Home truths the Nigeria police must hear

As we all know, the Nigeria police force is bedeviled with myriads of problems. Chief amongst these are gross reputational deficit, inadequate operational tools and poor welfare packages.  All these, and others not listed, rolled up in one have been highlighted severally as the bane of the police’s ineffectual operation.

Many have argued convincingly that the Nigeria police do actually have enormous potential to combat crime and tackle daily criminality that constantly disrupts lives and economic activities, but are limited and demotivated by the aforementioned demons, amongst other difficulties. They have, therefore, admonished the government to do more to empower the police to enable them deliver on their fundamental responsibility of protecting lives and property in the society.

But many other thinkers have also raised a poser – what are the police doing to help and empower themselves? By this thought, it is well presumed that for anyone to have demonstrated liking towards a particular career they would have submitted themselves to self-probing and personal conviction that signposts job satisfaction, fulfillment and comfort on the long run.

Admittedly though, such isn’t usually the case with the way people get into jobs or choose career paths in Nigeria. Most people only take some certain employments for lack of better options. For the absence, as they say, of “what is preferred”. Many only settled for their jobs out of frustration from having searched for a desired one without any luck. Thus recruitment for jobs has, often, never been premised on the passion of a job seeker or any correlation with employee’s educational or professional credential. This is especially the case with the police.

The aftermath of such porous recruitment processes is evident in the crop of workforce being paraded by the public and private sectors in Nigeria as professionals, and the shoddy services being delivered by these entities which are fraudulently sold to the public as value for money.

Expectedly, the imperative of police reform has been a long call by all concerned, and for as long as I can remember. Much emphasis has been laid on the need for the improvement of the general well-being and capacity of the men of the force and with that in place, it is believed, that the public would get the much desired performance and, essentially, the protection and security from the police.

While that may be a convincing and plausible argument to a considerable extent, there is still a missing point – a vital one indeed.

What about the willpower, and the sense of propriety and responsibility that is expected of the police in the course of their duty? Thankfully, this important poser as well as the appropriate response is coming out now. Though it may seem too long in showing up, that it has finally surfaced is far better than perpetually hibernating in the space of thoughts. Far from expectations, it is actually symbolically fascinating that the inconvenient truths are emerging from the top echelon of the Nigeria police force which I suppose would stimulate sober reflection and positive change.

Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase fired some hard-hitting shots at his men while addressing them during a visit to the Ekiti State Police Command.

“Stop marrying too many wives and bear only the number of children you can cater for.

“Some of you have wives in your commands, but when you are transferred, you arrive in your new commands and marry another wife and start a new family there. I think you should stop,” the IGP said.

As it is often the case, some of us will quite easily dismiss the observation of the police boss and even see it as inconsequential in the order of security priorities that the country is confronted with. But looking far beyond this, and even farther than the swelling of the nation’s poverty statistic, which is a major concern, through the reckless and uncontrolled childbearing exercise by the men of the police at every new command they are posted, there is also a nexus between out-of-care children and criminality. That is one area the IGP, unwittingly I suppose, ceased to touch elaborately, but one which is also as crucial as his concern for the growing poverty amongst his men.

We have heard series of confessional statements made by criminal suspects in which allegations of complicity were made against wards or relatives of police officers.  Some suspected cultists, who terrorise institutions of learning across the country, have alleged that their colleagues who are children of the men of the force are sources of the dangerous weapons used for their atrocities. Even some criminals who have been nabbed for impersonating and committing crimes in police uniforms have confessed to allegedly receiving or renting the clothes from persons with close relationship to some officers.  So apart from the concern for poverty within the force, the out-of-home procreation spree in which some policemen often indulge themselves can impact on the society in several negative ways. I am convinced this is the overall import of the admonition of the police IG.

Similarly, Arase warned his men against extra-judicial killings: “I am complaining that I have no money to send you for training, why must we now incur more litigation?” he asked.

“Nigerians are more intelligent now; if you infringe on their right, they will go to court and unfortunately the IGP will be the person to be sued even though he was not there when it happened. And when I am sued, the police’s accounts will be garnished,” he stated.

Hopefully, this very important counsel will sink in, produce desirable outcome and on the long run, meet the public’s expectations of the police force.