By Blessing Elo Oghene
The Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission has said Nigeria’s debate over state policing has moved beyond whether the system should be established to how it can be effectively funded, regulated and made accountable, as it prepares to honour the late Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON, with a posthumous 70th birthday colloquium.
The commission made this known in Ibadan on Tuesday at a press conference ahead of the colloquium, organised in partnership with the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Foundation and scheduled for October 8, 2026, at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan.
The event, themed, “Fundamentals and Governance of State Policing: Towards a New Architecture for National Security in Nigeria,” is expected to bring together governors, lawmakers, security chiefs, traditional rulers, scholars and civil society representatives to examine the prospects, structure and safeguards for state policing in Nigeria.
Speaking at the press conference, the Director-General of the DAWN Commission, Seye Oyeleye, said the urgency of the state-policing debate had been underscored by the country’s worsening security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder clashes and attacks on farms, highways and places of worship.
“Nigeria faces grave security challenges. Banditry. Kidnapping. Farmer-herder clashes. Attacks on farms, highways and places of worship,” he said.
“Our policing is centralised. One force. One command. For more than two hundred million people. That structure is under strain.”
According to him, the central question should now be how state policing can be established and governed in a manner that guarantees professionalism, adequate funding and accountability.
“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?
“These are the questions this colloquium will tackle,” he said.
The DAWN Commission DG said the proposed discussion would not be limited to the Southwest, insisting that the issue of state policing had implications for the entire Nigerian federation.
“This is not a regional agenda. It is not a Yoruba agenda. It is a national agenda,” he said.
He added that effective policing at the sub-national level was closely linked to the ability of a federal system to protect its constituent units.
“State policing goes to the heart of our nationhood. A federation that cannot secure its federating units is a federation in name only,” he said.
He cited the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network, Amotekun, as an example of what could be achieved through regional cooperation and the use of local intelligence in confronting security threats.
“Amotekun showed what is possible. Regional cooperation works. Local knowledge saves lives,” he said.
The DG said the Southwest, which he noted had taken the lead in the establishment of Amotekun, was prepared to contribute to the renewed national conversation on policing.
“The Southwest led then. The Southwest is ready to lead the conversation again,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to follow the discussions at the colloquium, while calling on the media to play an active role in deepening public understanding of the state-policing debate.
“We invite all Nigerians to follow this discourse. We invite the media to be partners, not just reporters,” he said.
The event is also intended to preserve the legacy of Akeredolu, who died before he could mark his 70th birthday.
A representative of the Akeredolu family said the former governor would have turned 70 on July 21, 2026, but stressed that his absence would not prevent the continuation of the ideas for which he stood.
“On 21 July this year, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu would have turned seventy.
“He is not here to celebrate it. But his ideas are. And ideas do not die,” the family representative said.
The family described Akeredolu as a lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association and two-term Governor of Ondo State, but said his courage and willingness to confront difficult issues remained among his defining legacies.
The family recalled Akeredolu’s response to security threats confronting farmers and communities across the region, saying he refused to ignore attacks on farmers or the use of forests as hideouts by criminals.
It also recalled Akeredolu’s role as Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum in the establishment of Amotekun, saying the initiative faced opposition at the time but had subsequently demonstrated its relevance.
According to the family, Akeredolu’s position was that security should be rooted in the communities and that people who understood their communities best should play a major role in protecting them.
The family said it deliberately chose a policy-focused colloquium rather than a conventional memorial because Akeredolu’s ideas on security remained relevant to Nigeria’s present circumstances.
“So we as a family have chosen not to mourn him with tears alone. We choose to honour him with ideas, hence the need to organise this event.
“Therefore, this colloquium is not a eulogy. It continues his work,” the representative said.
The family thanked the DAWN Commission for partnering with the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Foundation and appreciated the Southwest governors for supporting the event and keeping the late governor’s vision alive.
It urged Nigerians to remember Akeredolu not merely for the offices he occupied but for the principles he championed.
“Aketi lived for a cause bigger than himself. We ask Nigerians to remember not just who he was, but what he stood for,” the family said.
The DAWN Commission similarly said Akeredolu’s contribution should serve as a reminder of the importance of courageous leadership, particularly for younger Nigerians.
“Why remember Akeredolu? And why now?
“Because a nation that forgets its courageous men and women will soon run out of them.
“Courage is contagious. When we celebrate it, we multiply it. When we forget it, we lose it,” the commission said.
It added that Akeredolu represented a model of leadership driven by conviction rather than comfort.
“Our young people need real heroes. Heroes who lived among them. Heroes who took risks for the common good.
“Arakunrin Akeredolu was one of them. He showed that leadership is not about comfort. It is about conviction,” the DG said.
He said the October 8 event would provide an opportunity to revisit the fundamentals of state policing, including funding, training, equipment, safeguards against abuse and mechanisms for accountability.
The commission said the conversation should ultimately contribute to the development of a more effective security architecture capable of responding to Nigeria’s complex security challenges.
“Arakunrin Akeredolu is gone. The ideas and conversations he started must not go with him.
“Honouring Aketi is not about the past. It is about the Nigeria we must build,” the DAWN Commission said.
The colloquium will hold at 10am on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
The Ondo State Governor, Dr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, is the Chief Host, while the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, is billed as the keynote speaker.
