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If President Goodluck Jonathan Is Ready To Fix The Country's Problems, He Should Fix The Police First

June 7, 2010

It is spring’s turn to reign and rule, before migrating for summer to take its turn.  The heaven opens up as trail of shower travels from west towards east; the green grasses are extending the generosity granted them by those who appreciate the mutual benefits of a synergy between environment and humanity by way of weeding, watering and trimming which aerate both the soil and the plants.

It is spring’s turn to reign and rule, before migrating for summer to take its turn.  The heaven opens up as trail of shower travels from west towards east; the green grasses are extending the generosity granted them by those who appreciate the mutual benefits of a synergy between environment and humanity by way of weeding, watering and trimming which aerate both the soil and the plants.
The plants in turn extend their own courtesy and appreciation as the mother goose in company of the small ones file past to feed from the residues of natural foods buried in the midst of the vegetation and the sequential trees murmur their approval in the ambience of the gentle wind as they wave innocently in a hissing manner. There is no better time to ruminate and meditate about my home country.

What is the gravest ill of the illnesses afflicting my country? Is it Leadership? Could it be Followership?   Or an indifferent Citizenry? Or is it Energy problem especially electricity provision? Should one say it is Corruption, tribalism, Nepotism, religion or international conspiracy?

Virtually all of them are present in different proportions but what singular string can the current president pull to put his beloved country back on the right track? At different informal gatherings especially among citizens in the Diasporas, concerns are more about epileptic power supply and security to life and property first and primarily, and closely followed by infrastructural energizing especially roads. Can these ever be realistic without compliance culture?

The thought and vision that came to me as I file past the beauty, peace, innocence and gentleness of nature is that the police is the singular entity that should be revolutionized if all these other desirables must fall into shape. The reason is that Nigeria has culture; constitution, laws, religion, norms and values, but lacks enforcement and compliance and the buck stops at the doors of the police. The reason being that apart from teaching and medicine as professions, police job is it that has close or near inseparable nexus with the “…social life, social progress and social change…” in any society. The institution is also the vital organ that is supposed to assist, educate and advice the government in her relations with ordinary people because it is the closest to them.

No wonder Herman Goldstein in his ‘Policing a Free Society’ (1977) highlights Police functions as;

•         To prevent and control conduct widely recognized as threatening to life and property
•         To aid individuals who are in danger of physical harm, such as the victims of violent attack
•         To facilitate the movement of people and vehicles
•         To assist those who cannot care for themselves, the intoxicated, the addicted, the mentally ill, the physically disables, the old, and the young
•         To resolve conflict, whether it be between individuals, groups or individuals, or individuals and their government
•         To identify problems that have the potential for becoming more serious problems
•         To create and maintain a feeling of security in communities
 
A thorough perusing of the Nigeria Police especially after independence,  sadly presents a damning result; the statutory functions or Policing Philosophy have edged to a brutal instrument of oppression, intimidation, blackmail, murder, assassination, kidnapping and terror. It is virtually an institution that has become anathematic to its objects of existence but sadly it can neither be obliterated nor disbanded without further negative consequences.
 
Its atrocities are legion; they murder for monetary value less than cost of loaf of bread, they replace condemned accused with innocent one to face the hang- man’s noose, they demand for gratification to issue a death certificate to the bereaved. In their own colour chart, black is white and blue is red. They are at ease in the company of societal scourge than law-abiding citizens. They collaborate and smoke weeds with the outlaws. They defile women who run to them for protection and robe in good Samaritans who help accident or robbery victims. They connive, convince and confuse judges by muddling investigations that can bring about justice.
 
If they adhere to the ideals and philosophy of policing, Area boys cannot become an institution of intimidation and oppression.
If they uphold their statutory functions, homeowners will not be dying of smokes in fire incident if they can have quick escape access from the self imposed gagging gates and most health related emergencies would get medical assistance on time if access roads were not barricaded.

If they have not desecrated on their roles, most robberies on highways resulting in tragic death would have been reduced to the barest minimum.

If they have not shirked in their responsibilities to those whose labours pay for their wages, they would have been proactive in preventing senseless and barbaric massacre in the name of religion.
If we have a functional police, a deranged custodian of culture who visited terror on his wife would not have slept in his palace of oven but in police jail at least until he is admitted to judicial bail.
 
And the above observations are just as they relate to ordinary citizens of the country. If Goldstein’s submission of “To resolve conflict, whether it be between individuals…and their government” had resonated in their subconscious, there would not have been any need for electoral reforms and we would not have continued to waste tax payers money in funding the cost of judges sitting on elections tribunal matters because we would have been having peaceful, free and fair elections. Rogue individuals would not even have been elected in the first place. Many criminals with known criminal records pay substantially to the high hierarchy of the force to blot the flashpoints of their dossier in order to have the opportunity to public office with intent to loot.
 
As the popular saying, faith without work is an illusion; electoral reform without surgical reform of the police is a mirage.

•         The police should no longer be at the mercy of an all powerful president who can wake up on the wrong side of the bed and choose to fire the head cop.
•         The police should have more personnel for effective policing.
•         The force should only be made to be responsive and submissive to the judiciary orders and constraints
•         Training, retraining and refreshing of policing strategies to reflect dynamics in the society should be developed.
•         It is unacceptable for any life to be taken wantonly, however the stake should be high for proven perpetrators of killing, assault and maiming of a police officer. In the unfortunate scenario of death, the victim cop should be given a heroic burial.
•         Wages and earnings of the police should be attractive enough and should sustain them and their standard family. Schools for their wards should be subsidized and they should have easy access to emergencies in case they come to harm in the course of their duty.
•         The current black uniform in hot weather where 32%C looks like 48%C is wicked to say the least. The uniform should therefore be changed to light blue top and navy blue trouser and each cop should have minimum of five sets replaceable yearly.
•         Every police station should have a standard structure, well maintained by hired maintenance companies, computers with template titles of most incident issues that may arise should be incorporated and all the police personnel should be trained to use same.
•         Ideally, a worker is supposed to work for eight hours in a day and make forty hours in a week with choice of overtime; bearing in mind that police job is demanding and tasking, and a 24/7 type of job, it is not out of good thinking to suggest a three shift arrangement just for the police.
•         Due to their mobility, the institution should and must always provide decent accommodation for their men and when they are transferred they must get full comfort demanded of such transfers.
•         There must be a clearly defined wages, insurance and allowances that will give its workforce mind of concentration and job security.
•         The force members must be completely detribalized, above board in religious sentiments, morally upright and deeply intelligent. These demand training, retraining and constant evaluations. If that much is given to them, much must be expected; any member that compromised on any of these values must therefore be thoroughly made to face full consequences upon conviction.
•         Modern communications gadgets are a desideratum in today’s complex world full of novel crimes.

Perhaps somebody should wake the Police Service Commission from its deep slumber that the environment one operates matters when it comes to overall wellbeing and welfare. Whoever has visited most police stations will realize the sordid state of their workplace environments; it is there you could see the best of rag tag furniture suitable for apprentice training because apart from being bug infested, their clothing are tattered and arm rests are in constant conflict with the rest of the sofa. The rooms are always poorly lighted with stench smells and these men and women have to contend with such situation. Their operational vehicles express more of the type of force they are. A curious observer may be forced to think whether these men and women of the force take their operational vehicles to the panel beaters willfully just to help beat the bodies ugly.

The rot in the Nigeria police is deeply rooted and cannot be wiped out in one day because it accumulated over a period of time, President Goodluck Jonathan can however start this major revolution and a positive result achieved automatically solves many other social problems militating against the health of the country. 

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