Worried by the rising insecurity in the country, the Federal Government is considering the possibility of establishing state police.
President Bola Tinubu who disclosed this on Thursday during an emergency meeting at the State House, with all the 36 state governors, the Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS, and some ministers.
He noted that he has approved the creation of a committee that includes state governors and federal government representatives to explore, among other things, the possibility of establishing state police.
President Tinubu also said, he has endorsed the training and equipping of forest rangers by sub-national governments to protect human and natural resources in the nation’s communities.
“My stance is unequivocal: we must move aggressively to examine the issues raised, including the potential for establishing state police”, he declared.
On food security, he said, the administration is dedicated to evolving home-grown solutions to tackle the nation’s food security challenges head-on including setting up schemes to bolster local food production and cut out all forms of rent-seeking tied to food importation.
The President said, following reports out of Kano and other areas about large-scale hoarding of food in some warehouses, he has instructed the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services to coordinate closely to ensure that security agencies in the states inspect such warehouses and take follow-up action.
“We cannot allow speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers to undermine our efforts in ensuring that food is widely available to all Nigerians”, he added.
Tinubu said, he will not establish a price control board, nor will he approve the importation of food. “We must extricate ourselves from this predicament because importation only enables rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense.
“Instead, we will support our farmers with schemes that encourage them to cultivate more food for the nation.
“We must also rapidly but thoughtfully implement our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others”, he said.
On exchange rate crisis, he urged all governors to trust the Central Bank of Nigeria with the management of nation’s country’s monetary policy, and emphasized the need for designated institutions to effectively fulfill their mandate.
“The “cacophony of postulations” on the fluctuation of foreign exchange rates is adversely affecting the market. Not everyone can be an expert. If we have assigned someone a task, we must allow them to perform it. If they fail, then we must find a way to quickly remove them from the system.
” I also ask our governors to always prioritize the welfare and prosperity of our people in their development programs, and I asssure them that the federal government will continue to work diligently to improve the nation’s revenue profile.
“As leaders, we must all work together to address issues of insecurity, food security, and out-of-school children”, he said.
