State Police an Imperative for True Federalism in Nigeria

Abstract

The centralized structure of the police under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria vis a vis the constitutional provision on Nigerian federalism appear to be a contradiction in terms. Such symbol of unitary government as a central police force under the Nigerian democracy has been a subject of heated debate particularly since the inception of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, among those who insist that the practice of proper federalism is crucial for Nigeria's democratization process. This paper examines the need for the establishment of state police. A central factor in federalism is the relative autonomy enjoyed by the states in relation to the central government, but without its independent police a state cannot claim autonomy for the police is the coercive force on which a government stands. There is need for the establishment of state police as one of the key factors in enthroning true federalism in Nigeria whose practice of federalism is rocked with several abnormalities. The paper analyses the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Nigerian federal practices, the opinions of the stakeholders in the affairs of government, as well as the view of the common man on the subject of discuss. For an effective practice of federalism, each unit of the government needs its own independent security system which is represented by the police to effectively run the affairs of government.