Osinbajo Advocates Decentralised Police Structure …Says FG Won’t Dictate To States On Land Use

The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has said that Nigeria cannot be policed centrally from Abuja.
Speaking at the National Security Summit organised by the Senate, yesterday, Osinbajo said: “For a country our size, to meet the one policeman to 400 persons according to the UN prescribed ratio, we would require almost triple the number of our current police force. Far more funding for the military and security agencies is required.
“We cannot police a country the size of Nigeria centrally from Abuja. State police and other community policing methods are clearly the way to go.
“The nature of our security challenges is complex. Securing Nigeria’s over 900sq/km and its 180million people requires far more men and materials than we have at the moment. It also requires a continual re-engineering of our security architecture and strategies. This has to be a dynamic process.
“Let me reiterate that on no account will any land be seized or forcefully taken to create ranches or grazing areas. All insinuations to that effect should be disregarded,” he said.
“Instead, it is in our view that states that are willing should cooperate even with willing investors into commercially viable government supported ranches or livestock production centres for commercial use.”
Similarly, the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has said that the Federal Government will not dictate to states on land use.
Speaking at the same Summit in Abuja, yesterday, Osinbajo said President Muhammadu Buhari was very concerned and working hard to resolve the crisis between herdsmen and farmers in some parts of the country.
The vice president said that he does not know of any one issue that has given him more concern or on which he has spent more time with security chiefs as herdsmen/farmers’ clashes.
He said “No one is giving land to anyone, as is being falsely alleged. Instead, it is our view that states that are willing and which have set aside land for development should cooperate with willing investors in commercially viable, government-supported ranches or livestock production centres for commercial use.”