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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Former Minister of Education and founder of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG), Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has warned that the creation of state police, though necessary, will not address Nigeria’s worsening security and governance challenges unless it is backed by comprehensive constitutional restructuring.
Ezekwesili made the assertion in a public memorandum addressed to President Bola Tinubu, the Senate, House of Representatives, Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Nigerian people, which she shared on her X account.
She argued that Nigeria’s persistent insecurity is rooted more in structural and constitutional defects than in the absence of decentralised policing.
Her intervention comes amid renewed efforts by the Federal Government to establish state police as part of measures aimed at tackling the country’s growing security challenges.
While acknowledging the increasing support for state police across the country, Ezekwesili maintained that the proposal addresses only a symptom of a much deeper national problem.
“The security crisis is real, but it is not fundamentally a policing crisis. It is the manifestation of a deeper constitutional, governance and political economy crisis that has steadily eroded state capacity, weakened accountability and undermined the effectiveness of public institutions,” she stated.
She noted that Nigerians have every reason to seek alternative security arrangements, given the alarming rise in insecurity across the country.
Citing recent Afrobarometer findings, she noted that 79 per cent of Nigerians regard kidnapping and abduction as serious national problems, while 63 per cent reported feeling unsafe in their homes or neighbourhoods within the past year.
She further observed that one in every three Nigerians personally knows someone who has been kidnapped in the last five years, describing the figures as evidence of a deep crisis of state effectiveness and public confidence.
However, she cautioned that focusing solely on state police could distract attention from the underlying structural deficiencies responsible for many of Nigeria’s challenges.
Ezekwesili argued that the 1999 Constitution concentrates excessive political authority, fiscal resources and decision-making powers at the federal level, leaving states with limited autonomy despite Nigeria’s federal status.
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She pointed to the Exclusive Legislative List, which places 68 critical items under the sole control of the Federal Government, including policing, prisons, railways, mines and minerals, as well as arms and ammunition.
According to her, decentralising policing without addressing the broader constitutional framework would amount to treating a symptom while leaving the root cause untouched.
“The question therefore is not whether policing should be decentralised. It should. The deeper question is why policing alone should be decentralised while dozens of other functions remain trapped within a constitutional framework inherited from military command structures rather than democratic federal design,” she said.
The former minister traced Nigeria’s current governance structure to decades of military rule, during which powers previously exercised by regions and sub-national governments were progressively transferred to the centre and later retained in the 1999 Constitution.
She argued that the consequences of this over-centralisation are evident not only in insecurity, but also in weak public service delivery, economic underperformance, fiscal dependency and poor accountability.
Ezekwesili noted that the spread of insecurity from the North-East and North-West to virtually every part of the country demonstrates that the challenge is systemic rather than regional.
She therefore urged Nigerians to move beyond the narrow debate over state police and instead focus on restructuring the federation through a new constitutional arrangement.
The former minister advocated a comprehensive restructuring agenda that would rebalance powers among the Exclusive, Concurrent and Residual Legislative Lists, strengthen fiscal federalism, promote productivity and competitiveness, and guarantee equal citizenship.
She also called for a citizens-led sovereign national conference and a referendum to produce a new constitution, insisting that sovereignty ultimately belongs to the Nigerian people. “State Police will be necessary. But necessity does not make it the solution to a dysfunctional Nigeria,” she declared.
Ezekwesili stressed that Nigeria can no longer afford to delay difficult conversations about restructuring, describing constitutional reform as the most viable pathway to addressing the country’s security, governance and development challenges.
She disclosed that her next public memorandum would outline immediate steps toward a citizens-led constitutional process and a broader restructuring agenda. “Let’s move immediately on the restructuring agenda through a brand-new citizens-led constitutional process and save our beleaguered country and people. No more tragically costly delays,” she said.
