The Presidential Committee on the Re-organization of the Nigeria police and the Forum of former Inspectors-General of Police (IGs) have warned that the institution of the state police in Nigeria would be a prelude to the disintegration of the country.
If the current national challenge of securing lives and property in the country has to be properly addressed, then the way forward for the Federal Government is not to allow states to own and control their security apparatus. Rather, the best plausible alternative is to grant full autonomy to the Nigeria Police (NP) and the scrapping of the Ministry of Police Affairs to enable the hierarchy of the Police High Command prioritize and maximize the resources allocated to the Force by the Federal Government.
This was the position of the Presidential Committee on the Re-organization of the Nigeria Police and the Forum of former Inspectors-General of Police, who handed their copy on the ordeals of the Nigerian police force to President Goodluck Jonathan in Aso Rock yesterday. At the presentation of its report to President Jonathan, the panel's Chairman, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Parry Osayande (rtd), said since the Ministry of Police Affairs had no statutory roles in the amended 1999 Constitution, it was time the government abolished it; a position not shared by the former Police chiefs, who argued that there was no need scrapping the Ministry of Police Affairs.
The former IGPs, who included Alhaji Muhammadu Gambo-Jimeta, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie, Mr. Sunday Ehindero and Sir Mike Okiro, argued that the clamor for state police was an invitation for anarchy because it was not in the interest of nation's democracy. They argued that the most unreasonable thing for any administration to do at this time was to allow state police to exist, stressing that with the current 'political climate in our country, a state police would only be a tool in the hands of political leaders at state levels.'
This sordid state of the police affairs was officially well-painted and released in the report with some very startling revelations; not the least of which is the fact that the salary of Inspector General of Police (IG), the nation's number one cop is very meager when compared with the Heads of the State Security Services (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) It also emerged that the police is 'the only uniform service in the country that is not managing its own budget.
'While the Inspector-General of Police earns N711,498 per month, the SSS Director-General, earns N1.336 million per month and the Executive Chairman of the EFCC earns N1.5 million monthly. This disparity in salary does not reflect the higher responsibility attached to the Office of the Inspector-General of Police. It is the recommendation of the committee that the remuneration and general conditions of service of police personnel should be reviewed upward to boost morale, instill discipline and restore the dignity of the Nigerian policeman,' noted Osayande, who is also the chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC).
The committee told Jonathan that the present arrangement where the police budget is 'unjustifiably domiciled' with the Ministry of Police Affairs, 'is an aberration, which has led to abuse, misapplication and hemorrhage of the limited resources made available to the Police.' According to him, the Ministry of Police Affairs at present has no particular assigned role in the 1999 Constitution as amended, being neither in charge of police administration, a duty of the Police Council, nor handling operations, which is assigned to the Inspector-General of Police and appointment, discipline and promotion, a responsibility of the Police Service Commission.
The panel in rejecting the calls for state police, said apart from the fact that the states cannot fund a full blown police, the nation's Police Council should be allowed to function effectively since it is composed of the President, who is the chairman, the governors of the 36 states of the federation, chairman of the Police Service Commission and the Inspector General of Police.
Gambo-Jimeta, a former National Security Adviser (NSA) under the late Gen. Sani Abacha, who spoke on behalf of the former IGPs, stated that the retired IGPs' Forum was disturbed by the current clamor for state police by certain segments of the society. He recalled that the military attempted introducing the localization of police officers in their states of origin, an exercise, which he alleged failed. 'The establishment of state police will bring us back to the days of ethnic militias where the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Egbesu Boys, and Yankalare held sway. We don't support state police because some of us have lived through the history of this country… People have forgotten where we came from, from the era when Nnamdi Azikiwe could not go to Katsina or Maiduguri to campaign, when Ahmadu Bello could not go to Enugu or Lagos; when Obafemi Awolowo could not go to some parts of the country…'
The opposition of state police by the panel and the ex-IGs came hard on the heels of the repudiation of the idea by the northern governors forum; a decision which not only took their colleagues in the Nigerian Governors Forum by surprise, they ignited the debate, on the necessity or otherwise of the controversial state police.
At a time many Nigerians thought that a consensus had emerged on the state police issue among the state governors as part of the run up to the ongoing constitution amendment processes, the sudden anti-climax reared its head when the Northern Governors' Forum, which was part of the consensus, balked and instead indicated a preference for amendment of section 215 of the 1999 Constitution. As stated in its communiqué: 'The forum was not in support of the creation of state police. It, however, resolved to prevail on the Federal Government to embark on police reform that will assist the states in the control and management of police affairs, and (place) further emphasis on the sound philosophy for modern policing by amending the provision of section 215.'
The position of the Northern Governors' Forum was disconcerting to the Nigerian Governors' Forum, and no less to the general public, and expectedly, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors' Forum, Rotimi Amaechi, has questioned the volte face by the northern governors. Amaechi disclosed that 31 state governors, including those from the northern part of the country had agreed on the state police, but expressed surprise at the u-turn made by Northern Governors' Forum on the issue. He said the NGF would meet on Tuesday to decide on state police, single term and other issues. The Rivers State governor also described the declaration of Ogoni Autonomy Day by Mr. Goodluck Diigbo on Thursday as a treasonable felony. He said the initiator of the Autonomy Day (Diigbo) 'would run into the bush' if attempts were made to ask him questions. 'On Ogoni autonomy, I wish them well. Ogoni autonomy is not achievable
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