This kind of Police is a sad reminder that despite her pretensions to the contrary, Nigeria is not yet a 21st Century organized country.
―UgoGold Nzeakonobiukwu Ofonedu
As is the case everywhere in the world, the job of providing security within the boundaries of Nigeria is the exclusive preserve of the Nigerian Police Force. And through the years, the Nigerian Police Force have evolved from a tiny Constabulary Unit which took care of the British overlords in Nigeria and enforced their decisions, to a modern Force that is capable of holding its head high anywhere in the world today.
While it has not always lived up to the expectations of Nigerians in terms of the unprofessional conducts of some of her officers and men, the truth remains that the Nigerian Police Force is in fact the most indispensable component of the Nigerian society.
Any remaining doubt about this assertion was dispelled in the early days of the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s government when most members of the Rank and File of the Nigerian Police Force embarked on an Industrial Strike Action.
For the hours the strike lasted, Nigeria was thrown into chaos and confusion. Banks closed their doors on their panic-stricken customers. Companies shut down without notice. And most Nigerians refused to leave their homes. All for the fear of being attacked by hoodlums.
It was indeed a scary moment which Nigerians would never wish to relive.
So even as Nigerians complain about the shortcomings of the Police Force, they are equally aware of their importance in the day to day running of the country.
And as the country deepens her democratic experience and credentials, it is equally expected that Nigerian Police should undergo a sort of a surgical operation to remove for all time, the impediments towards the effective policing of the internal boundaries of the country.
Every time there is a crime or as it is currently the case, high level of insecurity across the country, Nigerians bash the police in the most uncharitable manner.
Every time there is a crime or as it is currently the case, high level of insecurity across the country, Nigerians bash the police in the most uncharitable manner. After each case of kidnapping, the police is again crucified without trial.
However slow in crime prevention they often appear, it must be borne in mind that police is always the best mirror into the society. They represent either the best or the worst every society has to offer. Whatever a country’s police are, is exactly what goes on in the larger society.
In the Nigerian case, it is obvious that the police is not well taken care of at least to the minimum level from which a modern force can be created.
There are issues of the shortage of manpower, poor remuneration, inadequate housing and office spaces, unreliable insurance cover, public hostility, absence of welfare packages, and the like, which have made the job of the policeman very difficult.
But all these problems that are found within the Nigerian Police Force, which government after government; military or civilian, had sought to solve without results, is compounded by the VIP or Big Man Entitlement Mentality that is seen everywhere in the country.
As a class, most privileged Nigerians always feel entitled to certain exclusive privileges either as perks of the high office they occupy or simply as a public display of an enhanced status.
Among the many benefits these people enjoy is the usual detachment of police escorts who serve as security details to these VIPs, their families, homes and establishments.
Ordinarily there is nothing wrong with the release of the officers and men of the Nigerian Police Force to guard some members of the Nigerian Elite. This is the standard practice every other place outside Nigeria.
The problem is found in the tendency of some of the Nigerian Privileged class to subject to one form of abuse or the other, anybody or thing that is below their own level.
One would think that any sane person would value whoever has the duty of protecting their lives but that is not usually the case in Nigeria.
One would think that any sane person would value whoever has the duty of protecting their lives but that is not usually the case in Nigeria.
The policeman is subjected to all manner of abuses and dehumanizing treatments at the hands of the Nigerian Big Men.
Stories abound where some of them are turned into domestic staff where they are asked to cook, wash Oga’s clothes and cars, and run errands for Madam and her children any time their whims prompt them.
In some instances they are used to intimidate Oga’s relatives and neighbours, provide official cover to criminal gangs and thugs during elections, and are often privy to the discussions on Nigerian’s commonwealth are shared among the leaders.
Meanwhile to their chagrin, whenever they are recalled to the police stations, they discover that not only are the Big Men not held accountable for their actions, they are celebrated everywhere by the society through the churches, the traditional rulers, and the government itself.
With nowhere else to vent their frustration with the system, they pounce on ordinary Nigerians on the roads, at the police stations, and even in their own homes. They extort money from motorists with reckless abandon. They beat, maim, and kill Nigerians at the slighest provocation.
This is not the kind of Police Force that Nigerians want. This kind of Force is a sad reminder that despite her pretensions to the contrary, Nigeria is not yet a 21st Century organized country.
Of course Nigerians desire to have a police force that is run by the people from whose hearts the milk of human kindness still flows.
Now any effort that is made at reforming the Nigerian Police Force must equally proffer the ways of stopping the unspeakable level of abuse of the officers and men of the Force in the hands of some privileged Nigerians.
And if these observed excesses of a section of the Nigerian Elite are looked into and checked by the Police High Command, the Police Service Commission, and the Government, maybe Nigeria’s desire to build a modern Police Force, and by extension, a modern country, might take off on wonderful note.
♦ UgoGold Ofonedu is a columnist with WAP
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