ABUJA: Northern governors and traditional rulers have renewed their demand for the rapid implementation of state policing, warning that Nigeria’s highly centralised security architecture can no longer meet the needs of a country with over 200 million citizens and vast ungoverned spaces.
Speaking after a crucial meeting in Kaduna on Monday, the Northern Governors’ Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council stressed that the nation’s current policing model is overstretched, under-resourced, and fundamentally ill-equipped to confront escalating threats ranging from terrorism and banditry to farmer-herder conflicts.
Host governor Uba Sani said the region’s security challenges require coordinated, community-driven action that central policing cannot deliver. He dismissed claims that northern governors had become passive, insisting that they compare strategies, share intelligence and hold one another accountable.
He argued strongly for state police, noting that fewer than 400,000 officers serve the entire country, leaving many rural communities without any meaningful protection.
Chairman of the Forum, Governor Inuwa Yahaya, reaffirmed the governors’ support for President Bola Tinubu’s call for constitutional changes enabling state police.
He cautioned against narratives that frame insecurity along religious or ethnic lines, stressing that both Christians and Muslims are victims and that security forces from all backgrounds have paid the ultimate price.
He linked the region’s crises to deeper structural issuesunderdevelopment, illiteracy, climate change, poor resource management, and economic deprivation calling for massive investments in education, infrastructure, and youth opportunities.
The governors placed the almajiri and out-of-school children crisis at the top of their agenda, describing millions of unschooled northern children as a stain on our collective conscience.
They pledged coordinated action to ensure compulsory schooling and skills development.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, speaking for the region’s traditional rulers, urged governors to listen more attentively to public criticism, warning that dismissing concerns would slow urgently needed reforms.
He called for more frequent structured engagement between political and traditional institutions to maintain cohesion and improve policy outcomes.
The meeting concluded with a unified call for locally tailored solutions supported by constitutional reform, improved governance, and enhanced collaboration between federal, state, and traditional authorities.
With insecurity worsening and economic hardship deepening, northern leaders insist that the adoption of state police is no longer a matter of debate but an urgent national necessity.
