President Bola Tinubu and the 36 state governors have agreed to consider the establishment of state police after full implications have been considered.

They agreed that the security situation in the country deserved all new initiatives that had earlier been jettisoned in the interest of Nigerians.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this after a meeting between Tinubu and the state governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday, February 15, 2024.

Idris said the president and the governors also ordered a clampdown on food hoarders.

The minister said: “Now, there is also a discussion around the issue of state police. The federal government and the state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up state police. Of course, this is still going to be further discussed; a lot of work has to be done in that direction.

Tinubu meets governors on food, security

“But as I said, more work needs to be done in that direction. A lot of meetings will have to happen between the federal government and sub-nationals to see the modalities of achieving this.”

Idris disclosed that President Tinubu and the governors also discussed the possibility of improving the numerical strength of forest rangers to have safer forests and borders.

He said the meeting also directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to go after those hoarding commodities.

The minister said the meeting deliberated on the food situation, noting that the hoarding of food was not only unpatriotic but inhuman at a time when Nigerians are facing hardship.

Idris added that the security agencies would collaborate with state governments to fish out the hoarders and make these commodities available to Nigerians at the appropriate price.

He added: “A decision has also been taken, that in the interest of our country, there will be no need for food importation at this point.

“Nigeria has the potential to feed itself and even be a net exporter of food items to other countries. What we’re seeing now is just a temporary difficulty that will soon be over.”

The minister further assured that numerous interventions taken by Tinubu on ensuring food security would soon start to yield fruits.

The Star