One week before the shutdown of the portal for the receipt of applications for the 2023 recruitment into the Constable cadre of the Nigeria Police Force, Southeast remains the geo-political zone that turned in the lowest application for the exercise.
The latest statistics made available by the Police Service Commission, PSC on Sunday, showed that a total of five hundred and seven thousand, seven hundred and seventy-four (547,774) applications for recruitment into the Constable cadre of the Nigeria Police Force have so far been received in the Police Recruitment portal.
The 6-week mandatory requirement for such exercise stipulated by the Federal Character Commission will elapse next Sunday, November 26, 2023, after the portal was opened on the 15th of October 2023, five weeks ago.
The statistics further showed that out of the 547,774 applicants, 358,900 were successful and qualified for the next round of the recruitment process which includes the physical, credentials, medicals, and strict background checks of the applicants.
The statistics disclosed by Ikechukwu Ani, the Head of Press and Public Relations of the PSC, revealed that a total of 84,606 applicants were rejected for over age, as applicants are expected to be between the ages of 18 and 25.
Kaduna State maintained its first position as the state with the highest number of applicants with 40,272 with Anambra still stuck in the last position with 1664.
Adamawa State is second with 36,398 applications, Borno State is third with 32,048 and Benue State with 31,122 applications is fourth.
Katsina State with 30,202 is 5th, Bauchi State with 30,604 is 6th and Kano with 30,004 is 7th.
Ebonyi State with 2132 applications is next to Anambra from the rear, followed by Lagos State with 2324 applicants.
Bayelsa state is 4th from the rear with 2651 while Abia has 2796 and 5th from the rear.
According to the PSC PRO, the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase, CFR, has expressed his satisfaction with the number of applications already received.
He insisted that Nigerian youths have decided to show incredible interest in pursuing a career in the Nigeria Police, a development he said, augurs well for the “new Police we are building”.
“The PSC boss wishes to appeal once again to the youths of the South-East to change their indifference to Police work, as embracing anti-government criminal gangs will not lead them anywhere.
“They should be concerned about what becomes of the region in the future as no development can thrive in terror-ravaged communities.
“The Commission will do its best to ensure that the recruitment is strictly based on defined criteria with merit and justice prevalent throughout the processes,” the Commission assured.
Well, I suspect that a couple of factors could explain the development.
Meanwhile, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, RULAAC has underscored the major factors driving the very low turn of applications from the Southeastern states, for the 2023 Police Recruitment.
According to the Executive Director of the RULAAC, Mr Okechukwu Nwanguma, the marginalization of the region has given youths the impression that whatever the Nigerian state is doing is not for them.
“Firstly, the majority of youths in the eastern region have been indoctrinated to hold the view that the region is not part of Nigeria as the region has continuously been abandoned, neglected and unfairly treated by successive governments in Nigeria.
“They have lost a sense of belonging in their country.
“This is the mindset behind the quest and agitation for Biafra.
“They see themselves as not having any future in Nigeria,” he said.
Nwanguma also identified the incessant attacks on police operatives and their formations in the region as another reason why the Police job is looking unattractive to the youths in the region.
“The police have become endangered species in the eastern region where they are daily targeted, attacked, and killed both at their stations and at checkpoints or other duty posts.
“The Nigeria Police, apart from being considered a symbol of the Nigerian state, are also abusive of the rights of the people, especially young people.
“This has created resentment and made them targets of retaliatory attacks by the aggrieved youth most of whom are members of criminal groups terrorising the region.
“Also, the poor conditions of service in the police and the unfair treatment meted to them both in service and in retirement make the service unattractive.
“They are poorly paid, unable to take care of their families.
“On retirement, their pension and gratuity are either not paid on time or are pilfered.
“When they die in the course of duty, their families are not catered to,” he concluded.
