FEATURE ARTICLE

Saturday, May 19, 2018
[email protected]
Arizona, USA
THE URGENCY TO RE-ORGANIZE THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE!

HEADLINE: The IGP can�t read?

he Nigerian Police Force (NPF) under the next political dispensation should be renamed as the Nigerian Police Department. The current name is an anachronism in modern world. The truism of the name has always been evident in the Police Force. The police Department in a modern world should have a human face in the discharge of its duties. The present arrangement of the Nigerian police force is a shadow of itself if we dare compare its policing with its counterparts in the western world. The Nigerian Police Force is grossly not meeting the 21st century challenges in policing.

It is imperative that every state of the federation must be made autonomous to manage its own police department. As a member of one of the law enforcement agencies in the United States, I have always loved and admired anything in uniform. Police Department is a glorious profession that enjoys public respect and good remuneration in the United States. It is extremely scarce to read in the news about any policeman or policewoman extorting money from the public. It will amount to unnecessarily sentencing oneself to prison terms. The Police Department might have its ugly side in the discharge of its duties to the public, but it is a prestigious profession that protects the public, cares for its manpower resources and provide adequate retirement benefits for its manpower.

There were recent pictures on social media showing the women in the Nigeria Police Force in one the Nigerian Law enforcement agencies in Nigeria. There was another one showing a picture of a man, a Nigerian-American officer in his esteemed uniform in the sunshine state of Arizona, USA. In these two parallel circumstances, and in the parallel universe, when the Law Enforcement Agencies are well remunerated, equipped, kitted and glorified, it will be extremely difficult to 'give and take' bribe in the system. This is the immaculate appearance, we want for our men and women in uniforms in all law enforcement agencies in Nigeria. When this is done, everyone in appearance, in the department will have a sense of esteem and belonging to be in the department. All players in the agency will be so proud to carry out their professional duties. The egregious activities in the current Nigeria Police force will be consigned to the dustbin of the country's history.

The government should take cognizance of this when observation from a concerned citizen of Nigeria. The Nigerian police department is being poorly remunerated. The department is currently in the shadow of itself. It has grossly been underfunded, and it has been neglected for too long. Here in the United State, an officer in the Police Department take-home pays per annum are not less than $50,000.00 in some States of the union, that is, =N=15,950,000.00 per annum in Nigerian local currency.

When you see a Nigerian Police Department in this form, it will engender police department with effectiveness, sense of professionalism and patriotism. Nigerians usually perform brilliantly well when they go out to train with their professional counterparts abroad. But when they come back to Nigeria, they usually revert to extortions from the hapless Nigerian citizens. They become a weaponized tool of the rich and the powerful to oppress the deprived and vulnerable members of the society. Some of them are bad eggs with the harbinger of criminals among the populace.

It is not even uncommon today to see the Nigerian Policemen and women serving as orderly, or as security apparatus to religious men and women, and to the affluent members of the Nigerian society. This is a ridiculous activity that must stop now, and under the next political dispensation.

Security is not convenient! Policing is a task that requires special attention to provide adequate security for the teeming population in any country. The welfare of men and women in uniforms with adequate training must be an urgent assignment for this administration and the incoming one. It must be done with every sense of urgency it deserves to provide protection for the lives and property of the citizens.

Nigeria must be made great again!


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