Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson has said Re-structuring and the establishment of State-Police would end insecurity in the country.
He stated on Friday during in a lecture to participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course, at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Abuja.
He spoke on the topic, “Cultural Values, National Security and the Challenges of Contemporary Governance: Perspectives from the Bayelsa Experience.”
He said, “It is very clear that Nigeria’s lopsided Federal System, over centralization of security powers, and the politicization of security by the various agencies is a major cause of instability, and poses a threat to national stability and security.”
He noted that, “there is no serious country where the appointment and removal of the Inspector General of Police, is completely at the discretion of the President.”
Dickson explained that, “the Constitution made the President the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, but not of the Police, not of Security and Intelligence, for a reason, because those powers are very important and should be exercised from the bottom up.”
He lamented the centralized control of security agencies, and how politicians of party’s that control the center, seek to play politics with security.
He said this is occasioned by the abuse of Nigeria’s federal system, and the ease with which those who control powers at the federal level undermine law and order.
He noted that State Governors; Benue, Taraba, Sokoto and Zamfara States, would be in better position to mobilize and address security challenges without the abuse of the federal system.
He said, “In States, we are labouring hard to bring under security control, the over politicization of security, and Nigeria’s lopsided security architecture and over centralization is a cause of insecurity.”
He pointed out that a return to true federalism in important, so as not to stifle the individual dreams and aspirations of the diverse groups in the country.
This he said is more realistic in building a Nigerian nation devoid of instability.
Dickson also said the increasing spate of killings in the North Central region, and parts of the North West are the greatest existential threat to Nigeria since the civil war.
He said the President should lead the security forces to repel these attacks, adding that, “If these mercenaries are foreign, it means the nation is under attack.”
