A United Kingdom-based economist and public policy analyst, Daramola Omoyele, has recommended the establishment of locally-rooted policing units in each Local Government Area (LGA) to address Nigeria’s security challenges.

Mr Omoyele made the recommendation during an interview on Sunday in Abuja.

He said the country’s current security architecture was overstretched due to over-centralisation, adding that the challenges would persist until a system anchored at the grassroots level was established.

While acknowledging the ongoing debate on state police, he cautioned that shifting policing powers solely to state governments might only “transfer centralisation” rather than address the country’s security challenges.

“Nigeria is currently debating state police, but state police risks merely transferring centralisation from the federal government to state capitals.

“A more sustainable approach is structured community policing anchored at the local government level under national regulatory standards,” he said.

According to him, even if a state police structure is introduced, it may not resolve the core challenge of limited local intelligence.

Mr Omoyele explained that many security threats often originate within communities long before they escalate to a level requiring state or federal intervention.

“What is needed is a locally rooted policing system linked to the national security architecture. Local police units should operate within each local government area, while the federal police retain national coordination, training standards, criminal databases and investigative capacity,” he said.

He added that in such a system, information gathered at the community level would flow upward while national intelligence flows downward.

“Effective security depends on cooperation between federal policing institutions and locally based officers who understand the environment they protect,” he said.

Mr Omoyele argued that under the current centralised structure, officers posted from distant regions often lack the language skills, geographical knowledge and social understanding required to effectively police their host communities.

“Security depends on information, and information depends on trust. A locally recruited officer knows the families, understands community tensions and notices danger long before it becomes a crisis.

“He recognises suspicious behaviour early and can intervene before conflict escalates. Many incidents of banditry and kidnapping begin as local intelligence failures,” he said.

Mr Omoyele also linked the restoration of national security to the regular and credible conduct of local government elections.

He stated that the use of caretaker committees in many states undermined accountability because leaders not chosen by the people could not effectively answer to them.

He therefore recommended that local government elections be conducted alongside general elections and supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He stated, “Citizens should be able to vote for their councillors and chairmen at the same time they elect presidents and governors.

“When communities choose their local leaders directly, participation increases and responsibility becomes clear.”

(NAN)