Recently, the former DirectorGeneral of the defunct National Security Organisation, Umaru Shinkafi , proff ered what in my opinion is one of the most farreaching solutions to the security challenges facing Nigeria viz: the creation of state police (akin to the State National Guards of the United States). Shinkafi ’s argument is watershed: police offi cers who are required to serve in their states and hometowns of origin make committed and veritable intelligence assets (this is an irrefutable fact in the sense that a man “knows his backyard” better than strangers).
I must also add here that these police offi cers would experience a shorter economic adjustment downtime, and this makes for job satisfaction overall. We are dealing with a uniquely Nigerian perspective where attachments and bonds to hometowns are as strong as ever. Not long ago, in Zamfara state, about thirteen people were killed and cremated by marauding armed robbers. Like President Goodluck Jonathan is wont to say, the people who perpetrated this heinous crime are “not spirits and they live among us.” Apprehending them requires extensive local knowledge that would surely befuddle an investigating police offi cer from, say, Benue state. Luckily, the structure of a state police already exists in nearly all the states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory.
Benue state presents a very good case study: in Idomaland, the uniformed vigilante system called “òde” is an integral part of any community at the village and district levels. Th e command structure of this system is enviably hierarchical with a well-defi ned chain of command, and a welldeveloped check-and-balance routine. Interestingly, members of this òde system are usually unpaid volunteers. Amazingly, the federal security system personnel, who are salaried, cannot match the òde members for sheer enthusiasm in carrying out their functions. Th e òde system has been a veritable peace enforcer and a medium of intelligence gathering at the grassroots for a long time now. A state police inaugurated to meet the challenges of the 21st century would necessarily need to integrate the muscle of the existing police force (training, fi rearms, logistics, etc.) and the innate “tracking” abilities of local vigilante groups. In view of this, the National Assembly should convene a special session to deliberate on the organisation and inauguration of the state police system. Sunday Adole Jonah, Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger state
