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State Police: Why Nigerians Should not Accept


Of course, state police is a good thing. In some countries where the state police operate, they have a positive result; a nice tale to tell. But the question is, why is it successfully operating in such countries? It is because their political, economic and social environment is enabling. This made them ripe for state police. Nigeria, truth be told, is not yet ripe for state police. The disastrous problems state police will cause in a country like Nigeria will outweigh the blessing it may bring.

First and foremost, with state police, it will be easier for state governors to attack political opponents, decide the fate of any election, eliminate opposition and become intolerant to criticisms and public opinion coming from the masses. We are all witnesses to the political thuggery in all nooks and crannies of Nigeria, and, very sadly, with the involvement of the police despite being controlled by the federal government. Imagine the police in the hands of state governors. This will be a serious threat to democracy and it is totally unsafe for our constitution.

Secondly, a great number of state governments have serious cases of non-payment of salaries to their workers. Non-payment of salary is a crystal clear issue known to every Nigerian. The state governments largely depend on the federal allocation to move forward. State police will therefore, multiply the burden of the state governments. If they are not properly and regularly paid their salary, they will use their guns and uniforms to extort money from the masses just as in the case of the current federal police. Thus, it will be self-attack in the the name of self-defence.

In addition, state police will accelerate the tendency of secession. With certain groups of people yearning for states, struggling for restructuring, governors having serious misunderstanding with the presidency or the federal governmet and then having state police, feeling more or less on the same pedestal with the federal government, threats of secession will always be arising.

There is also the likelihood of conflict between the states, especially those that share the same boundaries–conflict of jurisdiction. Conflict will also arise between the federal police and the state police.

The solution to the problem of the police does not stop at creating a state police. The problem is institutional. The endemic corruption in the police institution should not be overlooked; mechanisms for minimizing it have to be deviced. Illiterate persons should not be recruited into the police force. There should be regular orientation, enlightenment and training. The leadership of the institution should not be given in the hands of incompetent people. There should be a stick approach and regular checks on the operation of the force. The society should support the police force to discharge their duties where necessary and shun away from adding the grease of corruption to their elbows through bribery.

An unwashed pot covered by flies and surrounded by insects is not safe by being merely moved from one place to another, wisdom says that the pot must be washed first.

Abdul Mutallib Muktar

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