The ongoing national debate over the establishment of state police continues to generate passionate arguments on all sides. While many Nigerians see decentralised policing as a necessary response to rising insecurity, others urge caution, warning that structural reforms alone cannot resolve the deeper governance and institutional challenges affecting policing in the country.

Following the publication of my article, “State Police Debate: Lessons from Professor Etannibi Alemika,” Professor Chijioke Uwasomba of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, shared reflections that offer a valuable historical perspective on how policing once functioned in Nigeria. His comments, informed by his experience as the son of a police officer who served during what many remember as the more professional era of the Nigerian Police, remind us that Nigeria once had a policing system that was deeply rooted in local communities.