By Ladidi Sabo
Nigeria is facing a stark security paradox: as calls for state policing grow louder, the country’s existing security architecture is already buckling under severe underfunding.
Across regions and political divides, pressure is mounting on the federal government to decentralize policing. But beneath the heated debate lies a more immediate and less resolved crisis, how to fund any system, centralized or otherwise, in a country where frontline security agencies are struggling to function.
At the centre of the controversy is Olatunji Disu of the Nigeria Police Force, whose proposed 60-month rollout plan for state police has triggered nationwide backlash. Critics say the timeline reflects a dangerous lack of urgency as insecurity deepens.
Yet even among supporters of decentralization, a troubling question persists: can Nigeria afford to expand a system it has failed to adequately fund?
A System Running on Empty
From urban centres to rural outposts, the reality of policing in Nigeria tells a grim story.
Police divisions operate with skeletal budgets, often unable to fuel patrol vehicles or maintain basic infrastructure. Officers are forced to improvise—sometimes relying on informal contributions to carry out investigations.
Despite interventions such as the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, the gap between allocation and operational reality remains wide. Experts say the problem is not just funding levels, but how resources are managed and deployed.
“The architecture is weak because the foundation is weak,” a security analyst said. “Without fixing funding, structural reform becomes cosmetic.”
Frontline Collapse, Rising Threats
The consequences are playing out in real time.
In Kwara State, forest guards battling bandits report unpaid salaries, crude weapons, and rising fatalities. Across the country, overstretched police units are unable to respond effectively to kidnappings, insurgency, and violent crime.
The vacuum has forced greater reliance on the military for internal security, an arrangement widely seen as unsustainable.
Meanwhile, other agencies like the Nigeria Immigration Service face similar funding constraints, leaving borders porous and enforcement weak.
State Police: Solution or Distraction?
Advocacy for state police has intensified amid frustration with centralized policing. Groups across the Middle Belt, the South-West, and the South-East argue that local control could improve intelligence gathering and response times.
But critics warn that decentralization without funding clarity risks multiplying dysfunction.
“How will states fund police forces when the federal structure itself is underfunded?” one policy expert asked. “We risk creating 36 weak systems instead of fixing one broken one.”
The debate has been further inflamed by opposition to the IGP’s timeline, with many describing a five-year wait as unacceptable in the face of daily violence.
A Crisis of Priorities
Nigeria has committed significant sums to security in recent years, yet the impact remains uneven at best. For many officers, the reality is unchanged: low pay, poor welfare, and inadequate equipment.
Analysts say this disconnect points to deeper governance challenges, where funding exists on paper but fails to translate into operational strength.
As the 2027 elections approach and insecurity continues to dominate national discourse, the stakes are rising.
Whither the Way Forward?
The question now confronting policymakers is not simply whether to adopt state policing, but how to build a system that works.
Without addressing chronic underfunding, experts warn, any reform risks becoming another layer of bureaucracy rather than a solution.
With Nigerians living under constant threat, the debate is no longer theoretical. It is urgent, existential, and unresolved.
