By the Numbers: Why Uba Sani Is Pushing for State Police
By Nasir Dambatta
One officer for every 600 Nigerians? That’s the number Governor Uba Sani has been talking about for 10 years, and it explains why he wants state police.
Right now Nigeria has between 370,000 and 400,000 police officers for more than 220 million people. That means 1 officer for every 600 people, according to the last Inspector-General of Police. Police chiefs often say the target should be 1 officer for every 450 people. They call it a “UN standard,” but fact-checkers say that’s not true. The 1:450 figure came from a policing rule used in Germany after World War II, not from the United Nations. Still, our security chiefs keep using it. Even if you forget where 1:450 came from, the math is simple. By the IGP’s own 1:600 count, Nigeria is short by about 190,000 officers to even get to the 1:450.
Governor Sani started making this case when he was in the Senate. In the 9th National Assembly he put forward two bills: the Constitution Alteration Bill, SB. 592, and the Police Service Commission Act Bill, SB. 594. Both said the same thing in different words: fewer than 400,000 officers cannot protect 220 million people spread across 36 states. Those bills didn’t pass. But the numbers behind them never changed.
