Decentralizing the Nigeria Police Academy: A Step Towards National Unity

By Okoi Obono-Obla 

Decentralizing the Nigeria Police Academy: A Step Towards National Unity:

I was saddened and dismayed when I read on the Facebook page of Senator David Mark’s faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) a comment alleging that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has removed the Nigeria Police Force Academy in Wudil, Kano State, to Ogun State. This is an incendiary and spurious post calculated to whip up emotions and sectional passions in the country. It is surprising that a party campaigning to “rescue Nigeria” would descend to such gutter-level falsehood rooted in divisiveness and sectional antagonism. It is unfair and dangerous. If the ADC succeeds in peddling such blatant falsehood to set the country on fire, which country will it inherit if it wins the election?

The truth is that Section 3 of the Nigeria Police Academy (Establishment, etc.) Act of 2021 empowers the Academy, under the oversight of its Governing Council, to establish campuses, colleges, faculties, and other units. President Bola Tinubu recently utilized this provision to approve new satellite campuses, such as in Ogun State, aimed at expanding training capacity nationwide.

Section 3(1)(a) of the Act authorizes the creation of new “campuses, colleges, faculties, institutions, schools, facilities and extra-mural departments” to meet the objectives of the Academy. These expansions require approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC) and are subject to the governing council’s oversight, acting under the framework approved by the President. This section supports the decentralization of the sole Kano-based academy into multiple campuses across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

Nigeria is a vast country of over 230 million people, composed of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Is it fair to have only one Police Academy? The answer is a resounding no. This is precisely why the Nigeria Police Academy Act provides for the establishment of campuses across the six geopolitical zones. Ogun State, being in the South West geopolitical zone, is a natural choice for expansion.

History offers a clear precedent. From 1964, when the Nigerian Law School was established in Victoria Island, Lagos, it remained the only campus for over three decades. It could not cater to the growing number of law students produced by Nigerian universities. The Federal Government eventually established multiple campuses in Kano, Yola, Enugu, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa—and the heavens did not fall. Therefore, it is surprising that a national party like the ADC would seek to divide Nigerians over the establishment of another Police Academy campus, which rightly provides opportunities for young people aspiring to a career in policing.

In conclusion, the establishment of additional Police Academy campuses is a progressive step toward strengthening national unity, enhancing training capacity, and ensuring equitable access across Nigeria’s diverse regions. The ADC should rise above sectionalism and embrace its role as a national platform committed to Nigeria’s collective progress.