By Ade Oyeyemi
Development advocate and Ondo State stakeholder, Dr Femi Akinkuebi, has urged the Ondo State Government to begin preparations for a technology-driven policing system as the constitutional process for the establishment of State Police Services gathers momentum.
Akinkuebi said Ondo should look beyond merely supporting the proposed constitutional amendment and start developing a policing framework suited to the state’s terrain, communities and security challenges.
His call followed the approval of the proposed constitutional amendment by the Osun State House of Assembly on Tuesday, making Osun the first state legislature reported to have endorsed the State Police proposal after its transmission to state assemblies.
Reacting to the development, Akinkuebi said Ondo should use the ongoing constitutional process as an opportunity to rethink how policing and security operations could be organised at the state level.
“Osun has taken the lead. Ondo should brace up. We should be among the states leading this historic reform, but our preparation must go beyond passing the bill. We should already be asking what kind of State Police we want to build,” he said.
He argued that State Police should not amount to simply replicating the existing policing structure under a different administrative arrangement.
According to him, the proposed reform could provide an opportunity to strengthen policing through intelligence gathering, technology, rapid response, community engagement, professional training and effective accountability mechanisms.
Akinkuebi proposed the development of an integrated State Security Command-and-Control Centre in Ondo, which he said could coordinate intelligence, surveillance, emergency communications and security responses across the state.
He said such a system could incorporate technologies including geospatial crime mapping, lawful AI-assisted video analysis, automatic number-plate recognition, secure communication networks, drone surveillance, early-warning systems and real-time incident reporting.
The development advocate also highlighted Ondo’s extensive forest areas and difficult terrain, arguing that security agencies would require more than conventional patrols to maintain adequate awareness across such locations.
“You cannot police extensive forests only by putting more boots on the ground. Technology must become a force multiplier. We should be able to identify unusual movement, coordinate intelligence and deploy the appropriate security personnel before a threat develops into another kidnapping or violent incident,” he said.
Akinkuebi pointed to the use of unmanned aerial systems in Kogi State as an example of how technology could complement conventional security operations, particularly in areas that are difficult for security personnel to access.
He, however, stressed that the deployment of technology for policing must be accompanied by clear legal provisions, data-protection safeguards, privacy protections, professional standards and civilian oversight.
For him, the debate around State Police should therefore extend beyond the question of whether states should establish their own police services to include the institutional framework required to make such a system effective and accountable.
“State Police should not mean reproducing yesterday’s policing system at state level. It should give us an opportunity to build tomorrow’s policing architecture today,” he said.
He called for early consultations involving the Ondo State Government, State House of Assembly, security agencies, traditional rulers, community representatives, technology experts, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders.
Akinkuebi said such consultations would help the state determine its manpower needs, recruitment criteria, training requirements, technology infrastructure, funding structure and accountability mechanisms ahead of any eventual implementation.
He maintained that Ondo had the human and institutional resources to develop a modern subnational policing model that could respond to the state’s peculiar security environment.
“Security is ultimately local. The people understand their communities, their forests, their roads and their peculiar threats. What we need is to combine that local intelligence with modern technology, professional policing and strong accountability,” he said.
Akinkuebi added that the development should not be viewed as a competition among states but as part of broader efforts to improve security across the South-West and Nigeria.
“Osun has moved. Ondo should brace up and take its place among the leaders. This is not about competition between states; it is about learning from one another and collectively building a safer Southwest and a safer Nigeria,” he said.
