The Case for Local Police: Why Nigeria Must Act Now
Jerry Adesewo
With insecurity escalating to dangerous levels across Nigeria, the conversation around the establishment of state and local police structures has moved from theoretical debate to urgent necessity.
In light of the Northern Governors’ Forum’s recent call—led by Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya—for the creation of state police, and that of Senator Abdulazeez Musa Yar’adua, in support of the same subject; a 13-year-old essay by retired federal permanent secretary, Dr. Bukar Usman, has resurfaced online with renewed relevance and alarming resonance.
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In his article, originally written in 2012 and republished by Taskar Gizago on May 14, 2025, Dr. Usman passionately advocates for a return to localized policing—rooted in community familiarity, cultural alignment, and intelligence-driven enforcement. His nostalgic but incisive account of the Native Authority Police of the 1950s and 60s paints a compelling contrast to the centralised, often inefficient Nigeria Police Force (NPF), which he argues has overstayed its usefulness.
“The Nigeria Police Force was an experiment, and like many experiments, it has outlived its utility,” Usman asserts.
His appeal is grounded in logic and lived experience: local police were part of the community, deployed among their own people, familiar with the terrain, local dialects, customs, and criminals alike. They didn’t need armored vehicles or sophisticated gadgetry to be effective—they leveraged “local knowledge,” a critical asset sorely lacking in today’s centralized force. This “knowledge gap,” Usman argues, is precisely why modern criminals—mobile, tech-savvy, and violent—continue to thrive.
He rebuts common arguments against state police—primarily the fear of political abuse—by pointing to existing federal agencies that have not been immune to the same abuses, such as the EFCC’s controversial role in political intrigues. “Even the current unified police force is not immune from political manipulation,” he notes.
More urgently, Usman highlights how the NPF’s limitations have forced the military into routine domestic deployments, dangerously militarising society and blurring civil-military boundaries.
With Nigeria’s federal revenue strained and insecurity spreading to urban and rural areas alike, the essay calls on lawmakers to prioritise the issue in the ongoing constitutional review. Dr. Usman proposes a regulated approach: allowing states to establish their own police under strict legal frameworks, including federal oversight and sanctions for abuse.
“Distant hose can’t put out local fire,” he writes, in a phrase that has now become a rallying cry among state actors advocating for devolution of policing power.
Given the deteriorating national security outlook—from banditry in the North-West to kidnappings in the South-East and communal clashes in the Middle Belt—this call is no longer an academic exercise. It is a desperate plea for survival and governance reform. The lesson is clear: Nigeria cannot afford to delay. The time to restructure policing in line with federal principles and security realities is now.
As the National Assembly deliberates the next phase of constitutional amendments, it must heed voices like Dr. Bukar Usman’s—not only as a blueprint for safer communities, but as a wake-up call that echoes with the urgency of a country on edge.
The Case for Local Police: Why Nigeria Must Act Now