As the National Assembly fine-tunes the decentralisation of the police structure and allows each state to have its own team, lawmakers should do a thorough job and develop a template that will not only ensure the creation of state police but also facilitate their smooth and effective operation. Also, leaders at the second tier of government, particularly governors, should begin to brace for greater responsibility to make policing a success in their domains.
  
Ongoing amendments to the 1999 Constitution to accommodate state police will officially transition governors from their current ceremonial roles as chief security officers of their states to active commanders of localised security forces. Among the implications is the fact that the governors will henceforth be held directly responsible for the security, mainly in terms of the safety of life and property, and human rights records within their states. While there are still many hurdles to cross in the restructuring of policing in the country, state police formation will mark a remarkable shift from the era of holding the president responsible, as governors heap their helplessness on constitutional restrictions that limit direct control of the police in their domains. By the time state police come into operation, the hiding place for the governors will shrink considerably, and they will be held responsible for the safety of life and property in their states. The initiative meant to rescue the country from unprecedented insecurity that threatens its corporate existence must not fail.
 
Since the menace of terrorism started in the country about two decades ago, manifesting in mass attacks on communities, places of worship, social gatherings, travellers, as well as kidnapping of school children, Nigerians have clamoured for state police, especially when it became obvious that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the military were becoming overwhelmed by the heinous activities of the hoodlums. Today, many innocent people, including schoolchildren, are in captivity of terrorists and kidnappers across the country. Many have been killed, and the families thrown into everlasting sorrow as the insecurity escalates, straddling several administrations.
  
The idea of state police, which President Bola Tinubu promised on his way to the presidency, is founded on the belief that security is local, and if success must be achieved in the anti-terrorism fight, the NPF should be decentralised to accommodate local police force that will be run significantly by locals who have good knowledge of the local terrain and how to stop or repel incursion by criminal elements from outside the environment, and those who may be operating from within.
 
In response to the long-advocated call and heightened security threats nationwide, the National Assembly passed bills to amend the constitution to pave the way for the establishment of state police, even as the presidency has submitted similar bills for harmonisation. It is expected that the National Assembly will retain the authority to prescribe the framework, standards, organisation, and powers of both police systems, and that the state police will come into force only after being established by the House of Assembly of a state and certified to have met the prescribed standards.
 
In light of concerns about possible abuse by the state police, the House of Representatives has provided safeguards. A state commissioner of police is to be appointed by the governor on the advice of the National Police Council and confirmed by the House of Assembly. Where a governor issues a directive which the commissioner of police considers to be unlawful or inconsistent Ok i with the professional policing standards, the officer may refer the matter to the National Police Council, whose decision would be final. The amendment further limits the federal police’s intervention in state policing matters, except in cases of serious breakdown of law and order, upon the governor’s request, or when a state police service becomes unable to function due to administrative or financial difficulties. In the Senate, the state police bill has passed the second reading and is now before the ad hoc committee on constitution review for the transfer of police powers from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, as well as other legislative work.
 
As the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele captured it while leading the debate on the matter, Nigeria’s long-standing reliance on a single centralised police force has indeed become increasingly unworkable in the face of the rising and complex security threats across the country. Really, contemporary security challenges, including terrorism, kidnapping, cult violence, communal clashes, herders-farmers clashes and cybercrime, have exposed the limitations of a centrally-controlled policing system that is seen struggling to respond to local emergencies
 
Nigeria must be safe for any serious development to take place. Therefore, all the major stakeholders, particularly President Tinubu, state governors, the National Assembly, and the Houses of Assembly, should be unreservedly committed not only to creating state police but also to ensuring they work in the interest of national peace and security. The National Assembly and other committees working on the template may need to study how state police operate effectively in other countries, including the United States, to develop clear, standardised and functional safeguards that will form the structural, administrative and operational foundation of state police in Nigeria.
 
The overwhelming support the bill enjoys in the National Assembly underscores its importance, and Nigerians expect the same treatment from the state Houses of Assembly when the matter comes before them. This should also spur those who will implement it to exhibit patriotism and love for their fellow citizens who may at any time fall victim to the cruelty of terrorists, kidnappers and other devilish elements operating in the country.
 
The National Police Council is being positioned to play a crucial role in ensuring the proper functioning of the state police, with a view to preventing abuse of power. The members should be impartial, men and women of sound mind, good character and a sense of justice because any wrong decision by the council could set the affected state on fire.

Part of the council’s task may be to ensure that the federal police see state police as partners, not rivals. For success, the two police systems must adopt a proactive approach to policing. They should take the fight to the criminals wherever they are, not waiting till they have struck and escaped. Traditional rulers and other respected local leaders can be involved in recruiting personnel for the state police to prevent misfits from serving in security roles. There should be priority for the welfare of personnel to prevent the tendency to indulge in corrupt practices and acts of sabotage that will prevent the realisation of the objectives of creating a state police.
 
The National Assembly needs to be diligent in their duty to work out modalities for state police, but they do not have all the time in the world to do this, as the criminals are daily strategising their dastardly operations. They need to work quickly while making room for review, given the escalating insecurity countrywide. And when this is achieved, states with the resources can create their own police force that will begin operations immediately. It is time to stop a situation where Nigerians are living at the mercy of criminals in their own country, as if there is no government in place.