Ojo says setting up a state police force immediately will improve security.

— Says Tinubu deserves second term

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA — Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority and convener of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), has called for the immediate creation of state police forces across Nigeria, describing the move as a solution to the country’s escalating security challenges.

Ojo also urged Nigerians to re‑elect President Bola Tinubu in 2027, arguing that the administration’s focus on state policing and major infrastructure projects is central to addressing the nation’s growing insecurity.

Speaking during a live media chat in Abuja, Ojo said the current security crisis underscores the urgency of establishing state police.

He recalled supporting the proposal while a member of the House of Representatives (2011–2015) and said partisan politics then stalled what he believes should have been a nationwide reform.

“We saw the dangers coming from the Sahel region and the growing instability in Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Some of us believed state police were necessary because of the nature of our borders and emerging security threats, but politics got in the way,” he said.

“We warned years ago that our porous borders and the instability in the Sahel would demand localized security responses,” Ojo said. “State police would have insulated many communities from the threat we now face. Politics stood in the way — not sound security thinking.”

Ojo pointed to Lagos as evidence of the model’s effectiveness, noting the state’s Rapid Response Squad, Security Trust Fund and coordinated investments in equipment drastically reduced violent crime under Tinubu’s governorship.

“Lagos showed decentralised security works. The National Assembly should finish the constitutional process and states must back it now,” he said.

Beyond legislation, Ojo emphasised the need for technology and intelligence to support security efforts.

He urged Nigerian innovators to produce domestic drone and surveillance systems to assist military and police operations along extensive, porous borders.

“Intelligence, aerial surveillance and locally built tech will be decisive in stopping cross‑border criminality,” he said.

Linking security to infrastructure, Ojo argued that durable roads and logistics networks are also strategic crime‑fighting tools.

He highlighted ongoing reconstruction on crucial corridors — Abuja‑Makurdi‑Otukpo‑Enugu, Kaduna‑Kano, and the Lagos–Ibadan expressway — as evidence of the administration’s long‑term vision.

“These are not cosmetic repairs. They are reinforced concrete pavements built to last for decades,” Ojo said. “Better roads improve military mobility, commerce and state presence — all of which reduce the spaces where criminals thrive.”

Ojo also credited the Tinubu administration with stabilising tertiary education, ending prolonged nationwide university closures, and advancing economic reforms that have begun to attract investor confidence.

“There has not been a prolonged nationwide university shutdown under this administration. Students are completing their programmes on schedule and parents have greater certainty about their children’s education,” he said.

On power, he defended the Electricity Act as a structural reform that allows states to generate and distribute electricity — a change that will take time but promises private investment and competition.

Acknowledging inherited problems, Ojo said Tinubu has laid the foundations for lasting solutions. “The president inherited decades of structural deficits. He is taking difficult decisions to fix them. Nigerians should judge the progress in security and infrastructure when they vote in 2027,” he said.

Ojo urged swift legislative action on state policing and greater collaboration between federal and state governments, arguing that combining decentralised policing, targeted infrastructure and modern surveillance will be Nigeria’s best defence against rising insecurity.

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