By Olarinre Salako
Published in The Nigerian Tribune: Monday Backpage Column – Systems and Society. March 16, 2026.
Congratulations to Nigeria’s new Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tunji Disu, sworn in on March 06, 2026, as Nigeria faces profound security challenges. Banditry in the North-West, insurgency in the North-East, pipeline vandalism in the South-South, violent separatist agitation in the South-East, and kidnapping across regions continue to stretch Nigeria’s security system. The IGP has emphasised professionalism, improved officer welfare, discipline within the force, and stronger collaboration with citizens.
However, meaningful collaboration will remain difficult unless the relationship between the police and the citizens they are meant to protect is rebuilt on trust.
This intervention draws from essays written between 2020 and 2025 that will appear in my forthcoming book, The Unfinished Nigerian Project. Two are particularly relevant here: one reflecting on lived experiences with policing institutions overseas, and another examining the idea of regional policing anchored on regional development, earlier published in the Nigerian Tribune on December 5, 2025.
The Citizen at the Centre of Policing
Modern policing works best when citizens trust the institution responsible for enforcing the law. Where that trust exists, citizens cooperate with the police, report suspicious behaviour, provide evidence when necessary, and view the police as respected protectors rather than adversaries.
My experiences living abroad illustrated this principle clearly.
Years ago, while living in the United Kingdom, I once had to drive unexpectedly at night without my driving eyeglasses. Because visibility was poor, I drove much slower than the normal speed of the road. Another motorist apparently assumed I might be intoxicated and reported my vehicle to the police, giving them my plate number and the location of the incident. Thirty minutes later, around 10 p.m., two police officers knocked on my door. They explained that a report had been made about my driving and asked to conduct a breath test. The test showed no alcohol. They simply advised me to always wear my glasses when driving at night and left. The episode illustrated a simple principle: a citizen reported a concern, the police responded professionally, and the matter ended with a simple warning.
In the United States, I had another encounter. Shortly after relocating, I was stopped by a police officer because my vehicle license plate had no sticker indicating registration expiry—a requirement I had not encountered while living in Canada. The officer instructed me to remain in the vehicle with my hands visible on the steering wheel. I complied and provided the documents requested. Once the officer realised I was new to the area, I received only a warning and instructions to correct the issue immediately. I did so that very evening.
There was also a more positive encounter. One summer afternoon in Grand Forks, North Dakota, a police officer stopped near our home as my children were riding their bicycles. Because they were wearing their helmets, the officer handed each of them a voucher for ice cream as part of a community initiative called “Safe Kids Grand Forks.” My children never again needed reminders to wear their helmets.
In another instance, after I thought I had lost my wallet, a police officer responded within minutes of my report. She documented the case and gave me a reference number. When I later discovered the wallet in my car trunk, she simply closed the case with a congratulatory remark that I had found it.
None of these encounters involved intimidation, bribery, or hostility. They reflected something more fundamental: professionalism, restraint, and service. These are prerequisites for earning citizens’ trust, cooperation, respect, and even voluntary support.
Nigeria’s Trust Deficit
Nigeria’s policing challenge is not simply about manpower or equipment. It is also about legitimacy.
Many Nigerians still view the police with suspicion. Reports of extortion and harassment at checkpoints, and delays in responding to citizen complaints, have weakened public confidence. When citizens hesitate to approach the police—even when they are victims of crime—law enforcement becomes far less effective.
Rebuilding this relationship between the police and the citizen should be a central institutional priority for Mr. Disu. Discipline within the force, transparent handling of misconduct, and consistent enforcement of professional standards will go a long way toward restoring trust.
Rethinking Nigeria’s Policing Architecture
Nigeria operates one of the most centralised policing systems in the world. The Nigeria Police Force is expected to secure a country of more than two hundred million people from a single national command structure. Nigeria’s security threats are geographically distinct, and a single central policing structure inevitably struggles to respond with the agility such varied realities require.
However, the idea is not simply to create state police forces under individual governors. That model raises legitimate concerns about inadequate funding and political misuse of coercive power at the subnational level.
Instead, Nigeria should explore a framework of regional collaborative policing aligned with the country’s six geopolitical zones. Such a framework would allow states within each zone to jointly fund and support specialised security initiatives tailored to their regional realities.
In the North-West and North-Central regions, coordinated efforts could help resolve herder–farmer conflicts and target banditry and illegal mining networks. In the North-East, community security structures such as the Civilian Joint Task Force could be formalised within a professionalised regional security support framework for counter-insurgency operations. In the South-West, initiatives like Amotekun already demonstrate the potential for regional collaboration against kidnapping and rural banditry, including threats pushing southward through Kwara. Similar approaches could strengthen protection of energy infrastructure in the South-South and address violent criminal networks in parts of the South-East.
Under such a model, the Nigeria Police Force would remain the primary national law enforcement institution, while regional security services would complement it in addressing localised threats.
Ultimately, formalising such an arrangement would require constitutional reform. Section 214(1) of the 1999 Constitution currently centralises policing exclusively at the federal level. Adjustments to the Exclusive Legislative List, as well as revisions to sections governing the Nigeria Police Council and Police Service Commission, would be necessary to accommodate federal–regional cooperation in policing.
These reforms must be approached carefully to preserve national cohesion while improving security through appropriate decentralisation of policing.
Conclusion: Policing and Development
One lesson from global experience is clear: policing and development cannot be separated.
Illegal mining finances banditry. Youth unemployment feeds recruitment into criminal networks. Weak local governance enables kidnapping and extortion to flourish. Energy infrastructure vandalism undermines economic stability.
Security institutions must therefore work alongside development strategies that address the underlying drivers of crime and instability.
For the new Inspector General of Police, the challenge is therefore both institutional and structural. It requires strengthening professionalism within the police while contributing to national debate on Nigeria’s security architecture.
The opportunity before Mr. Disu is therefore larger than routine command of the force. His tenure offers a moment to begin restoring the moral contract between the Nigerian police and the Nigerian citizen — a contract grounded in professionalism, restraint, and service rather than fear or suspicion.
If trust is gradually rebuilt, citizens will once again see the police not as distant enforcers but as partners in public safety. In that moment, policing becomes easier, intelligence flows more freely, and the foundations of national security become stronger.
That is perhaps the most enduring legacy any Inspector General of Police can leave behind.
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