By Dr Aisha Tosan Agberebi

Nigeria’s security landscape is under immense pressure and the nation urgently requires a recalibrated,intelligence driven and rapid response operations and strong community engagement. Saving lives, restoring public trust, and ensuring national stability, are the critical benchmarks for evaluating policing leadership and not merely the name of the officer at the helm.

The recent appointment of Olatunji Disu as Acting Inspector-General of Police has, predictably, sparked nationwide debate. Many have questioned why Frank Mba, the most senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) with decades of service, was overlooked.

A careful look at their careers reveals two distinct trajectories. Yet, serious national security discourse must rise above ethnic coloration and personality comparisons. The more consequential question is leadership competence at a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s policing evolution.

Disu enlisted into the Force in 1992 as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and built his career through operational command. From leading high-pressure formations in Lagos such as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Rapid Response Squad and Intelligence Response Team ( IRT) Abuja, to serving as Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the IGP and becoming Commissioner of Police in Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory respectively. Also his participation in UN peacekeeping operations contributes decades of hands-on crisis management and intelligence-led operations under very volatile conditions domestically  and internationally

DIG Mba, by contrast, enlisted into the Force in 1999 as a cadet inspector and had been involved mainly in administrative duties until he became a Chief Superintendent of Police and appointed as the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO). This appointment subsequently made him rise rapidly in the Force through   special promotions from rank of Chief Superintendent of Police  to Deputy Inspector-General in 2023. While this rapid rise made him a strong contender, accelerated promotion alone does not automatically confer operational depth required of an Inspector General of Police . Rank without extensive field experience is an incomplete measure of readiness for the top policing post neither should ethnic affinity gain ascendancy.

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It is also necessary to acknowledge systemic distortions in promotion within the Force. Accelerated advancements and institutional recalibrations have, over time, altered rank hierarchies which is an open secret within policing circles. Seniority often does not reflect cumulative operational experience. A dispassionate assessment must therefore priorities field-tested leadership over symbolic hierarchy.

Beyond these internal debates lies the constitutional reality: the President holds the authority to appoint the IGP from among eligible officers. Historically, being a DIG is not an automatic ticket to assuming the exalted position as a IGP.

Since 1999, successive administrations  from President Olusegun Obasanjo to Muhammadu Buhari, have exercised discretion often bypassing perceived seniority – this can be fact-checked. This is neither unprecedented nor unlawful; it reflects the historic reality of the choice of who becomes an IGP since 1999.

Reducing the debate to who is suitable for appointment as IGP to ethnic calculations is counterproductive. Nigeria’s security crisis  spanning insurgency, kidnapping, cybercrime  and communal violence, cannot be solved through tribal/ethic balancing rather through operational competence and overhaul of the security apparatus in the country.

More importantly, the current administration’s security vision goes beyond a single appointment. The renewed push for state policing represents a structural recalibration of Nigeria’s policing architecture. For decades, over-centralisation has placed burden on a federally controlled police system attempting to manage localised crime from Abuja. The result has often been slow response cycles, weak community intelligence integration, and overstretched command chains.

State policing, if properly structured with constitutional safeguards and accountability mechanisms, would decentralise operational authority, strengthen grassroots intelligence networks, and bring law enforcement closer to the communities it serves. It would reduce excessive central command rigidity and empower local structures to respond swiftly to criminal threats within their jurisdictions.

Such reform would fundamentally reshape the policing landscape. The fight against criminality would shift from reactive federal deployment to proactive, community-embedded enforcement. Resource allocation could become more streamlined, while crime prevention strategies would be tailored to local realities rather than uniformly imposed from the centre.

An IGP aligned with this reform trajectory must possess both field credibility and institutional reform capacity. Disu’s operational record positions him to lead this transformation, ensuring stability, continuity, and a credible roadmap for grassroots policing. The four-year tenure amendment further reinforces the need for leadership continuity, providing time for reforms to take root.

Ultimately, Nigeria stands at a crossroads in security governance. The conversation should not be about who outranks whom. It should focus on who can stabilise the Force, implement decentralisation reforms, professionalise operations, and restore public confidence.

Competence must outweigh controversy, structural reform must outweigh sentiment and  national cohesion must outweigh tribal bias. If the administration’s vision is to decentralise policing and strengthen grassroots security architecture, the nobler advocacy is to support institutional transformation and hold leadership accountable through measurable performance and not inherited rank assumptions.

Security is a collective national responsibility. At this moment, reform and results matter more than rivalry.

Dr Aisha Tosan Agberebi, is the Chief Executive Officer of Crimefighters, a media and security consultant. She writes from Abuja