More Boots, Better Security: The Urgency Behind the New Ogun Police Academy Campus -By Jabir Usman

When the news broke that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the establishment of a new Nigeria Police Academy campus in Erinja, Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State, alongside a gigantic 15 billion special take off grant, the nation did not merely take notice, it erupted. What should have been a straightforward security advancement was immediately engulfed in a whirlwind of heated debate, ethnic innuendos, and cynical backlash. As a result, what was intended as a strategic intervention has, unfortunately, become the latest flashpoint in Nigeria’s perpetual political tug-of-war.

It is crucial to understand that this decision did not materialize from a vacuum. The approval is anchored in the Nigeria Police Academy (Establishment) Act of 2021, which specifically provides for the expansion of the primary institution in Wudil, Kano State, into a multi campus system nationwide. Consequently, the siting of a southern campus was not only legally anticipated but operationally necessary according to the very law governing the institution.

Furthermore, this is not an impulsive political gift but the result of a meticulous high level consultative process. The decision involved the Minister of Police Affairs, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Inspector General of Police, and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC). Therefore, those claiming the decision was arbitrary are either willfully ignorant of the facts or deliberately misleading the populace for political gain.

Unfortunately, the development has been hijacked by reactionary elements who are misrepresenting this initiative as a product of ethnic and regional sentiment. From the comment sections of major blogs to the echo chambers of social media, one hears the cynical refrain questioning the motives behind the decision. This misleading narrative threatens to obscure the genuine security imperatives that drive the policy.

To fully appreciate the wisdom of this move, one need only look at the remarkable success of the Federal Government’s aggressive decentralisation of the Nigerian Law School. By approving the establishment of seven new campuses of the Nigerian Law School across the six geopolitical zones, the Senate effectively expanded the institution to a total of fourteen campuses nationwide. This legislative intervention was specifically designed to address “the exponential increase in the number of law graduates from our universities, coupled with the backlog that existed over the years”.

Today, the Nigerian Law School complex is spread across the country, and thousands of lawyers graduate annually without the horrific delays, segregation, and administrative nightmares that plagued the system when legal education was highly centralised. Interestingly, the same voices now criticizing the Police Academy expansion were notably silent when law campuses were established nationwide. This selective indignation is the height of hypocrisy.

The brutal reality is that excessive centralisation of government institutions invariably creates an administrative bottleneck. When too many responsibilities converge on a single location, the system collapses under its own weight, logistics fail, accommodation crumbles, and the quality of output diminishes. Decentralisation, by contrast, brings governance closer to the people, decongests overcrowded facilities, and ensures that resources are optimally distributed.

In the case of the Police Academy, the current primary facility in Wudil has been struggling for years to handle the growing intake requirements. As Senator Opeyemi Bamidele noted during the Law School expansion debate, “existing campuses are overstretched and the infrastructures are not enough” to meet demand. This logic applies equally to police training, if not more so.

No one needs to be told that Nigeria is bleeding from a chronic security manpower shortage. Despite having over 200 million citizens, our police force is grossly understaffed, with a ratio far below the United Nations’ recommended 1-to-450 officer-to-population ratio. Recent reports indicate that the recruitment of 30,000 additional policemen ordered by President Tinubu was stalled due to the decayed and insufficient state of our training schools.

The Presidential Committee inspecting the abandoned Police Training School in NonwaTai, Rivers State, described the conditions as “unacceptable,” noting that decades of neglect have undermined efforts to produce well trained personnel. Without functional training institutions, the Chairman of the committee stressed that even the approved recruitment targets remain a mirage. The Erinja campus is therefore a direct answer to this recruitment gridlock.

Let us debunk, once and for all, the dishonest narrative of tribalism. Those pushing the agenda that this is a “Yoruba” project have deliberately ignored the obvious fact that Police Colleges have been decentralised for donkey years across all regions. Today, legally backed Police Colleges exist in Ikeja (Lagos), Kaduna, Maiduguri, Oji River (Enugu), Jos, and the Police Detective College in Enugu.

This initiative is not about giving Ogun State a trophy; it is about completing a national puzzle. If we accept the existence of police training institutions in the North-East, North-West, North-Central, and South-East, why should a South-West campus provoke outrage? The opposition is not rooted in logic but in a toxic desire to see every initiative of this administration fail.

Moreover, the financing model is both strategic and pragmatic. The 15 billion intervention fund is sourced from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) 2026 allocation, designated to finance critical infrastructure, academic facilities, student accommodation, and core training assets. This ensures that the academy is not merely established but properly equipped to function at a high standard from day one.

The expansion is part of a broader security reset ordered by President Tinubu following a nationwide security emergency declaration to combat abductions and terrorist activity. The administration is pushing for an additional 20,000 officers to join the ranks, and the Erinja campus will be central to achieving that surge capacity.

It is time to move beyond the cacophony of pessimists who would rather see Nigeria burn than admit a policy is working. The truth is that adding another campus of the Police Academy will directly increase the number of trained officers. When more officers are trained professionally, they do not just join the force, they take the fight to bandits, kidnappers, and insurgents who currently terrorise our highways and communities.

Let us be blunt: centralisation is the enemy of efficiency. When an entire nation’s police education relies on a single location in Kano, we create a system where distance becomes a barrier to recruitment. A brilliant young man or woman from the South-West or South-South might abandon the dream of serving due to the prohibitive logistics of training far away. Decentralisation democratises opportunity and widens the net for talent.

Indeed, this initiative by President Bola Tinubu is a welcome development that deserves ultimate commendation, not public backlash. It is a decision that not only aligns with statutory provisions but responds to the urgent realities of policing in a rapidly evolving society. This is not about building a campus; it is about redefining the future of policing in Nigeria.

Therefore, let the pessimists and merchants of disunity continue their wailing in the wilderness. The true patriots among us understand that security is not a regional affair, bullets and banditry do not recognise state boundaries. President Tinibu has thrown down the gauntlet for a safer Nigeria. It is time for the nation to rally behind this vision rather than tear it apart. The era of administrative centralisation strangling our potential is over. Let us build.

Jabir T Usman writes from Sabon Gari Tudun Wada, Kaduna