President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared a state of emergency on Nigeria’s police and security training institutions, in a bold move aimed at repositioning the nation’s internal security architecture for greater efficiency and professionalism.
Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC) Committee on the Overhaul of Police and Other Security Training Institutions, and Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, disclosed this in Lagos on Tuesday during the commencement of the committee’s nationwide tour of training facilities.
Governor Mbah said the presidential directive followed deliberations at the 152nd NEC meeting, where President Tinubu expressed deep concern over the deplorable state of police and security training facilities across the country.
“The President recognises that there is a need for bold and urgent steps to be taken to restore the pride, professionalism, and confidence of men and women in the security space,” Mbah stated.
“You cannot expect our men and women who are protecting our communities to be trained in an environment that is inhumane. This is not acceptable. The President saw this as an emergency, and we are treating it with the seriousness it deserves.”
Mbah explained that the committee’s assignment is to produce a comprehensive report within 30 days, detailing actionable steps for rebuilding, equipping, and sustaining the nation’s security training institutions.
The team, which includes Governors Uba Sani (Kaduna), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Kefas Agbu (Taraba), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), and Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), alongside former Inspector-General of Police Usman Baba as Secretary, has divided itself into two subcommittees to cover the northern and southern regions simultaneously.
Mbah further revealed that President Tinubu has already approved the recruitment of an additional 30,000 police personnel, stressing that such a massive recruitment drive requires well-equipped and functional training institutions.
“We cannot use the system of the 20th century to train a modern 21st-century police force,” Mbah added. “They need to be imbued with skills in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Mechatronics, and other digital technologies relevant to modern policing.”
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, who accompanied Mbah during the tour of the Police Training College, Ikeja, underscored the President’s commitment to urgent reforms, saying the composition of the committee itself was a testament to the seriousness attached to the project.
Commandant of the college, AIG Omolara Oloruntola, commended the federal government for the initiative, lamenting the institution’s infrastructural decay since its establishment in 1949.
She expressed hope that the planned intervention would restore the college’s lost glory.
