Editorial

Former Senate President and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, at the University of Nigeria Nsukka’s Faculty of Social Sciences Distinguished Annual Public Lecture lamented the fact that more than two decades after Nigeria’s return to civilian democracy, each transition period tends to throw up incompetent leaders and the nation’s development has been stalled somewhat, with everyone suffering the outcome of bad leadership.

In his paper aptly titled, ‘Political Succession and Nation-Building in Nigeria: Problems and Challenges’, he urged Nigerians in every sector to realise that development is a collective venture, noting that any time there is a turbulent succession in any sector, it affects the nation. He said that nationhood is not just about political independence but also about the ability of leaders to nurture programmes, policies and platforms that promote the economic, social and political advancement of its citizens.

While condemning all forms of military interventions in the nation, the former SGF equally condemned the flawed political transitions from civilian to civilian governments in ways that the elections very often throw up incompetent leaders at all levels, thereby retarding the development of the nation.

We agree with the former Senate President’s suggestions, including the idea that political power be separated in ways that individuals would be held accountable for actions that are detrimental to nation-building.

We however recall also that the former Senate President had been a strong player in the Nigerian political space, but cannot recall any effort he made as a top party member to improve the leadership evolution processes in Nigeria. His emergence as Senate President in the year 2000 is still an object of political debate and analysis. We find it curious that most Nigerian politicians become better political theorists after they leave power. While not holding him responsible for all the transition shenanigans in the early years of Nigeria’s democratic journey, it is good for individuals in the political space to always walk the talk in their heyday rather than hit the ground when the snake had escaped, literally.

The history of Nigeria’s political growth since 1960 has been a cocktail of flawed leadership and transition processes, especially by the military who took the soul of the nation for more than half of the nation’s history. There is a political philosophical saying that the military has no business in politics and no nation proves that more than Nigeria. A country so blessed in both human and material resources yet so cursed with successive bad political players that seem unable to wean themselves off the military mentality of power and control.

Granted that the military out of greed held the country to ransom for a very long time, Nigerians ought to have liberated themselves from the ineptitude that the military governments foisted on the country, by taking the globally recognised routes to good democratic processes rooted in free and fair elections from party primary levels.

The bane of Nigeria’s retarded development is the chastisement the people have gotten from the political class that does not allow the pure tenets of democracy to come to play. Nigerian elections have a history of flawed leadership evolution processes, starting from party primaries. The Nigerian people can only boast of a seemingly free and fair election in 1993, ironically birthed and killed by the same military, in collusion with politicians.

The mantra that each society gets the leadership it deserves has played out true in the Nigerian political space because of lack of transparency. There must be total introspection on the values that throw up incompetent leaders in one of the most blessed nations on earth, in terms of educated and competent human capital.

Flawed transition processes are a factor of flawed values that either do not work hard enough for good or stay docile to the evil of a few. As Plato said, the reward for good people who refuse to play their part in politics is to continually be led by the incompetent. It is time for the Nigerian elite to step out and take charge to avoid the incompetent continually determining our political fate. Everything is about good and transparent leadership in a very functional system.

Editorial

Last week’s admission by the acting Inspector-General of Police that the police lack sophisticated vehicles to track down criminals goes beyond merely stating the obvious; it is, in fact, another attestation of the widely-held belief about the inadequacy of the institution in the face of the menace that the roving band of armed bandits now constitute. Represented by AIG Federal Operations, Babatunde Kokumo, at the handing-over ceremony of the 50 security operational vehicles purchased for it by the Bauchi State government, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, said a major logistic constraint facing the force was “inadequate serviceable vehicles for visibility policing in the form of patrol”. Painting a gory picture of how “most of the vehicles used by criminal elements move at great speed that police vehicles find difficult to catch up with”, the police chief left nothing to imagination as to why the police were hampered in their crime-fighting efforts.

To begin with, the story of the Nigerian police is certainly an old but familiar one; in other words, there is nothing that was said by the new police chief that successive police chiefs before him have not said in one form or the other. From logistics to the welfare of the officers and men; from nary attention to planning, research and development to the mindless mismanagement and corruption, not only have Nigerians variously voiced their frustrations about the abject state of the police, but at what has become its serial criminal neglect by successive administrations.

Seen in that context, the matter of inadequate serviceable vehicles, merely represents a mere symptom of a more debilitating affliction best captured under official neglect. Of course, Nigerians are only too familiar with what a typical Nigerian police station looks like. With perhaps few exceptions, most of the structures described as police stations are decrepit – lacking even in the most basic infrastructure – including electricity – that other modern crime-fighting outfits have long taken for granted. It begins with the inadequate and oft-times ill-maintained contraptions often described as operational vehicles; extends to the absence of vital communications equipment and gadgets as indeed such basic things as computers for keeping records of suspects, including the software for taking finger prints; now add to these the environment of most police stations, which is not only squalid but presents a picture of criminal neglect. The same holds true for the barracks and the training institutions; not only are the environments ugly and dehumanising; they have over time become so degraded as to be unfit for the roles assigned to them.

Of course, a major challenge is funding. No doubt, this is not always adequate.  Related is that budgeted funds hardly ever trickle down to the local police units, most of which are left to fend for themselves through criminal extortion and other unwholesome practices.

The same applies to the Nigerian Police Trust Fund. Nearly two years after its creation vide a legislation, its impact remains to be seen. And this is a fund which charges a levy of 0.005% on the “net profit” of companies ‘operating business’ in Nigeria and another 0.5% of the total revenue accruing to the Federation Account – sums of which are expected to be pooled and deployed to train police personnel and procure security machinery and equipment.

The question that bears asking is why these huge funds have not made the desired impact on the operations of the Nigeria Police. We are here talking of funds separate from grants, intervention funds, aids, donations, investment income that the police routinely tap from.

One plausible explanation is that the funds are not being judiciously utilised. The other is that the diligent planning required to ensure resource optimisation is not only absent, those in charge appear to think little of such mechanisms ordinarily considered an integral part of modern management. We are also not ruling out the possibility of a huge chunk of the funds being mismanaged or stolen.

Much as the current times demand a well-resourced police force, it goes without saying that a mechanism for transparency and accountability also needs to be in place. Incidentally, the act establishing the Police Trust Fund already provides for audit and presentation of an annual report to the president. We expect the Federal Government to scrupulously implement that particular provision of the law. Anything short of that would amount to throwing money down the drain.

It is astonishing that in spite of these inadequacies, the Federal Government continues to pretend that it can maintain an effective police force. With the massive assistance many state governments are giving to the federal police, it is high time the government admitted the imperative of state police and initiate policies in that direction.