Northern leaders, comprising the Northern Governors’ Forum and traditional rulers, have reaffirmed support for the swift implementation of state policing reform, describing it as a critical mechanism for tackling the security challenges bedevilling the country.
According to them, Nigeria’s centralised policing model can no longer meet the demands of a nation with over two hundred million people with vast ungoverned spaces.
The leaders cautioned against promoting divisive and one-sided narratives that undermine national cohesion, entrench divisions, and ultimately harm collective efforts to tackle the security challenges confronting the region.
They held a crucial meeting in Kaduna State on Monday to deliberate on how to tackle the worsening insecurity situation and other socioeconomic challenges affecting the region.
The meeting, which was hosted by Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and presided over by the chairman of the forum, Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, comes at a time the region is grappling with heightened security threats ranging from banditry and kidnapping to farmer-herder conflicts and disruptions to economic activities.
In his welcome address, Governor Uba Sani said the gathering underscores their resolve to adopt a unified approach in confronting the escalating security and socioeconomic challenges affecting the north.
He emphasized the need for the creation of a state police, noting that the country’s centralized policing system cannot meet the demands of the present realities.
“The public conversation about insecurity in the north has become more complicated. A few voices driven by political motives have worked to create the impression that northern governors have grown complacent, nothing could be further from the truth. We know the weight of the mandate entrusted to us, we lead the urgency of every security threat and every developmental need.
“And we are fully aware that our people expect clarity, responsiveness and results. Every governor sitting here works tirelessly to secure our communities. We coordinate, compare strategies, share intelligence and hold one another accountable.
“We operate an informal effective peer review mechanism where no idea is too small to be tested and no successful intervention is too insignificant to be replicated. Kindly permit me to reiterate the imperative of state police.
“Nigeria’s centralised policing model can no longer meet the demands of a nation with over two hundred million people with vast ungoverned spaces. With fewer than four hundred thousand police officers nationwide, many rural communities are left without meaningful protection.
“Your excellencies, our region has gone far, we are dismantling new obstacles and building new pathways of cooperation and development. But the challenges remain; some inherited, some emerging, some shaped by global uncertainty. What matters now is that we face them together, with clarity and determination.”