Akeredolu: DAWN commission, partners, others to stage colloquium on state policing – DG

The Director General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, Dr Seye Oyeleye, on Tuesday said the commission is to organize a Colloquium on state Policing .

Dr Oyeleye made this known at a press conference held at the Commission’s office, Cocoa House in Ibadan on the posthumous 70th birthday in honour of the late governor of Ondo state, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN).

According to the DAWN Commission DG, the colloquium themed ” Fundamentals and Governance of State Policing: Towards a New Architecture for National Security in Nigeria” is to hold at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan on October 8.

He stressed that the colloquium is expected to be graced by governors, lawmakers, security chiefs, traditional rulers, scholars and civil society.

“The DAWN Commission is proud to convene the Aketi @70 Colloquium, in partnership with the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Foundation. It will be held on Thursday, 8 October 2026, at the International Conference center, University of Ibadan,” he said.

Dr Oyeleye added that the theme is ” Fundamentals and Governance of State Policing: Towards a New Architecture for National Security in Nigeria”.

“Nigeria faces grave security challenges. Banditry, Kidnapping, Farmer-herder clashes. Attacks on farms,highways and places of worship. Our policing is centralised. One force. One command. For more than two hundred million people”

“The debate on state Policing is no longer about whether. It is about how . How do we fund it? How do we train and equip it?How do we guard against abuse? How do we keep it accountable to the people, not to politicians. These are the questions this colloquium will tackle,” he said,

Dr Oyeleye stressed, “This is not a regional agenda. It is not a Yoruba agenda. It is a national agenda. State Policing goes to the heart of our nationhood. A federation that cannot secure it’s federation units is a federation in name only.

“Honouring Aketi is not about the past. It is about the Nigeria we must build. Therefore, we extend cordial invitation to all well meaning Nigerians to attend this event and lend your voice to nation building”.

Representative of the Akeredolu family, Mr Taiwo Adewole while speaking disclosed that the family chose to commemorate the late governor through ideas and conversations around issues he championed during his lifetime.

He described late Governor Akeredolu as “a man of courage,” stating Akeredolu spoke when silence was safer, acted when waiting was easier and stood up when others sat down, saying late Akeredolu remained committed to the security and welfare of the people, particularly during periods of insecurity in the South-West.

“When farmers were killed on their farms, he did not look away. When criminals made our forests their hiding places, he drew a line. When terror came to Owo, his own hometown, he stood with his people and grieved with them. He believed security begins at home. He believed the people closest to a community are best placed to protect it.”

Secretary-General of the South-West Governors’ Forum, Mrs Naomi Olabode in her remarks described Akeredolu as a “strong and dogged fighter” who believed deeply in Nigeria, saying, Akeredolu always placed Nigeria at the forefront of his actions and stood for equity, fairness and justice, urging the people across the South-West to attend the colloquium to honour the late governor, saying, “This is a legacy we must keep,” she said.

Head of Special Projects and Funding at the DAWN Commission, Prince Adetayo Adeleke-Adedoyin, said the theme of the colloquium reflected the issues to which Akeredolu dedicated his life, including justice, activism, fairness and equity.