Repositioning the Nigeria Police

AT this defining moment, the average police officer is rigidly perceived by most Nigerians to be crooked, while others view police officers more as a predicament, rather than the protectors of individual rights and upholders of law and order. As a consequence of this sad and saddening biography, the maxim “Police is your friend” is now used as fodder for jokes in places where people gather to laugh away their sorrows. But the truth still remains that in the discharge of their duties regrettably as I pointed out in my article titled ‘Policing the Police in Nigeria’, the Nigeria Police Force has long had a bad reputation for needless high-handedness, unjustified blood lust, brazen extortion and bribery, criminal activities, commercialisation of criminal enquiries, and in general, endemic corruption bedevilling its ranks.

But the ambivalence herein is that we have police officers whose essentially humanistic preoccupation cannot be easily wished away. This is another side of NPF which is rarely talked about. We have hundreds of officers sacrificing their lives yearly on the line of duty so that we can live. Because of inadequate funding, we have a police force that is expected to do much with little, and in case of death or accident, they or their dependants are poorly compensated, or not at all. The ambivalence herein is that the NPF’s greatest achievements often go unsung. These achievements are conflicts which do not make the headlines because they didn’t happen. Thus, police successes are often immaterial as they have lower visibility than their failings.

The 1999 Constitution emphasizes that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary preoccupation of the government. In performing this role, the government thereby delegated the duty of maintenance of internal security to the NPF. Hence, the NPF is by law saddled with the responsibility of preventing and detecting crime, the preservation of peace and order and the enforcement of all laws and regulations. It is expected to discharge these duties efficiently and effectively. The critical poser now is: can these duties be discharge efficiently and effectively without adequate funding? One writer says about money: “There is trouble getting it, anxiety in keeping it, temptations in the use of it, guilt in the abuse of it, and perplexity in disposing of it”. But to me, money might not buy happiness in some cases but it can at least boost the morale and improve the operational efficiency of the NPF.

In repositioning the NPF for the 21st century challenge of effective policing, the Police Trust Fund Bill pending in the National Assembly since 2009 must be revisited and passed. The bill seeks to address the funding challenges of the Nigeria police in totality and on a sustainable basis. It seeks to tax corporate entities to complement the Federal Government in funding the police. The bill, if passed, would enable the police to be on first line charge, and would be funded by agreed percentages to be deducted from local and foreign businesses operating in the country. The funds would then be directly channelled to the state commands on a quarterly basis. In the words of IGP Idris, “We believe that with the establishment of that Trust Fund, all tiers of government will contribute to the funding of the police…Even the private sector operators will also contribute and by so doing, there will be enough resources to adequately equip the police to discharge their responsibilities”. Kudos to him as he takes a commendable step to reintroduce this bill before the National Assembly once again.

Until the Police Trust Fund (PTF) bill is passed, every attempt towards curbing corruption within the NPF would be a wild goose chase. How can bail be free in our police stations when almost all the about 3000 police stations in the country operate without any overhead costs?  How can the police be non-partisan during elections when they depend on the mercy of state and local governments for resources for mobilisation during elections? How will the police not use torture to garner confession when that is the only affordable option left? How can complainants not be required to ‘pay’ or bribe before arrests are made to settle cases when the police stations are under staffed, those available are overworked and overstressed, patrol vehicles are rickety or non-functional, and those that can at least move will need fuel?

How will collecting a police report or making a statement not have a price tag when the police stations are lacking diaries, police registers, statement forms, file jackets, stationery, etc? How will policemen not be willing to be personal guards to wealthy citizens, or tempted to sell justice to the highest bidder when their conditions of service are nothing to write home about? How can their unjustified blood lust and high handedness be completely tackled when there is a dearth of professionalism brought about by inadequate training as a result of poor funding? Why would they not be likened to toothless bull dogs when they lack the necessary equipment and training to quell a riot, not to talk of an armed confrontation?

We must evolve a society of consequences and not condone corruption in whatever form. The NPF is ours and we must own it and hold it accountable in the discharge of its duties. And for the police to meet up with the ever increasing security challenge of the 21st century, they must be funded via the PTF since statutory allocations have so far not helped the Force in meeting up with its obligations.

• Iheanyi lives in Enugu.