Easily one of the most recurring issues that has plagued the nation for a long time is the contentious issues of state police: to be or not to be?
All arguments to this oft-hot debate are plausible and genuine. While the antagonists argue that it will be subject to abuse and manipulation by political office holders, protagonists insist that it will allow for effective policing of the 923,770 sq kilometers landmass called Nigeria.
Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police, last Monday at a national dialogue on state police organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja with the theme: ‘Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria,’ emphatically said Nigeria was not mature enough to tinker with the idea of state police and that the police are not in support of it.
The dialogue was organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review.
Egbetokun whose position is diametrically opposed to that of President Bola Tinubu and the state governors, also urged the lawmakers to push for proper funding of the existing federal policing structure.
He also argued that state policing would further exacerbate the existing ethnic tension in Nigeria.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu and state governors, had on February 15, 2024, agreed to establish state police in the country as part of measures to check the rising wave of insecurity.
The IGP, who was represented by Ben Okolo, an assistant inspector general of the Nigeria Police Force, said the National Assembly should instead merge the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Commission (NSCDC) as departments under the federal police.
“It is the submission of the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force that Nigeria is yet to mature and ready for the establishment of state-controlled police,” Mr Egbetokun said.
His speech was met with jeers and loud protests from the audience, who booed Mr Okolo.
Interestingly, Egbetokun’s stance also contrasted with that of Ibrahim Gaidam, Minister of Police Affairs, who backed the establishment of state police.
In his speech, the Minister of Police Affairs, Sen. Gaidam, who spoke at the event, said a more decentralised police force will help tackle rising insecurity in the country.
“It is clearly imperative to come together to discuss these critical issues and work towards finding sustainable solutions that will ensure the safety and security of all Nigerians.
“As we gather here today our objective is clear, to explore ways and means of addressing these issues including the possibility of establishing the state police force to combat the seemingly unending crises.
One undeniable problem about the country as presently structured, is its over-centralisation of power and command. That more than anything else, has made governing the country not just cumbersome and unwieldy but has also rendered it ungovernable. What this means is that everybody and institutions of government look up to one omnibus federal structure that has failed its federating units for several reasons, chief of which are; incompetence, tribalism, greed, religious bigotry, clannish inclinations and several such impediments.
The argument about Nigeria’s maturity for state police can be likened to the position held by some parts of the country when Anthony Eromosele Enahoro moved the famous motion for self-government.
Enahoro had suggested in his July 22, 1953 motion for Nigeria to gain independence in 1956 but the motion suffered a setback in parliament as northern members of parliament staged a walkout as a consequence of the motion. It was said then that the north was not ready for self-rule.
With the benefit of hindsight, one can be tempted to agree with that position that indeed, Nigeria was not ready for self-rule, because happenings in the country after 64 years, seem to suggest our lack of maturity for self-rule.
After all the heroic moves of Enahoro and other founding fathers, all we have been left with are just feelings of nostalgia of a country that has failed to live up to the expectations of the protagonists of self-rule. All institutions of government have not just failed but they have also left not a few Nigerians wondering if our situation was not even better pre-independence than it’s today.
However, if the well founded fears at that time did not prevent us from going ahead with our independence, it is in the same token that we should not foreclose any opportunity open to us to do things differently if our present experience is not working.
This also applies to our present federal structure that has retarded our growth and prevented states from making meaningful progress as a result of over reliance on the federal government.
There is no way to tell if the state police would work or not if we do not try it. One thing that cannot be disputed is that the present federal structure of policing has failed. So, why not try something new? By the way, Egbetokun failed to tell his listeners the barometer for measuring maturity in this instance. Would it be when parochialism, nepotism and corruption no longer influence the choice of candidates for appointments? These are the reasons we are where we are now.
The IGP’s fear of abuse by the state governors are neither here nor there, because the present federal police have also been abused by partisan IGPs, federal and state officials in the past. No ordinary folk can go to the police and get justice. The services of the police today are for the highest bidders.
The IGP may just be afraid of the possible whittling down of the power of his office and influence. The duty of policing the entire nation is too enormous to place on one man in a country where corruption, parochialism and other mundane considerations still hold sway in the choice of appointments of IGP.
For instance, is it by mere coincidence that the top echelon of the police is populated by people from one part of the country to the detriment of the others?
Most of these clannish and religious interests have been pushed to the extent that our present federal structure seem to be meant for a particular region of the country.
Let us even say, but without conceding, that the state police would be open to abuse by state governors, is it not possible that one or two states may be free from such abuse? However, with the present arrangement, a partisan IGP who is appointed to promote religious, tribal and regional interests, would have the entire nation weighed down while pursuing those selfish interests.
Again, since we also know that appointments of IGPs are never entirely based on merit but other mundane considerations, are we surprised at the results before us? Do we not have more than enough of such experiences to draw from as a nation already?
It is an open secret that the greatest challenge facing the police is that of corruption at its top echelon. They keep complaining of poor funding, yet there are more than enough for rogue IGPs to steal while their rank and file are wallowing in squalor.
Nigeria needs unbundling in all facets. All our institutions, including the Nigeria Police will do with such for effective governance and policing of the country. The present structure encourages corruption, incompetence, clannishness and mediocrity.
