*Photo: President Bola Tinubu *
For over three decades of analyzing the intricate dance of Nigerian politics and security, I have witnessed numerous “historic moments” that eventually withered into footnotes of inaction. However, the recent communiqué from the Northern Governors’ Forum and the Traditional Rulers’ Council feels fundamentally different. It represents a seismic shift in the nation’s political geology. For years, the debate on state police was polarized along regional lines, with the North largely skeptical, fearing the Balkanization of the country, while the South clamored for it as the only solution to local insecurity. Today, that Berlin Wall of disagreement has crumbled.
The decision by the 19 Northern Governors to “wholeheartedly support” state police, alongside a suspension of mining and a financial commitment of ₦1 billion monthly per state, is an admission that the current centralized security architecture has collapsed under the weight of banditry and terrorism. The consensus is here. The North and South are finally speaking the same language. But this brings us to the most critical question: Now that the political will exists, who gets the engine running, and how do we ensure this new machinery actually works? The answer lies not just in creating state police, but in building a multi-layered security ecosystem that includes a regulated private security industry and a revitalized forest guard system.
The resolutions from Sir Kashim Ibrahim House are not just political statements; they are survival strategies. The link drawn between illegal mining and insecurity is a brave confrontation of the “conflict economy” that has turned states like Zamfara and Niger into killing fields. By demanding a six-month suspension of mining activities, the Northern leadership is acknowledging that bandits are not just ideologues; they are economic actors funded by the illicit extraction of our solid minerals.
Furthermore, the pledge of a ₦1 billion monthly security fund by each state demonstrates a readiness to put money where the mouth is. However, money alone cannot buy safety if the structural defects remain. This is why the alignment on state police is the headline. It signifies that the region most ravaged by insecurity has realized that a police command in Abuja cannot effectively secure a village in Birnin Gwari or a farm in Mangu.
The question of “who is to get it started” has a clear constitutional answer: The President must lead, but the National Assembly must drive. We are past the stage of debates. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, having received this mandate from the Northern bloc, historically the biggest hurdle to this reform, must now send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to amend Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution.
The “doctrine of necessity” is now our reality. The Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives must treat this as an emergency. We need a timeline, not a pipeline. The harmonized position of the Southern Governors’ Forum and now the Northern Governors’ Forum means that the required two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and the concurrence of 24 State Houses of Assembly is practically guaranteed. The ball is in the court of the legislative leadership to fast-track this amendment before the next election cycle distracts the polity.
While we wait for the constitutional wheels to turn, we must immediately pivot to low-hanging fruits. We cannot police a population of over 200 million people with a federal force of less than 400,000 officers. This is where we must look to the South African model of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA).
In South Africa, the private security industry is a formidable partner to the state, not a competitor. It is a well-regulated sector where schools, corporate entities, and VIPs employ trained security officers who have the power to arrest and detain suspects until the police arrive. In Nigeria, we treat private security as a gatekeeping job for the elderly or the untrained. This is a wasted opportunity. We need legislation that empowers a “Private Security Regulatory Commission” to set high standards for training, vetting, and arming (with non-lethal or limited tactical weapons) private guards.
Imagine a scenario where our universities, banks, and industrial estates are secured by highly trained private firms. This would instantly release thousands of Nigeria Police Force personnel currently attached to VIPs and corporate assets, allowing them to return to their core duty of public safety. As the great entrepreneur Aliko Dangote has often implied in his calls for a conducive business environment, security is the bedrock of enterprise. A formalized industry would also create millions of dignified jobs for our teeming youth, turning a security problem into an economic solution.
The communiqué’s focus on mining brings us to the geography of our insecurity: the forests. Our forests have become the headquarters of terror because they are “ungoverned spaces.” We must return to the concept of the Forest Rangers, but with a modern twist. We need to recruit, train, and deploy a specialized Forest Guard Service, distinct from the police and the army, whose sole mandate is to comb, occupy, and secure our forest reserves.
However, boots on the ground are not enough. We must deploy technology to act as a force multiplier. In the 21st century, it is inexcusable that a convoy of bandits on motorcycles can move for hours without being detected. We need a national drone command center that utilizes geospatial intelligence to monitor troop movements in the Sambisa, Rugu, and Kamuku forests. As technology scholars often note, “In the age of AI, anonymity should be impossible for the criminal.” We must use thermal imaging and satellite data to track the illegal miners and the bandits they fund.
Finally, we must rethink the role of our Regional Development Commissions (NDDC, NEDC, and the newly established ones). Traditionally, these bodies focus on roads, health and classrooms. This mandate must expand. Security is the infrastructure of life. These commissions should be empowered to fund cross-border security initiatives.
Bandits do not respect state boundaries; they move from Katsina to Zamfara to Sokoto with ease. A Northern Regional Security Trust Fund, managed partly by the North East Development Commission (NEDC) and its counterparts, can fund joint border patrols, purchase shared surveillance assets, and harmonize intelligence sharing between states. This turns the commissions into engines of stability, not just contract-awarding institutions.
The alignment of the North and South on the issue of state police is a rare window of opportunity, a “kairos” moment for Nigeria. The consensus has been reached; the excuses have evaporated. It is now up to the political leadership to operationalize this resolve. By amending the constitution for state police, professionalizing the private security sector like South Africa, deploying forest guards to our green zones, and using technology to see the unseen, we can reclaim our country. The blueprint is clear, funding is being mobilized, while the only thing left is action. As we often say in the business of nation-building, the cost of security is high, but the cost of insecurity is the nation itself.