INSECURITY & NEED FOR STATE POLICING IN NIGERIA

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Arise, O compatriots, the beautiful melody we grew up singing in honor of our dear country. In faith and happiness, we sang hoping to meet a great future ahead. Nigeria, a beautiful nation with over 200 million people of diverse races and religions. One of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world, with over 500 languages spoken yet able to live together as one. Beyond what people see, we are over 100 years right from the amalgamation by Lugard in 1914. Ruled, enslaved, and schooled, we became independent in 1960 and took over the affairs of our dear nation from the colonial masters. 61 years gone, yet the struggle continues. Beyond every other ugly situation, insecurity ravages us as we are nothing. Politics is being played at the detriment of lives causing serious hunger and resulting in a high rate of insecurity.

Oh, my dear Nigeria, where have we gotten it wrong? how did we get to this point of no return? willingly we took upon ourselves the task of ruling, then why can't we get it right. From one massacre to another, years passed and we are yet to get better. Disagreeing where we're meant to agree and fighting where dialogue is needed. A nation built on the blood of innocent can never stand and the earlier we realize this, the better for us. I choose to write this to proffer solution to the ugliest situation being faced in our great nation. For many years we have initiated the fight against insecurity but to no avail. Personally, I believe the introduction of state police will go a long way to bringing security to the people.

STATE POLICE

State police is a sub-national policing devoted to the service of the parent state and maintained by the same state. Security operations are performed by the police between federating states in the country at other levels of government other than the national federal government. In the federal republic of Nigeria, the 1999 constitution as amended makes provision for a single police force. Funding the force is directly from the Federal government and is under the Exclusive Legislative List. This Federal system of policing empowers the president to appoint an Inspector General to head the police system. This structure makes the entire police administration a federal government responsibility, and is affecting the effectiveness of policing.

The establishment of State police forces would help maintain law and order, ensure the safety and security of citizens and investments in the state. It will also be easier to hold people accountable for their actions. Recently, there was a misunderstanding between a Governor of a state and a CSP of police on duty. From the video circulating of facebook, the police officer bluntly refused to take order from the Governor. This has also been a case in many other states where the presidency sends in troops of policemen to carryout an operation in a state without the knowledge of the Governor of the state.

Its been already a year and few months we witnessed the ugly incidence of lekki tollgate shooting, yet the order behind the shooting is still not known to people. Just as many believes the order came from the federal level, others believe it was the state government behind it, till now, the shooting and the order remains a mystery.

State Policing will ensure that security gets closer to the people and will enhance response time to crime through community police. There have been argument against state policing in Nigeria but in reality many who are against this, do it out of their selfish reason. One of the biggest criticism is the fact that state Governor will use it as a power abuse which is the fear of the current abuser themselves. As we have witness several, it takes the Nigerian police officers hours to get to a crime scene but this all applies only if the crime is committed against the poor masses not the people in power. It is no longer news that the federal government deploys a maximum of only 6000 police officers to distressed state but can deploy over 40000 officers in an election venue just to achieve their rigging desires. The question is, for how long do we continue in this mess of politicized security and who will speak for us, because we get killed for speaking out.

May God help My Dear Country