The Federal Government made a significant shift on the controversial issue of state police yesterday, after President Bola Tinubu declared the possibility of working “with the National Assembly to design a framework that guarantees local ownership while ensuring political neutrality.”

Tinubu made the comment at the State House while receiving members of the North-East Governors’ Forum led by Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum.

The President, who commended the resilience and collaboration of governors in the North-East, noted that despite daunting security and developmental challenges, the region has made remarkable progress in stabilisation, resettlement, and social services.

“I have looked more carefully at the security situation. I see the efforts of civilian JTFs and communities. This has again provoked my thinking on state police. We can work with the National Assembly to design a framework that guarantees local ownership while ensuring political neutrality,” the President declared.

Tinubu’s bold declaration signals the end of buck-passing after years of hesitation on the issue of insecurity, during which criminal elements and non-state actors took control of ungoverned spaces across the country, turning them into havens for armed insurrection against Nigeria.

Shortly after assuming office, former President Muhammadu Buhari declared his administration’s intention to recruit approximately 10,000 police officers, emphasising that the nation’s constitution stipulates the security of lives and property as a primary function of the government.

However, the proposal was never implemented, and insecurity continued to weigh heavily on Nigerians, particularly with the rise in banditry, years of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, as well as kidnapping for ransom and recurring clashes between farmers and cattle herders. For many, it appeared the country was sliding towards state failure.

Attempts by some influential figures to rationalise the menace—either as a tool of political bargaining or as an extension of the North-South socio-economic competition—left successive administrations caught in the middle, failing to address the challenge squarely as an existential problem.

Stripped of religious and political undertones, the situation only worsened. The security of lives and property deteriorated to the extent that Nigerians from all walks of life began to question when and where the rain of insurgency actually began to beat the nation.

Calls for state police, regarded as the proper step under a democracy, had long been coloured by regional disputation. But with the current disposition of the President, alongside consensus support from the National Economic Council, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), and other strategic stakeholders, it appears that something serious is about to happen.

TINUBU’s comments came as Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State declared that banditry would become a thing of the past in the state if he had direct control over security agencies.

In a viral video clip, the governor stated that he is aware of the movements of every bandit kingpin operating in Zamfara but is constrained because security chiefs in the state only take orders from Abuja.

“We have dozens of tracking facilities which we fixed across the state just to help security in tracking the bandits. I swear to Almighty Allah, wherever a bandits’ leader is located within Zamfara State, I know it and if he goes out, I know. With my mobile phone, I can show you where and where these bandits are today. But we cannot do anything beyond our powers,” he said.

The governor stressed that if given the power to issue orders to security agencies, he could end banditry within two months. He lamented: “Most of the time, I shed tears for my people because I can see a problem but because I don’t have control over the security agencies, I cannot order the security operatives to act in time. There was a time the bandits invaded Shinkafi local government and I was sitting here when the security operatives were alerted but they refused to go to Shinkafi simply because they were not given orders from Abuja. This is the problem we are facing but we entrusted God and surely, He will come to our rescue.”

Lawal noted that despite the challenges, his administration has continued to support security agencies with logistics and running costs. He recalled that about two months ago, the state government distributed 150 patrol vehicles to the police, army, DSS and civil defence, while thousands of personnel were recruited as Community Protection Guards (CPG). He added that over 2,000 local hunters from Borno and Yobe had also been engaged to complement conventional security operatives.

“I am doing all these despite the fact that I have no control over the security agencies. But because it’s my responsibility to protect the lives and properties of the people of Zamfara as the chief security officer of the state,” the governor said.

He also reiterated his willingness to provide for the basic needs of bandits if a lack of such was the reason for the violence. “If they are lacking water, I will provide them with water, if they are lacking schools, I will build schools for them just to have peace in the state,” he said.

The governor decried what he described as the politicisation of banditry by some individuals. “I want to remind those undermining our efforts in the fight against banditry that their actions are destroying the state, not Dauda Lawal as governor,” he said.

Lawal also recalled that during the recent by-election in the state, a large number of soldiers and other security personnel were deployed with heavy equipment to cover an election that took place in just six wards.