A welcome momentum
•There is no need wasting more time before starting State Police Focusing on the imperative of urgently actualising the idea of establishing State Police in the country to enhance national
•There is no need wasting more time before starting State Police
Focusing on the imperative of urgently actualising the idea of establishing State Police in the country to enhance national security on three consecutive days within a week, while breaking the Ramadan fast with different groups at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Bola Tinubu had given renewed momentum to an idea to which much lip service had hitherto been paid.
Before the President brought the issue to the forefront of public discourse, once again, a gradual consensus on the inevitable necessity of decentralising the current unitary policing structure to reflect the country’s federal character had been arrived at.
For instance, during the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), Southern Governors Forum (SGF) and Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), had all expressed their support for the establishment of State Police.
The National Assembly had taken tentative steps to commence the constitutional amendment process to give legal teeth to the idea but this was proceeding at an inexplicable snail’s pace.
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President Tinubu’s renewed prodding has had the effect of stirring action towards its realisation.
During his swearing in as Inspector-General of Police, Mr Tunji Disu, had not only spoken strongly and logically in support of State Police, he backed up his words by setting up a committee of seasoned police officers to deliberate on the idea and make recommendations towards this end, with a four-week time frame.
All previous IGPs had subtly opposed the idea of State Police while the immediate past IGP, Dr Kayode Egbetokun, did not disguise his antagonism to the idea.
Mr Disu has, however, made the critical point that the NPF is not institutionally opposed to the establishment of State Police and that, with necessary legal and administrative safeguards, both entities can work in harmony rather than unhealthy competition.
A major step was taken on the matter when speakers of the state houses of assembly declared their unequivocal backing for the idea.
There must be the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the 36 state houses of assembly for an Act of the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to allow for State Police to pass the constitutional litmus test.
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Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria (CSSLN), Emomotimi Dennis Guwor, of Delta State, after a meeting of the association stated that “A large number of citizens and groups have in the last two decades been making the same call; it becomes quite clear that the establishment of a policing system at the state level is the way forward”.
It could not have been better said.
The NPF is spread too thin on the ground. It lacks the requisite number of personnel or resources to effectively police a vast, highly populated polity like Nigeria. Resorting to the military for internal security duties, which has become the norm, has distracted the latter from concentrating effectively on defending the country’s territorial integrity.
The consequence is that we continue to lose lives and property to the multidimensional insecurity across the country.
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On the possible abuse of State Police by governors, which is the most common argument of those opposed to the idea, Guwor made the pertinent point that “The real problem in Nigeria is a lack of accountability, where people are not held to account for their misdeeds. In a system where there are no consequences for actions or omissions, the idea of abuse would be the order of the day. Put differently, police can be abused at any level - be it local, state or federal - if those managing the system are allowed to operate above the law”.
We cannot agree more.
Given the detailed and hard work that needs to be done to create the necessary legal and administrative framework to guarantee the efficiency and effectiveness of State Police as well as prevent its abuse, we urge that the welcome new momentum on the idea be sustained by all stakeholders.
State Police, among other advantages, will lead to creation of more jobs, improve intelligence gathering, and strengthen the relationships between the police and the people.
