16th August, 2012
The agitation for state police in Nigeria came to the fore again, Tuesday, 14 August, when a presidential panel dismissed the idea as capable of uncoupling the country. The committee, headed by Parry Osayande, chairman of the Police Service Commission, was constituted to reorganise the Nigeria Police.
While submitting its report to President Goodluck Jonathan, the panel, among other things, contended that the idea of a state police was not feasible. “State police? It is irrelevant! They (states) cannot afford it. Do you know how much it is to police a country? …We do not need state police; the country will break up. Take it from me,” argued Osayande, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG.
Similarly, a group of retired Inspectors General of Police, led by Gambo Jimeta, as well as northern governors and other groups have also voiced their opposition to the idea of a state police.
The fear being nursed by Osayande and other antagonists of state police, that the country could break up from adopting a decentralised policing system, questions the very essence of Nigeria’s federalism. In other countries where the federal system of government applies, issues like state police are a given. The federal and state police arms collaborate well for the good and order of the entity.
In the US, the different police apparatuses maintained by the individual states that make up the country have been a reference point for effective policing around the world. Nigeria can understudy the US model and adopt it to operate the state police system so it can run effectively.
It is ironical that Osayande, who is vehemently opposing state police, was the same man who smashed the notorious Lawrence Anini robbery gang in Benin in the 80s. He was able to do so because he knew, like the back of his palm, the terrain in which the gang operated and because he was also from the area. Policemen brought from Abuja could not locate the gang until Osayande took charge.
The contentious issue of state police should be subjected to a referendum, not Osayande and a few ‘wise men’ legislating on such a crucial issue that borders on the lives of millions of Nigerians.
Nigeria has to go back to really operate a federal state – in the true spirit and letter of federalism. This can be actualised by making the necessary structural changes in the proposed constitutional amendment. Powers, bordering on policing, and other issues critical to the federating units, should be devolved to the units for efficient utilisation.
With a state police, the governors – many of whom have been making huge investments to equip the federal police – would better tackle rising crime in their domains. With a police commissioner directly answerable to the governor – and not waiting to take orders from Abuja – the governor will promptly combat crime and better enforce laws.
It’s also plausible that the citizens of the various states will trust a state police better, because of a sense of belonging it will engender. Because they would see them as being part of them, it will aid intelligence gathering as the people will freely volunteer information needed to prevent crime.
And talk of Nigeria breaking up – as expressed by Osayande – if state police is adopted: At no time has this fear been more real than in the light of the one currently posed by the violent extremist group, Boko Haram. The country is at a tipping point because of the inability of the administration to protect citizens from the murderous sect through the instrumentality of a virile police force.
The police are overwhelmed by the sustained campaign of violence by the increasing sophistication of the murderous sect, prompting the deployment of troops in the besieged parts of northern Nigeria. As the last few months have shown, the joint efforts of the military and police have not ended the bloodletting.
A state police apparatus that is at home with the terrain where they operate and understands the workings of the complexities of the sect might have been able to terminate the Boko Haram monster while still in its infancy. The rising carnage from the frequent attacks would have then been avoided or drastically reduced.