trailblazer123

It’s easy to make the United States an example here. We’ve got similarities in population size, cultural diversity and political system (this one mostly on paper). For all their resources and capability, even the United States has a policing system that is designed to bring security to the people’s doorsteps. That way, no police PRO can disrespect you, because they work so locally, you know them personally. They aren’t mentally and physically far removed from your concerns. There are local police departments, county sheriff's offices, then state troopers, before you have federal law enforcement agencies. All of these security layers have distinct responsibilities, then when necessary, they intersect. There are about 20,000 police agencies in the U.S. All devolved from the smallest tier of government to the Federal Government. A lot has been said about the prospects of governors abusing state police. Well, the Federal Police as it currently is has been prone to abuse by some governors too. Nigeria is too big - at least population wise -, too diverse and overly complicated socially and culturally to be policed from one point. We need more than one police. We need at least 38. Possibly 812. We can throw up as many names as we want as to who should head what security agency, as long as those people work in this system that is designed to be literally so far removed from the local sources of these issues, they’d achieve some incremental progress at best, before progress is reverted. And that’s the best anyone has achieved since 1999. As with its many facets of development, Nigeria needs a paradigmatic shift on this front. That shift, by design, cannot happen with only one police unit. You need state and local police. Yes, beyond state police, local governments should have their own unique policing system. As I believe we have come to see, there is really no way forward on other fronts if we don’t address security. And there is no “national security” as long as local security remains the preeminent challenge. (Our national security challenges are primarily the failings of local security, which is absent by design). We seem to always have a national security challenge because we have left strategic gaps in local security. Abuja is responsible for the safety of everyone in Nigeria. That’s structurally absurd. We need effective governance in small units across Nigeria. There will be some failures here and there when that happens. However, it is unlikely that that failure is as unilateral as our single point security system has proven to be over the stretch of this democracy since 1999. PS: These conversations often end up being political with people throwing a dash of tribalism and religion into it here and there. Those inputs are welcome, that being your right. They only will not be dignified by any response. My position on this issue predates the current government. And it doesn’t mean there won’t be need to retain the federal security structure. It is about building a local foundation for our security, not taking the federal security system down.