Investigation: Decay Takes Over Police Academy Kano
Cadets Take Lectures in Primary School Classrooms
For many years, there has been the allegation that the police in Nigeria are ineffective and highly corrupt. To this end, successive governments have made several efforts to revamp the security organisation to serve the public better and regain the people’s confidence.
In a bid to reposition the police for better service, the former military head of state, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retired), established an academy for the Force in Wudil, Kano State. The foundation stone for the academy was laid in August 1989.
The academy, which was affiliated to Bayero University, Kano (BUK), was to offer a five-year various academic and professional programmes for new cadets and 18-month intensive course for college graduates.
Successive administrations after the Babangida regime made several efforts to improve the services of the institution, with a view to producing decent and patriotic police officers that can serve the country better.
In 2009, former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua approved the establishment of the School of Regular Course in the academy, just like the one at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna. The aim of establishing the school was to catch the aspiring police officers young and prepare them for better service delivery to the public.
Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that admission forms into the academy were sold to interesting candidates in 2011 and interview was conducted in the first quota of 2012. But after the demise of Yar’Adua, nothing happened until some patriotic citizens mounted pressure on the former President Goodluck Jonathan and academic programmes took off in September 2013.
Currently, there are about 2,000 cadets undergoing training in the academy. Our reporter gathered that there are over 630 cadets in Course One, 686 in Course Two and about 400 in Course Three. It was also learnt that the academy would soon admit new students.
However, some of the students who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday on condition of anonymity said they were subjected to untold trials and tribulations. They wondered why government would neglect such an important academy.
“It is pathetic that the aim of establishing the institution seems to be defeated. To be honest with you, nothing is working in the institution. In fact, the structures for realising the vision, mission and philosophy of the school are no longer there.
“The vision of a model security institution internationally depends on the quality and efficiency of its training and the excellence of its academic standard. All these factors cannot be found in the Police Academy, Wudil, at the moment. In fact, all the necessary things that could make the institution a conducive place for training and learning are not there.
“The most annoying part of it is that these cadets will soon pass out half-baked to face a myriad of challenges outside. That is the problem with the security organisation and the nation in general. The cadets will just pass out with no difference from the usual conventional recruits or those in short service. At the end, these officers will be worse than the previous ones,” a Regular Course One student of the academy told our reporter.
Another student alleged that since the inception of training programmes in the academy in 2013, cadets have not been paid the monthly allowances they are entitled to. And according to him, this is grossly killing their morale.
“Even our instructors are complaining about incentives. Their morale is also being killed; that is why they are always leaving the school. A day will hardly pass without having an instructor or two going on transfer,” he said.
He added that because of the bad condition of the institution, instructors work their ways out, while those from other places refuse to come. According to him, most officers and instructors see the academy as a punishment ground.
He said: “Any policeman transferred to the academy will work his way out as quickly as possible. Because of the acute shortage of police officers in the institution, its management has resorted to allocating courses to members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to teach. The questions here are: What is the difference between a 300-level or 400-level student and a corps member? What is the correlation between a corps member and police professional courses?”
Also speaking, a Regular Course Two student, who also preferred not to be named, expressed worry over the condition of the institution’s library and laboratories. “The importance of well equipped libraries and laboratories in any tertiary institution of this kind cannot be overemphasized. Even in the villages, some primary and secondary schools of today have well equipped libraries and laboratories because of the technological advancement the world is passing through. However, here in the academy, the scenario is different,” the student said.
He also complained about the terrible condition of most of the classes and hostels in the institution, noting that “The 2013 Regular Course One (RC1) students are presently in 400level, but they are still receiving lectures and writing examinations in borrowed classrooms. They are managing one of the classrooms of a police primary school.’’
Daily Trust on Sunday observed that the hostels built for Short Service cadets between 1994 and 1996 are dilapidated.
“It is impossible for a cadet to sleep when it is raining. This is because the roofs of the hostels are seriously leaking. In fact, these hostels are unfit for human habitation. And the new hostels under construction have been abandoned. Most of our lecturers live off campus because their own quarters are part of the abandoned projects,” the student said.
Also, another Regular Course Three student said it could take them three to four days to see water from the taps. He said they solely depended on children from the neighbouring villages to fetch water from the boreholes at the cost of N50 per jerry-can.
“Although it is a national problem, in an environment like this, we need electricity in the institution even if it is only once or twice in a week so that we can iron our uniforms and appear neatly. So many cadets have failed their examinations because they could not read ahead of the exams due to power outage. Also, patients admitted in the academy’s clinic have sleepless nights battling with mosquitoes and heat, due to lack of power supply.
“I am short of words to describe the condition of our clinic. The clinic that was meant to accommodate many patients has only 10 beds in the wards: four beds in the male ward, four in the female ward and two beds in the children’s ward.
“Due to the regimental nature of the environment, cadets who go for treatment are often insulted instead of getting the right attention. This is unethical and unprofessional,” he said.
He further lamented that the quality of food given to the cadets was very poor. “I have confirmed that about 20 cadets had undergone surgery. Most of the students prefer buying food outside because what is being served in the institution is terribly poor.
“What is obtained in the academy is parallel and in conflict with her philosophy. How can the institution produce a highly reformed, mobile, innovative, efficient and civil police when officers are not well trained and cadets lack the skill and necessary knowledge?
“Unfortunately, the current administration is embarking on the recruitment of 10,000 policemen while neglecting those who have been in the academy since 2013. The condition of the academy and its students is terrible,” he lamented.
He, therefore, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to come to their aid by investigating the trials and tribulations the cadets are passing through, with a view to finding lasting solutions to the problems of power supply, water scarcity, insufficient accommodation, lack of facilities, as well as addressing the welfare needs of cadets and members of staff.
When contacted for comments, the public relations officer of the academy, ASP Muhammad Sabo Kurawa, directed our correspondent to write to the commandant, AIG Aminchi Samaila Baraya. When the letter, dated October 31, 2016, was delivered to the office of the commandant through the public relations officer same day, he promised to communicate to our correspondent as soon as the commandant responded to the request. However, about 4:37pm, ASP Kurawa called our reporter on phone and said, “The commandant, in his minute on the letter, stated that being a new person in the academy, he did not know much about the institution, and therefore, could not comment on it.”
Asked if the commandant could assign one of his subordinates to respond to the issues raised by some of the cadets, Kurawa said, “To be honest, he didn’t indicate that in his minute.”