision extended beyond security to regional economic development, noting that the late governor also supported the emergence of the Southwest Development Commission as part of the wider effort to build a secure and prosperous region.
He said the most fitting tribute to Akeredolu would not be ceremonies but the completion of the reforms he championed.
“The greatest tribute is not to praise his past, but to complete his unfinished work,” Abiodun said.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for supporting State Police reform through an appropriate constitutional framework and urged stakeholders to ensure that the process reached its conclusion.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has shown the courage to champion and lead this conversation. We must now push this reform across the finish line,” he said.
The Ogun governor declared that Akeredolu’s influence would continue to be felt in Nigeria’s evolving security architecture.
“Aketi may be gone in body, but his spirit walks among us. Heroes never truly die. Aketi lives on in every Amotekun officer on night patrol, every farmer returning safely, in the SWDC statute books, and in every clause of the upcoming National State Police Bill,” he said.
In his address, the Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, described his predecessor as a courageous statesman who saw public office not as an ornament of status, but as an instrument of service.
Aiyedatiwa, who was Akeredolu’s deputy before succeeding him as governor, said the late governor’s career as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State, President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Governor of Ondo State and Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum was defined by “intellectual rigour, legal scholarship, courage and an unmistakable commitment to justice.”
According to him, the theme of the colloquium was particularly fitting because Akeredolu had demonstrated through Amotekun that communities closest to security challenges must have a meaningful role in protecting themselves.
“The establishment of the Southwest Security Network, the Amotekun Corps, represented a bold assertion that those closest to the people must have a meaningful role in protecting them.
“Aketi may have departed this earthly stage, but his ideas remain alive, and where ideas continue to illuminate the path of a country, the voice of the progenitor is never truly silenced.
“What Akeredolu and other progressive voices once advanced as a necessary response to the realities of our federal structure has now entered the very centre of Nigeria’s national policy and constitutional conversation,” he said.
Aiyedatiwa said the challenge before the country was now to develop a State Police system that would be responsive, professional and accountable while protecting citizens against abuse.
“The Nigerian federation must find the balance between national cohesion and local responsiveness; between federal authority and subnational capacity; between operational effectiveness and fundamental rights,” he said.
He listed credible recruitment and vetting, professional training, sustainable funding, effective oversight, respect for human rights, clearly defined jurisdictions and safeguards against abuse as essential components of the proposed architecture.
Adding a deeply personal perspective to the event, Babajide Akeredolu, speaking on behalf of the family and as Chairman of the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Foundation, reflected on his father’s unwavering commitment to his convictions, from his early days as a student leader at the University of Ife to his tenure as President of the Nigerian Bar Association and Governor of Ondo State.
He stressed that the most meaningful way to honor his father’s memory is not through mere nostalgia, but by actively carrying forward the difficult conversations on national security, rule of law, and institutional reform that he dedicated his life to advancing.
Also speaking in his goodwill message, the former Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, also paid tribute to Akeredolu, recalling the late governor’s courage, commitment to justice and advocacy for a more decentralised security architecture.
Fayemi, who worked closely with Akeredolu during their years in the Southwest Governors’ Forum, described his late colleague as a leader whose convictions were stronger than political convenience and whose contribution to the debate on multi-level policing had outlived his tenure in office.
He said Akeredolu’s contribution to the Southwest went beyond the creation of a security outfit, stressing that the late governor demonstrated how regional cooperation could provide practical solutions to challenges confronting individual states.
Fayemi said Akeredolu’s legacy should therefore be measured not only by the offices he occupied but by the institutions and ideas he helped to establish and advance.
Also in another goodwill message, the Director-General of the DAWN Commission, Dr. Seye Oyeleye, said the colloquium represented an opportunity to move the conversation on State Police from commemoration to implementation.
Oyeleye said the security debate was no longer about whether Nigeria should establish State Police but about how such a system could be funded, trained, equipped, regulated and protected against political abuse.
“The debate on state policing is no longer about whether. It is about how. How do we fund it? How do we train and equip it? How do we guard against abuse? How do we keep it accountable to the people, not to politicians?” he said.
The DAWN Commission DG said the issue was not a regional or ethnic agenda but a national imperative arising from Nigeria’s federal structure and security realities.
“This is not a regional agenda. It is not a Yoruba agenda. It is a national agenda. State Policing goes to the heart of our nationhood,” Oyeleye said.
He said the Southwest’s experience with Amotekun had demonstrated the value of regional cooperation and local intelligence in addressing insecurity.
“Amotekun showed what is possible. Regional cooperation works. Local knowledge saves lives,” he said.
Oyeleye also described Akeredolu as a regional leader whose insistence on a secure and economically integrated Southwest had helped to sustain the regional development agenda.
He said the late governor’s contribution to the survival and sustainability of the DAWN Commission was another part of his enduring legacy.
Oyeleye likened Akeredolu’s role in the Southwest security campaign to that of a regional Moses who helped lead the region away from the “Red Sea” of insecurity towards a more secure and prosperous future.
He said the process of establishing State Police should preserve the courage, tenacity and strategic vision demonstrated by Akeredolu.
“Honouring Aketi is not about the past. It is about the Nigeria we must build,” Oyeleye said.
The event also featured tributes from members of Akeredolu’s family, friends and professional associates, as well as panel discussions. involving participants on the future of State Police and the region’s security architecture.
