Akeredolu’s posthumous birthday reignites state police debate

The posthumous 70th birthday celebration of former Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, reignited debate over state policing, highlighting his role in establishing Amotekun and the need for sustainable funding, professional training and accountability in Nigeria’s security architecture, writes ADEMOLA ADEGBITE

Nigerians from all walks of life on October 8, 2026, converged on Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, for the 70th posthumous birthday of the late former governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu. The celebration offered more than an opportunity for family members, political leaders and associates to remember him. It also provided a platform to revisit the security concerns that informed his advocacy and examine the future of the regional initiative, Amotekun, which he helped establish.

Fondly called Aketi, the late former Ondo State governor was known for his forthrightness, legal expertise and willingness to challenge positions he considered contrary to the public interest, including those of political associates. Long before the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, became a prominent feature of the South-West’s security architecture, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu had built a reputation as a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He was renowned for his fearlessness and ability to speak truth to power. He never shied away from taking firm positions on issues of justice, governance, security and constitutional responsibility.

His death on December 27, 2023, brought to an end a career that spanned the legal profession, organised bar leadership and partisan politics. The Nigerian Bar Association, in its tribute following Akeredolu’s death, described him as one of its influential and courageous former presidents. However, among the issues associated with his life, his role in the establishment of Amotekun remains particularly consequential because it placed the question of decentralised policing firmly in Nigeria’s national conversation.

Akeredolu had mooted the idea of Amotekun following recurring insecurity, particularly threats to rural communities, farmers, travellers and residents in parts of the South-West states. During the period preceding its establishment, residents and state governments expressed concerns about kidnapping, armed robbery, attacks on farmers and travellers, and criminal activities in forests and rural settlements.

The problem was particularly pressing in areas where difficult terrain and the distance between communities and conventional security formations could complicate rapid responses to threats. The security challenge prompted him to seek collaboration with other governors in the region, eventually leading to the establishment of Amotekun. The governors of the six South-West states consequently began exploring a coordinated regional response that would strengthen local intelligence gathering and improve cooperation among their security structures. The initiative resulted in the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, which was formally launched in Ibadan on January 9, 2020.

Indeed, the emergence of Amotekun was rooted in concerns about the ability of the existing security structure to respond adequately to the peculiar challenges confronting communities across the South-West.

The six participating states were Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti. The launch was hosted by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who described the initiative as a regional collaborative security arrangement intended to protect residents and their property. Although Amotekun was a collective initiative of the six governors, Akeredolu emerged as one of its most prominent advocates and leading figures.

His position as Ondo State governor and chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum at the time gave him a platform to advance the regional security agenda and defend the need for a structure that would bring security responses closer to the communities affected. The initiative was designed to complement existing security agencies rather than operate as a replacement for the Nigeria Police Force or other federal security institutions.

Its responsibilities included supporting local intelligence gathering, helping to identify security threats and working with conventional agencies to improve the protection of lives and property. The arrangement also reflected a broader argument advanced by Akeredolu and other regional leaders: that state governments, being closer to their communities, should have a greater role in addressing security challenges within their jurisdictions.

For Akeredolu, the creation of a regional security network was only the beginning. The initiative also had to be backed by appropriate laws, operational structures and the resources required to function. Following the January 2020 launch, Ondo State moved to establish a legal framework for its own security network.

Houses of Assembly in the South-West subsequently passed laws to establish Amotekun in their respective states. However, from its inception to date, questions have persisted about personnel training, equipment, funding, coordination with federal agencies and the extent of the authority that state-established security outfits could exercise. These questions have continued to feature in discussions about state policing. The debate over equipping Amotekun with the necessary arms and ammunition has also persisted, as the Federal Government maintained in 2022 that security outfits established by state governments could not bear firearms.

Akeredolu publicly challenged the position, arguing that Amotekun personnel should be given the necessary capacity to confront the threats they were expected to address. He questioned what he considered an inconsistency in the treatment of security arrangements across the country and maintained that the protection of residents should not be undermined by political considerations.

His position reflected a wider disagreement over the extent to which state governments should be empowered to respond directly to security threats. Supporters of state policing have argued that decentralisation could improve intelligence gathering, shorten response times and make security operations more responsive to local conditions.

Those concerns have, however, existed alongside questions about the potential politicisation of state-controlled police formations, the protection of fundamental rights and the need for safeguards against abuse. The matter, therefore, extends beyond whether state police should be established to how their powers, funding, recruitment, oversight and accountability should be structured.

Akeredolu consistently pressed for a greater role for subnational governments in security administration, making the issue one of the most recognisable aspects of his public advocacy. His interventions also placed him at the centre of discussions about the relationship between federal authority and state responsibility in Nigeria’s constitutional arrangement.

A colloquium held to mark Akeredolu’s 70th posthumous birthday again brought up the practical requirements for implementing state policing, including funding, recruitment, professional training, operational standards, oversight and protection against political interference.

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, who delivered the keynote address, said Nigeria needed an additional 554,353 police personnel to meet the United Nations benchmark of one officer to 414 citizens.

According to him, the projected shortfall translated to approximately 184,784 recruits annually over three years.

“The debate is no longer whether Nigeria needs state police, but how swiftly and sustainably we establish it,” he said.

He argued that a security system administered predominantly from Abuja could not adequately address every local security challenge in a country as large and diverse as Nigeria.

“Security is intrinsically local. You cannot police a community whose language you do not speak, whose terrain you do not know. State policing is not a threat to unity; it is the bedrock of stability and prosperity,” Abiodun added.

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The governor, however, warned that differences in the revenue-generating capacities of states could undermine the reform if poorer states were left without adequate resources.

He said Lagos, Rivers, the Federal Capital Territory, Ogun and Enugu accounted for 61.6 per cent of internally generated revenue, while 76 per cent of states generated below the national average of N13,600 per capita.

Abiodun, therefore, advocated a constitutional state police take-off fund that would provide equal-access grants, need-based financial support and disbursements tied to operational standards. He also called for transparent recruitment, proper vetting, professional training, improved personnel welfare and effective mechanisms for investigating abuses.

He stressed that police protection must not depend on political affiliation and that journalists, peaceful protesters, political opponents and minority communities deserved equal protection under the law.

Linking security to economic development, he said insecurity threatened investment, agricultural production and the ability of infrastructure to generate economic returns.

Abiodun credited Akeredolu with helping to move the debate on decentralised policing from theory to practical regional action through the establishment of Amotekun.

Akeredolu’s successor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who served as his deputy before succeeding him, described his predecessor as a leader who regarded public office as an instrument of service rather than an ornament of status.

He said Akeredolu’s advocacy had moved from a regional campaign to the centre of Nigeria’s national policy and constitutional discussions.

According to him, the establishment of Amotekun demonstrated that communities closest to security challenges should have a meaningful role in protecting themselves.

“What Akeredolu and other progressive voices once advanced as a necessary response to the realities of our federal structure has now entered the very centre of Nigeria’s national policy and constitutional conversation,” he said.

Aiyedatiwa added that any state police arrangement must balance local responsiveness with national cohesion, professional standards and respect for fundamental rights.

Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of Ekiti State who worked closely with Akeredolu within the South-West Governors’ Forum, recalled his commitment to justice and his advocacy for decentralised security administration.

He said Akeredolu’s contribution to the region went beyond the creation of a security outfit, noting that his leadership demonstrated how cooperation among states could produce responses to shared challenges.

Fayemi maintained that the late governor’s legacy should be assessed not only through the public offices he occupied but also through the institutions and ideas he helped advance.

Seye Oyeleye, the Director-General of the DAWN Commission, similarly called for the conversation on state policing to move from commemoration to implementation.

He said the critical questions concerned how the proposed system would be funded, equipped, trained and regulated, as well as how it would be protected against political abuse.

“The debate on state policing is no longer about whether. It is about how. How do we fund it? How do we train and equip it? How do we guard against abuse? How do we keep it accountable to the people, not to politicians?” he asked.

He rejected the suggestion that state policing was a regional or ethnic agenda, describing it as a national issue arising from Nigeria’s federal structure and security realities.

“This is not a regional agenda. It is not a Yoruba agenda. It is a national agenda. State policing goes to the heart of our nationhood,” Oyeleye said.

The discussions at Akeredolu’s posthumous birthday colloquium brought renewed attention to the distinction between establishing a security outfit and creating a sustainable policing system. Amotekun emerged from a collective decision by South-West governors to develop a coordinated response to regional security challenges. Akeredolu’s role in championing the initiative, supporting its institutionalisation in Ondo State and advocating wider decentralisation of policing helped make him one of its most prominent proponents.

Yet, the future of state policing depends on questions that extend beyond the legacy of any individual leader. These include the constitutional framework governing the relationship between federal and state police formations, the division of operational responsibilities, the cost of recruiting and maintaining personnel, and the safeguards required to protect citizens against arbitrary arrests, political persecution and other abuses. The need for professional training, independent oversight, transparent funding and effective cooperation among security agencies also remains central to the discussion.

For the South-West, Amotekun represents an established regional response to concerns about the limitations of existing security arrangements. For Nigeria as a whole, the continuing debate over state policing raises broader questions about federalism, public safety and the responsibilities of different levels of government. Akeredolu’s posthumous 70th birthday, therefore, provided an opportunity to revisit the circumstances that led to the creation of Amotekun and consider the reforms that its proponents believe are necessary to strengthen national security.

Today, whether the wider vision of state policing eventually becomes a fully implemented national framework will depend on decisions by governments, lawmakers and other stakeholders. The colloquium’s central message was that remembering Akeredolu’s role in the debate would mean little without continued attention to the difficult questions of implementation, funding, professionalism and accountability.