Do we deserve the kind of police we have?

 

By Prosper Okoye

Take a moment to evaluate the imagery that comes to mind whenever the Nigeria Police Force is mentioned. Do you see men on the road dressed in unkempt black or black and blue uniforms, carrying guns and extorting Naira notes from commercial drivers? Or do you envision men sitting in some godforsaken office, looking unfit for the kind of job that they do, and who never have paper and pen to document your complaints or fuel to come to your rescue unless you offer some Naira notes in exchange? Perhaps you see individuals who never show up in an emergency until several hours after the incident is over, and when they finally do, random innocent persons are arrested as suspects. Alternatively, you might picture a group of armed men moronically guarding others who are directly and indirectly inflicting poverty on the people. Well, whichever image you see largely depends on the side you stand on the divide.

In the recently concluded national security dialogue organized by the International Alert Nigeria, the Director General, National Institute of Police Studies, Prof. Olu Ogunsakin concluded his paper presentation on the note that: “We all deserved the kind of police we get.” He also provided compelling evidence to support his claims, which I will also share with you.

First, he began by stating that the total number of policemen, which was three hundred and fifty-five thousand (355,000), compared to the total population of Nigeria, including the number of immigrants, which amounts to two hundred and one million, three hundred eight thousand, five hundred and sixty-eight (201,308,568), makes it grossly inadequate for proper policing. This situation is further compounded by the cultural complexities and diversity in the country.

Maybe now, you can understand why those who live in semi-urban and rural areas and cannot afford to pay for police security as bodyguards directly from their pockets do not see policemen safeguarding their areas, even though they are constantly harassed and robbed by criminals.

The United Nations recommends that, as a standard, the police-to-civilian ratio should be one policeman to 450 persons. However, in Nigeria, there is only 1 policeman for every 600,000 Nigerians. Do not cry over these statistics yet until you fully comprehend the situation; in many cases, politicians and their allies take up to five or more for their personal security from this sparse number.

On the other hand, whose fault is it that we do not have an adequate number of policemen in the service? It is no news that in Nigeria, you cannot secure a police job, not even the lowest rank, without having a connection to someone on the recruitment board or receiving a recommendation from a politician. Police slots are given by members of the House of Assembly, Senators, and other government personnel to their political loyalists as compensation or reward, whether they are qualified or not.

Alternatively, if you don’t have any connections, you must be prepared to pay a substantial amount to secure a position for yourself.

AIG Christopher Owolabi (Rtd), who was also a discussant at the dialogue, noted that former President Buhari had attempted to increase the police force’s population strength by recruiting ten thousand (10,000) policemen annually for six years. Unfortunately, the bickering and legal battle between the Police Inspector General, Alkali Baba Usman, and the Police Service Commission frustrated this effort.

Come to think of it, in a country with a high number of unemployed graduates, why have the recent recruitment criteria been tailored exclusively for O-level holders? The rationale behind these criteria remains mysterious. Could it be that individuals with higher education and greater age maturity are considered less patriotic than their counterparts? Or could it be a deliberate act to fill the system with mediocrity?

While he spoke during the dialogue, Mr. Tunji Lardner, Chief Executive Officer of the Police Reform & Transformation Office (PORTO), somewhat alluded to this mediocrity when he commented on the recruitment conducted by the agency: “So far, our analysis tells us that the most critical point of failure in the system is politics. It triumphs over policy, common sense, and everything else.

“From the very beginning, when we tried to do recruitment, people sent candidates who were not qualified. One of the exercises we conducted involved examining the police training institutions. Structurally, there is insufficient financing for about 34 of them. There was a bill to bring all of them under one administration’s control to streamline the budget. When we delved into how these training organizations would function, it generated a lot of problems. There was a lot of resistance regarding the selection of officials.

“There is a mindset and total resistance to progress among Nigerians. The reason is that the more you professionalize and streamline the process, the more you eliminate the opportunities for rent-seeking.”

Rent-Seeking” – A condition where an entity seeks to gain wealth without any reciprocal contribution of productivity. One cannot help but conclude that this is exactly the reality in the police system, given the huge sum of money invested or announced in the media by the government and other national and international government and non-governmental agencies.

For fear of sounding like a broken record by listing out these data, let’s return to Professor Ogunsakin’s argument that “we all deserve the kind of police we have.”

He mentioned that the welfare and morale of those already in service are too poor to incentivize optimal service to the nation. With due respect, dear reader, take caution not to read and dismiss his words, which are paraphrased below, as mere excuses for incompetency in the police force. Instead, think again to determine whether you really deserve the kind of police you have.

“In the first half of 2022, 85 police officers were lost. Since then, until November 2023, four times that number have died. What is more worrisome and creates anxiety among serving officers is the aftermath of their death.

“In Nigeria, when a policeman dies, the entire family dies with him. There is no national honor for his service; no one takes care of their family, only course-mates unceremoniously contribute to his burial.

“Many policemen have to buy their own uniforms and bullets for their guns. Even when they are posted at the outskirts for road duties, they are left with no food, thus, they have to fend for themselves.

“Scenes of a policemen carrying an AK-47 on a commercial motorcycle, endangering their lives and the lives of society, are common, as there is no adequate vehicle for routine duty.

Not only are vehicles a problem, but before the issue of petroleum pump price increase, the police did not have money to buy petrol for their vehicles. How many petrol vehicles do we see around, and yet we demand 110 percent protection?”

These are indeed terrible service conditions for a man who has been legally given a gun to protect society; at this point, I strongly recommend giving a big hug to every policeman seen on conventional duty.

However, we cannot dismiss the fact that most people in the police service did not join because they have the calling to serve society in that capacity; rather, they see it as a means to escape unemployment and other insecurities that abound in Nigeria.

The average salary for Nigerian policemen is about N48,000. Given the socio-economic reality, you can now understand why ‘pay pass’ instead of vehicular papers is demanded on the road.

You can understand why a bus driver can be shot and killed by a policeman when he tries to run away without paying.

You can also understand why the average politically unaligned policeman in Nigeria acts so uncivil and looks too haggard.

Finally, Do you now see why a “big man” can easily use money to dictate the conduct of such important social security outfit like the police?

Kudos to the policemen who still confront armed robbers and other criminal elements, risking their lives on the job. But come to think of it, with this kind of reward system, is this job worth the sacrifice?

Can anyone feed on N48,000 for 30 days when the contemporary average cost of a single meal is N1,000? What do they say about a hungry man again…?

I will share AIG Owolabi (Rtd)’s story, if for nothing else but the sake of history, to prove that there was a time when the system worked correctly. “Over 35 years ago,” he notes, a period around the late ’90s, “as a young patrol officer, the patrol team and vehicles were readily available. All I needed to do was sign that I was on patrol, and fuel would be provided.

“Growing up in service, I became a commander of a mobile police squad, having everything I needed; there was no reason for failure. There was no intervention that my unit, as the police mobile force in Jigawa state, was called to attend went undelivered. We even supported states like Kano, Plateau, Kaduna, and participated in joint operations with the military.

“However, when I became a commissioner of police, I had to buy my own staff car to avoid embarrassing myself. As an Assistant Inspector General of Police, I didn’t have a staff car—nothing to work with.

“Many of us in the past have been called to train the police of other countries, like Rwanda, and we have done that successfully, but we have continually underdeveloped ours.

Although, the Police Trust Fund was created in 2019 with the mandate to build a well-trained, equipped, and motivated Nigerian Police Force that is proactive, prompt, and responsive to security challenges. Financial contributions from taxpayers’ money have been made to the fund with nothing to show for it.

Where do we go from here:

I will also share the proposed effective ways to revive the police processes, policies, procedures, and practices as were discussed during the dialogue. Even though Nigeria has defied the cliché: ‘my people perish because of the lack of knowledge.’

The reality is that Nigeria has continually suffered due to the lack of implementation of the wonderful policies, ideas, and knowledge we have heard.However, we shall persist in reiterating this knowledge, hoping that someday a leader with the zeal for implementation shall emerge.

The retired Assistant Inspector General, notes that redefining the mandate of the police has become crucial, given the recent creation of security agencies like the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) that execute similar mandates as the police. He asserts that the problem of the police is not solely the shortage of manpower but a problem of unstreamlined efforts and the non-adaptation of security technologies.

Secondly, constitutionally restructuring the Police force within the three tiers of government is crucial. Given Nigeria’s size, expecting an efficient unitary police force is unrealistic. Restructuring can also address the issue of deviance within the system.

Efforts must be made to redeem the public image of the police, by addressing the attitudes and actions of policemen that are inimical to society.

The PORTO CEO notes: “The question is not whether the police are our friend, but how to claim ownership, build, and sustain friendship with the police given the pivotal role they ought to play in our society.”