As part of efforts to develop a workable legal and institutional framework for the proposed Federal and State Police structure, the Federal Government has appointed Professor Emmanuel Olukemi Rotimi of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, to the Policy Advisory Committee of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill.

Rotimi’s appointment is based on his extensive scholarship and research on the history, evolution and challenges of policing in Nigeria, particularly the country’s experience with decentralised police institutions before military rule.

The proposed legislation is expected to provide the operational foundation for a dual policing structure comprising a Federal Police Service and State Police Services, with clear provisions on their responsibilities, funding, accountability and oversight.

The Presidential Working Group, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, is working within a seven-week timetable to produce an implementation-ready draft of the Bill for submission to the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The Policy Advisory Committee, chaired by retired Justice Mohammed Abdullahi Liman, is responsible for providing policy direction, issuing drafting instructions and validating the contents of the proposed legislation.

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Rotimi, a professor in OAU’s Department of History, has devoted a significant part of his academic career to the study of Nigeria’s policing system.

His master’s thesis examined the Native Administration Police Forces of Western Nigeria between 1905 and 1951, while his doctoral research traced the history of Native Administration Police Forces across Nigeria from 1900 to 1970.

His 2001 book, The Police in a Federal State: The Nigerian Experience, examined the origins, development, organisation and eventual abolition of Native Authority and Local Government police forces.

The scholar has also argued that the current debate on State Police should be viewed within Nigeria’s historical experience of decentralised policing. He stressed that any new arrangement must be backed by transparent funding, effective training, public accountability and safeguards against political abuse.

These issues are expected to form part of the considerations in the proposed legislation, alongside national standards, state readiness, inspection mechanisms, complaints procedures, firearms control, data sharing, Federal intervention and institutional oversight.

His appointment is therefore expected to bring historical and academic perspectives to the formulation of a policing framework capable of addressing contemporary security challenges while avoiding the institutional weaknesses that undermined earlier decentralised policing arrangements.

Obafemi Awolowo University has congratulated Rotimi on the appointment, describing it as a recognition of his scholarship and sustained contribution to national discourse on policing and security reform.