Why Nigerians must pursue the issue of state police force very seriously??
By Mayowa Michael Adeleye
Policing must be on concurrent Legislative lists instead of Exclusive lists in Nigeria since Nigeria is a federation and must be treated as a federation.
It’s imperative for each state in the federation to develop at its own pace. Each independent state should develop at its own speed, according to its own resources, according to its own ability in a way that the prosperity of each state (as federating unit) can become the prosperity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Therefore until each state is able to enforce its own laws, we will continue to be beset with this problem of national internal insecurity Buhari or No Buhari.
Each state police will still work with Federal Authority Policing, but very clearly, the centralized government has been unable to recruit enough personnel to distribute across the state.
There are state laws relating to local issues that even the federal police is not bothered about any more.
Nothing (apart from confusion and indecision) stops the National Assembly from using the opportunity of the current constitutional amendment to legitimize the operation of state police in the country.
All the worries, fears and anxieties being expressed about state police meant nothing if people lives were wantonly taken daily and state governors were powerless to do anything to curb it.
The biggest return on investment that our democracy can give now is for the 8th National Assembly to use the opportunity of the current constitutional amendment to give something back to the Nigerian people; something very important “security”.
State by State armed police force is the answer to internal violent crime ravaging Nigeria.
I think now is the time to stop playing games, the time to stop presenting untenable arguments, to stop presenting arguments whose foundation is based on probabilities as the only reason why we are not ready to try a new thing; that time is past.
Democracy means nothing if people are being kidnapped on a daily basis, and invaders kill and slaughter people unrestrained and the state governor can do no more than say yes, I am the Chief Security Officer of the State.
There must be some practical solutions to this. If states could be involved in managing the economy, education and traffic and participate in electric power supply, there was no reason why state government could not participate in managing the policing of the state.
Anyone with superior argument can come up with concrete reasons (if any).
- If we have done the same thing for 52 years and it does not work, we must find courage to try something new. If it does not work, then we go back to the drawing board.
The solution to violent crime in the country would remain elusive if we remain in the same place, doing the same thing and expecting different result, it won’t work.