By Zik Gbemre

With regard to the recent report that the occupants of the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in Nigeria, will now spend only term of 4 years, which is because the Senate has just passed a bill that will make the tenure of office of the IGP by a single four-year term; I strongly believe the lawmakers have goofed with their action, and they really need to have it reversed. This is hinged on a whole lot of reasons.

Top most of the list is the fact that the Nigerian Police is a career job where one is expected to remain in and rise from the rank and file, or rise from a cadet officer to the highest rank, which is the rank of Inspector General of Police, popularly known as “IG”, and which is also held by just one officer at a time. Below the IG rank, there are Deputy Inspector Generals of Police known as DIGs. Below the DIGs, we have the rank of Assistant Inspector Generals of Police also known as AIGs. Then below this rank, we have the Commissioners of Police, known as CPs. The CPs are mostly the Chief heads of police in every State across the federation, and the police rank and file continues to go down like that. Now, If the lawmakers should peg and fix the tenure of the IG to be just four years, then they are also saying that when an IG completes four years in office, he goes on retirement regardless of his age, and then a new IG would step in. While others, who are the current Senior of the IG will compulsorily be made to go on retirement too since their junior officer cannot head them. This is always the case in other Armed forces in the country.

If the tenure of the IG is fixed for 4 years in a term in the Nigerian police, it also means the Nigerian Police has become fully political more than it is now. And as such, no longer a career job in the force. It is imperative and good for the lawmakers to leave the IG position as it is. The Nigerian Police, as it is currently structured, has no major or special problem. The problem is first, the Nigerian society and its political leaders, and not the Nigerian Police Force. Nigerian Politicians have been embezzling public money as they like for years. Money meant for the development of the society and for the adequate equipping, training and staffing of the Police as the nation’s security outfit. The Nigerian Politicians, have made the country’s politics as the best place to become a billionaire overnight. As such, people join politics rather than engage in businesses ventures to become rich overnight. They join politics not to serve. This has been the unfortunate situation in the country for decades amongst past and present crop of Nigerian politicians and their fronts. This situation has left every sector and Institution of the nation, including the Nigerian Police; bedeviled with all types of problems begging for attention and address. Even the corruption we see today in the Police, is a reflection of the corruption in Government space over the years. It is a corruption that is all over the entire country, which has been institutionalized and accepted by Nigerian Politicians and their fronts.

So, even if they reduce the said four years tenure for the IG to a monthly tenure, it will still not change anything or address the problem they are trying to address with their recent action. The problem of tribalism and nepotism are also very evident in every sector and institution in Nigeria, which is actually a significant issue in Africa, as noted by our respected Kenyan anti-corruption crusader, Prof. Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba, who said “In Many African countries, public offices are formed on the basis of ethnic affiliations…” And in the Nigerian context, the Will and Courage to change this narrative is not there at all levels of Government.

The National Assembly members are also a major problem. With their huge budgets and high maintenance culture annually, they have continued to waste the nation’s resources that ought to be channeled to fix other sectors, on themselves. All of their duties put together could be on a part time basis. Like many have conversed, a step towards the reform of the nation’s legislature must be backed by the need to reduce legislative reward to merely sitting allowance without a basic salary component and it should be structured to be part-time. As we have joined voices to advocate this time without number – the country does not need a bicameral legislature. It is a waste of public funds and it should be reorganized or streamlined into just one chamber. Like I said in a previous write up, the Senegalese example is there for all to emulate. That country went back to a unicameral legislature to save resources for other compelling development goals. Nigeria can do the same here and the people will be the better for it.

Rather than what the lawmakers are trying to do presently with the tenure of the IG, they should be thinking of how to fund the Police to better their operations. It is sad that they are not even talking of adequately funding the Nigerian Police and their activities and investigations. It is appalling that often times, it the complainants/suspects that are made to foot the bills to transport Police officers to carry out an investigation, and also pay for all necessary logistics for such investigations by the Police. They take money from complainants/suspects to fuel their cars and do all their police runs. I have been informed that most Junior rank Police Officers are the ones who buy their own uniform and shoes. This is happening in a country that supposedly prides itself as a supposed giant of Africa. The DPOs in Police Stations across the country are known to take bail money to buy office furniture, computers and to generally maintenance their daily activities in their stations. Some police officers also take bail money to build office accommodation. These are glaring and verifiable facts. The vehicles given to the police are not maintained at all, so they take bail money to foot all these bills.

With such myriad of issues and problems, do we blame the Nigerian Police for often acting the way they do in their operations? Should they use their salaries to foot such office bills and their activities? I do not think there is any police in the entire world that can function properly and fight crime, without the adequate provision made for all of this. I am not talking of paying them higher salaries now, but they should be provided with the necessary gadgets and logistics to effectively carry out their official duties and functions as they should. We can imagine a situation where, a police man on transfer from Lagos to Warri for example, would have to look for a matrass to sleep around the Station. That means he/she would have to bath outside. There are no guest houses for police officers on transfer, and no provisions are made to take care of them pending when they settle. So, they basically live on complainants/suspects provisions if they must do their work. If they are injured during the cause of their operations, they use their salaries to pay for their treatments.

One then begins to wonder what exactly are the State Governors doing with all the unaccounted Security Votes that go to their purse? How do we expect our Police Force to function and operate when some of the anomalies listed above are their experiences? These are the major issues and problems our lawmakers and Governments should be focused on addressing, as part of reforming the Police, and not what they are doing currently. The name change, and fixing the tenure of the IG to four years, will not bring about the needed changes in the Police Force.
Zik Gbemre.
July 14, 2020.

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