State Police: The Relief, the Fears
Finally, it appears we are nearer the port of state police. Former Lagos State governor, and now chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was one of the earliest proponents of state police. But neither then President Olusegun Obasanjo, nor many state governors or even National Assembly members would hear of it. Hard as he pushed, the idea of state police kept hitting the brick wall. Many had argued that we are not matured enough as a people for state police. Others had argued that it would, if approved, become a battle axe in the hands of state governors, with which they will hack down their political opponents. I had almost fallen for this argument myself.
But last week, the highest endorsement for state police came from the number two citizen of the country, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. This is hardly surprising. He had prepared the framework of the advocacy for Tinubu in his governorship days. So endorsing and mounting a campaign for state police now looks like a relaunch of what began since Year 2000.
The penultimate Thursday, Professor Osinbajo reinforced the argument for state police during Bishop Matthew Kukah’s inaugural lecture in Abuja where he made a case for stronger institutions to aid security and justice. His arguments are quite quaint, I must admit. How can a state governor, supposedly referred to as the Chief Security Officer of a state, not be in control of any lever of security apparatchik? With what and how can he effectively serve as the Chief Security Officer in practical terms?
What probably accentuated the call for the state police is the helplessness of Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue State who could only whine and weep over the killing of his people in his state by Fulani Herdsmen. He had nothing to counter the attack of the Fulani herdsmen, given that the federal police and federal security bodies practically abandoned him to his fate.
It is also instructive that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has also endorsed the call for state police. Many of the state governors have been at the mercy of the ineffective federal police to sufficiently protect their people and their properties.
The next hurdle to cross in the pursuit of State police will be the national assembly, many of whose members are also inclined to the idea of state police.
I believe that many of the security challenges faced across the country will be contained with the coming of state police.
Yes, some queer governors could abuse the privilege of the state police to muscle out their opponents. Those who believe the policy is prone to abuse easily point to what happens during Local Government elections usually organized by the state electoral commission, wherein the party of the sitting governor usually clears all the seats.
A foretaste of what the state police could be used to do is demonstrated early this week when Gov Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State rolled out the bulldozers to pull down the house of a sitting senator, an opponent (within the same party), claiming that the owner of the house has failed to pay ground rent since 2010, as if pulling down a defaulting house is the punishment recommended by law.
That makes it imperative that the legislations that should back state police must contain enough checks to forestall its abuse. But that will not be the only worry. The issue of finance is key. Yes, the state police structure will suck off quite a number from the labour market, but the corollary of that breather, will be how to sustain it. How will the states access arms?
How will they be able to fund the security architecture in their states? These are the same governments who are gasping over the payment of regular civil servants. So, to be further cumbered by paying state police will be like stretching the expectations too far.
Will the paucity of funds not worsen the corruption associated with the police institution? Surely the choke will be strangulating. What about the issues of managing the plethora of arms that will flood the country?
With the avalanche of small arms literally floating on the Nigerian space, threatening lives and properties, what arms Armageddon will come with all 36 states running their own police structures? This is an issue!
Worse still, will be the operational synergy between the federal and state police. No doubt, there will be major constitutional rework to accommodate the idea of state police. But its effectiveness and essence will largely depend on the discipline and ethos that will be attached to it.
All things considered, it will be a step towards strengthening our claim to being a federation.