Today, the inertia of the Nigeria Police in all gamuts of its functions and responsibility depicts the graphic illustration of the failure of the Nation State itself starting from its retrogression after independence till date.
Today, the inertia of the Nigeria Police in all gamuts of its functions and responsibility depicts the graphic illustration of the failure of the Nation State itself starting from its retrogression after independence till date.
Apostates of decentralized police are clever by half and either lack sense of history or chose selective amnesia regarding the origin of the force and have succeeded in misleading sizable members of the ordinary public to buy into the idea that non-unitary police structure is harmful to the health and wellness of the Nigeria State.
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A brief history of the police evolution in Nigeria would show that it started in Lagos Colony in 1861 with a thirty member unit designated as ‘Consular guard’ which was closely followed by a 1200 strong member of armed paramilitary Hausa constabulary formed in 1879 and next was the Niger Coast constabulary formed in 1894 in Calabar under the Niger Coast Protectorate. Even at amalgamation in 1914, Nigeria did not have a unified Police until 1930 when it was pronounced the Nigeria Police Force, with its acronym NPF.
It is important to note that even after the mergers of the constabularies, under the colonial rule, the Nigeria Police still performed most of its functions under local governments and that is why they were operating under Native Authorities. At independence, and under the first republic, the Nigeria Police first functioned on regional basis before its transformation to the so called national police. Those years could be tagged the golden years of the Nigeria Police. Not that they were perfect, but they commanded some respects and authority from the members of the society and leaders alike.
Successive military dictatorships in the late sixties through the eighties corroded, enervated and subverted the Nigeria Police. The military treated the force with impunity and as an inferior organization whereas it was the same Nigeria Police that is constitutionally empowered to handle general internal security duties; to support prisons, immigration and customs services; and to perform military duties within and outside the country as may be directed.
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Today, the Nigeria Police harbors among its ranks and file the good, the bad and the ugly, the last two have a greater percentage in her 260,000 personnel population. Its poor condition of service, opprobrium from the public, scorn-fulness from other members of the Armed Forces, poor work place environment, lack of incentives and motivation are some of the palisades the Nigeria Police is not attracting young and energetic job seekers in Nigeria. A society where its legitimate law enforcers collaborate with known criminals; ‘weed’ with marijuana smokers; hired for illegal duties; benefit from the loots of hoodlums; promote and support oppression from the governing and the governed; subvert the rule of law and cover up criminality is to say the least, that such a society demonstrates symptoms of a “Failed State”.
There are legions unsolved murders and assassinations of both high profile and unsung Nigerians and it has continued unabated. The only serious issue of concern for some many people eyeing business opportunities in Nigeria and Nigerians in the Diasporas who are desirous of coming back home, after stable electricity is security to life and property. If both are guaranteed, there would be influx of people and investments to further assist the country in its quest to get out of economic doldrums. The gross incompetence or impotence enforced on the police force precipitated the creation of and duplication of functions as exemplified in EFCC and ICPC.
The Nigeria Police after series of metamorphoses has the following units (note: some changes may have been effected again because the only constant and consistent act in the organization is change in nomenclature);
• i. Administration
• ii. Anti-Fraud Section
• iii. The Central Criminal Registry (CCR)
• iv. Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)
• v. X-Squad
• vi. General Investigation
• vii. Special Fraud Unit (SFU)
• viii. Legal Section
• ix. Forensic Science Laboratory
• x. Interpol Liaison
• xi. Homicide
• xii. Anti-Human Trafficking Unit
• xiii. Special Branch CIB/SIB
• xiv. Force CID Kaduna Annex
By virtue of annexure ii and to a large extent annexure vii above, these units if fully activated and robustly equipped are good enough to function effectively without the need for EFCC and ICPC.
A critique is not good enough without suggestions of alternatives or ways of improvement; so therefore due to the deeper pathologies of Nigeria as a multi- cultural entity, one may want to suggest that policing policy should be transformed in such a way that the federal government empowers a federal police to enforce all federal laws across Nigeria and the states and local governments should be allowed to have their own police to enforce state and municipal laws as may be applicable. If it is the wish of a state or municipality to contract its policing needs to the federal police, so let it be.
In offering this suggestion, one has in mind the beauty and strength of the Canadian policing system. For instance, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police popularly called RCMP oversees the enforcement of federal laws across Canada and three territories of the Canadian federation contracted its entire policing requirements to it. Eight other provinces among the remaining ten also contracted most of their policing needs to the RCMP but the two most populous provinces; Ontario and Quebec manage their own provincial police. The beauty and orderliness in this arrangement is that the RCMP function cuts across the entire country because there is no region that is completely devoid of federal laws. The RCMP is also on contract across some municipalities; across some Aboriginal communities and at some International airports. In provinces where they are contracted, the RCMP operates in accordance with the directives of the provincial and municipal governments regarding the enforcement of their laws. It is also instructive to state that the RCMP through its unit in the National Police Services provides support services to all police formations across the country in areas of information center, criminal intelligence services, Forensic science and identification services, the Canadian Firearms program and Police college services.
The present administration of president Goodluck Jonathan should take the bull by the horns by having the courage and the will to initiate a comprehensive and objective restructuring of the Nigeria Police to reflect the dynamism and complexities of today’s Nigeria, because transformation without first transforming an institution that is germane to the success of all other endeavours is like faith without means of livelihood; a dead end.
This piece is dedicated to all victims of assassinations, killings, robberies, kidnappings, bombings, political persecutions and those languishing in jails across Nigeria without proof of offence.
-Olanrewaju Ajiboye, Canada
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