The Federal Government has appointed Professor Emmanuel Olukemi Rotimi of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, to the Policy Advisory Committee of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill.
Rotimi’s appointment is said to be based on his extensive scholarship and research into the history, evolution and challenges of policing in Nigeria, particularly the country’s experience with decentralised policing before military rule.
The proposed National Policing Bill is expected to provide the legal and institutional framework for a dual policing structure comprising a Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
The legislation will outline the responsibilities, funding arrangements, accountability mechanisms and oversight functions of both levels of policing.
The Presidential Working Group, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has been given a seven-week timeline to produce an implementation-ready draft of the Bill for submission to the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The Policy Advisory Committee, chaired by retired Justice Mohammed Abdullahi Liman, is responsible for providing policy direction, issuing drafting instructions and validating the provisions of the proposed legislation.
Rotimi, a professor in the Department of History at OAU, has spent a significant part of his academic career researching Nigeria’s policing institutions.
His master’s thesis focused on the Native Administration Police Forces of Western Nigeria between 1905 and 1951, while his doctoral research examined the history of Native Administration Police Forces across Nigeria from 1900 to 1970.
He further explored the subject in his 2001 book, The Police in a Federal State: The Nigerian Experience, which examined the origins, development, organisation and eventual abolition of Native Authority and Local Government police forces.
The OAU don has maintained that Nigeria’s current debate on State Police should be considered against the country’s historical experience with decentralised policing.
He has argued that any new policing arrangement must be supported by transparent funding, effective training, public accountability and safeguards against political interference and abuse.
These considerations are expected to feature prominently in the proposed legislation, alongside provisions covering national policing standards, state readiness, inspection mechanisms, complaints procedures, firearms control, data sharing, Federal intervention and institutional oversight.
Rotimi’s appointment is therefore expected to contribute historical and academic perspectives to the development of a policing framework capable of addressing contemporary security challenges while avoiding weaknesses associated with previous decentralised policing arrangements.
Obafemi Awolowo University has congratulated Rotimi on his appointment, describing it as recognition of his scholarship and sustained contribution to national discussions on policing and security reform.
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