State Police: One reform down, more to go

By Joshua Mamiloghor

Nigeria appears to be moving towards one of the most consequential changes to its federal structure since the return to democratic rule in 1999: the establishment of state police.

The debate has been long overdue.

For decades, governors have carried the political burden of insecurity in their states while operating within a policing structure that remains overwhelmingly federal. Citizens naturally look to their governors when insecurity strikes, yet operational command of the Nigeria Police Force remains within a federal chain of command.

The constitutional effort to establish state police is therefore about more than security. It raises a larger question Nigeria must eventually confront: if we are prepared to decentralise something as fundamental as policing, what other responsibilities are we unnecessarily concentrating at the federal level?

For me, one of the next conversations should begin on our roads.

Nigeria should consider giving states greater authority to issue, manage and enforce driver’s licences, vehicle registrations and number plates within a nationally coordinated and interoperable framework.

One Road, Too Many Uniforms

Anyone who drives regularly in Nigeria understands the experience. On one journey, a motorist may encounter the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Nigeria Police Force, Vehicle Inspection Officers, state traffic agencies and other authorised enforcement personnel.

Each institution may have a legitimate responsibility, but from the perspective of the ordinary motorist, the lines can sometimes appear blurred.

One road. One car. One driver. Yet potentially several agencies checking different aspects of the same vehicle and its documentation.

Nigeria’s driver’s licence process itself already demonstrates the intergovernmental nature of road administration. It involves state-level authorities, Vehicle Inspection Officers and the Federal Road Safety Corps. The question is whether the current division of responsibility is the most efficient model for a federation of Nigeria’s size.

Let States Manage Their Drivers

Consider a different model. A resident of Lagos State could obtain a driver’s licence administered by Lagos State. A resident of Rivers State could obtain one administered by Rivers State. The other states could do the same.

Those licences would remain valid throughout Nigeria because they would conform to national standards and connect to a national verification system.

The Federal Government could establish minimum standards for licence classes, testing requirements, security features, road safety, data sharing and interstate recognition. States could administer testing, issuance, renewal, suspension, vehicle registration and number plates.

The principle is straightforward: national standards, state administration.

A vehicle registered in Delta State should be instantly verifiable by authorised officials anywhere in the federation. We live in an era of cloud computing, biometrics and interconnected databases. National consistency no longer requires every transaction to be administered by the Federal Government.

Decentralisation does not have to mean fragmentation.

Reduce Duplication On Our Roads

Transferring administrative responsibility alone would not be enough. Nigeria should also reconsider how road enforcement itself is organised.

Routine traffic enforcement, vehicle compliance and local road regulations could primarily become state responsibilities. If the constitutional process for state police is completed and states establish their own police services, those services could address criminal conduct, dangerous driving requiring police intervention and public safety within their jurisdictions.

The Federal Road Safety Corps could increasingly concentrate on responsibilities that are genuinely national: road-safety standards, interstate highway safety, crash prevention, research, national data coordination and policy.

The Nigeria Police Force should be allowed to concentrate on policing and public security rather than becoming another layer of routine vehicle-document enforcement where specialised traffic authorities already exist.

This is not an argument for abolishing institutions simply to reduce their number. It is an argument for clarity. Citizens should know which agency is responsible for what. When responsibility is clear, accountability becomes clearer.

Strong States Do Not Mean A Weak Nigeria

There remains a tendency in our national politics to equate decentralisation with weakening Nigeria. I see it differently.

Nigeria becomes stronger when its states become stronger.

A governor who wants safer roads should have both the authority and responsibility to build a system that delivers them. States could improve driver testing, digitise vehicle registration and learn from one another.

We cannot demand innovation from state governments while treating them primarily as administrative extensions of Abuja.

More importantly, decentralisation makes accountability easier. If vehicle administration is a state responsibility and the system fails, citizens know whom to hold accountable. If it succeeds, they know whom to reward.

Thirty-Six States, One Nigeria

There is, however, an important caution: decentralisation cannot become administrative chaos.

Nigeria should not have 36 states operating 36 incompatible systems. A driver’s licence issued in Bayelsa must be recognised in Borno. A vehicle registered in Ogun must be identifiable in Enugu. A driver whose licence is suspended for a serious offence in Lagos should not simply cross into another state and obtain another one.

What Nigeria needs is a National Driver and Vehicle Framework: federal minimum standards combined with state administration and a secure national verification infrastructure.

Federal authorities could establish technical, safety and interoperability standards. States would administer their residents and vehicles. The national system would connect them.

The Re-Engineering Must Continue

In my previous article, “Coastal Dreams and the Re-engineering of the Core Functions of the Country Called Nigeria,” I wrote about driving on a section of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway and seeing, for a moment, the Nigeria I believe is possible.

That article was about physical infrastructure. But roads alone will not transform Nigeria. We must also rebuild the architecture of government.

The movement towards state police provides an opportunity to begin a larger national conversation about how responsibilities are distributed across our federation.

Which functions genuinely require federal administration? Which are better handled by states? Where are Nigerians paying for duplication? Where are multiple agencies doing jobs that could be performed more efficiently with clearer responsibilities? And how much of our bureaucracy exists because it is necessary—and how much exists simply because that is how we have always done things?

One Down, A Few More To Go

I believe in a Nigeria with strong states and a strong Federal Government, not one at the expense of the other.

Let Abuja handle responsibilities that genuinely require national coordination. Let states govern where proximity to the people makes them better positioned to deliver. Let technology connect our institutions. Let national standards preserve the integrity of the federation. And let citizens know exactly which government to hold accountable.

The movement towards state police may ultimately prove to be about much more than security. It may force Nigeria to reconsider what federalism should mean in practice.

If we are prepared to trust states with something as fundamental as policing their communities, then surely we can have a serious conversation about trusting them to manage their drivers, vehicles and roads.

State police is one reform moving forward. There are others waiting.

One down. A few more to go.

Joshua Mamiloghor is a project management professional & public policy enthusiast based between Nigeria and the US.