President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for an urgent revamp of Nigeria’s security architecture through constitutional reform, claiming that the establishment of state police is no longer optional but rather a “national imperative” required by the country’s escalating security difficulties.
He spoke in Abuja on Monday as part of a one-day legislative conversation on constitutional revision and national security architecture hosted by the House Committee on Constitution revision and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Tinubu, who was represented by Minister of Defence Mohammed Abubakar Badaru at the high-level Legislative Dialogue on Nigeria’s National Security Architecture, stated that the current centralised security system has outlived its usefulness and warned that failure to realign the Constitution with Nigeria’s lived realities poses a serious threat to national unity.
“The debate over state police is no longer theoretical. It is grounded in the daily fears and lived anxieties of Nigerians: farmers afraid to tend their fields, traders unsure of safe passage, and communities abandoned to self-help,” Tinubu said.
The president described Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as foundational to its democracy but outdated in dealing with modern security threats. He cited the rising complexity of terrorism, cybercrime, farmer-herder conflicts, piracy, and separatist agitations as clear indicators that the current legal framework is inadequate to secure Nigeria’s vast and diverse territory.
Tinubu advocated for radical constitutional revisions that would shift policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List, allowing states with the competence and political will to form their own police forces. He stated that such a change would result in more accountable, community-based policing while maintaining federal cooperation and oversight.
The president’s position lends federal support to mounting calls from governors, traditional leaders, and civil society for state police as a solution to Nigeria’s overburdened and frequently ineffective security forces.
Tinubu acknowledged recent accomplishments made through greater cooperation among national security agencies, particularly the synergy between the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the military forces. He stated that joint task force operations, intelligence fusion, and coordinated air and ground offensives resulted in the elimination of terrorist camps in the Northeast and criminal enclaves in the Northwest.
He went on to say that enhanced marine security had reduced piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as high-profile kidnappings and bandit attacks, thanks to a “whole-of-government strategy”.
“Security in the 21st century is cooperative, not competitive. No single agency or tier of government can address these threats alone,” he stressed.
Beyond internal reforms, the President also highlighted Nigeria’s porous borders as a major threat to national security, facilitating arms trafficking and cross-border terrorism. He said the Constitution must clarify the roles of federal and sub-national actors in securing Nigeria’s frontiers.
Tinubu said his administration has taken proactive steps to secure vulnerable populations, particularly schoolchildren, with the establishment of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre. He also pointed to the approval of community policing frameworks aimed at narrowing the trust gap between citizens and law enforcement.
“These efforts must be complemented with structural changes. Without constitutional backing for decentralised policing, these initiatives will remain limited in impact,” he warned.
The President charged the National Assembly, particularly the House Committee on Constitution Review led by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, to act with urgency and courage in pushing through security-focused amendments.
“None of these reforms will materialise without legislative courage and political will,” Tinubu declared. “Let history record that in this chamber, on this day, Nigeria’s leaders chose courage over caution, vision over fear, and reform over inertia.”
