The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has disclosed President Bola Tinubu’s plan to rearrange the Nigeria Police Force with the establishment of police formations in the solid mineral and marine economy sectors.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, he also noted that the President planned to store Nigeria’s gold and other minerals in reserves, for effective foreign exchange.
Security experts have hailed Tinubu’s plan to rejig NPF, following this disclosure.
Onanuga said at a meeting with governors of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja on Friday, that Tinubu revealed his plans to rejig Nigeria’s police architecture.
He further noted that the President mentioned three brand new police formations to augment the regular police.
He revealed that Tinubu said the deployment of forest guards was being considered, with better training, modern technological gadgets and weapons to strengthen security, adding that the solid mineral and marine economy sectors would also be secured by special police.
While quoting the President, Onanuga said, “We have a big marine economy, and I do not see why we should not have the marine police. We will have the same (police) in solid minerals to keep the scavengers away. I am ready to invest in security.”
Onanuga said Tinubu also revealed to the governors, his plan to stock the nation’s mineral resources in reserves.
“We will buy our own minerals and keep them in reserves, especially gold, which will be effective in our foreign exchange reserve,” he quoted the President.
Reacting, Security Expert, Dr Kabir Adamu, commended the President for engaging the police and not the military for the service.
He said, “I am very excited that he did not say he will use the military to handle that.
The fact that he mentioned the police makes me have confidence in it because he is not involving the military in internal security matters, even though it will take a lot.
The current police force needs a dialyses to take out the bad ones and maintain the good ones because if he goes ahead to create a new police unit with the current philosophy, I am afraid that his desire will not be met.
“It will be nice for him to ensure that the police reforms that were started by his predecessor are concluded.”
On his part, the National Security Analyst, Nnamdi Chive, urged the President to equip and fund the existing structure with the security forces.