The agitation for the establishment of state police is reaching a crescendo – governors, state and national legislators, traditional rulers and everyone that is everyone is speaking out on the necessity, most especially with the seemingly uncontrollable violence (banditry, kidnapping for ransom, ritual killings, armed robberies being committed even in broad daylight), that has gripped the land and overwhelmed the capacity of the Nigeria Police Force. Most of these new advocates, as persuasive as their arguments are, nonetheless still miss the fundamental basis for our call for state police, if all their concern is that the present police formation is overwhelmed.
For someone like me who has never ceased advocating for over a decade, my position is predicated on what ought to obtain in a country that claims to be a federation, and the central argument is, of course, that multi-level policing is integral to all federal states because policing and provision of security to citizens are normally concurrent responsibilities of all layers of government. No sound reason or logic basis for Nigeria to be an exception.
Multi-level policing means that while there is a central or national police force or formation, the federating units and even local governments or counties are not precluded from having their own police. Federating states that can do without it should not be compelled to have own police but the choice must be theirs. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s over-centralized unitary federalism fails to recognize that reality and instead puts “police and other government security services established by law” as item 45 on the Exclusive Legislative List in the 1999 Constitution. It ordinarily ought to be a concurrent item. Nigeria therefore needs to get it right!
Several well-meaning commentators have expressed grave reservations that, judging from past and contemporary experiences, state police is liable to be misused by state governors. Whilst I do not dismiss these concerns out of hand, but we cannot and should not build the future on an ugly past but move forward more creatively by thinking outside the box. Nigeria is not bereft of intelligence to the point that we cannot find suitable ways of avoiding and overcoming the pitfalls of the past. We can design state policing system in ways that would not put it solely in the hands of state governors.
Permit me to reproduce a chunk from the second part of a two-part article I published in the back page of Nigerian Tribune of Tuesday, 13 May, 2014 titled “National Confab Should Have a Rethink on State Police – 2.” In it I stated that “… there are creative ways of designing state police systems in such a way that the police will not necessarily be under the executive control of state governors but actually put under popular democratic control…
“Let’s start with the appointment, promotion, discipline and tenure of the state police chief (or whatever appellation will be given to the office) and the police high command. These positions should be advertised and only qualified applicants based on the set criteria would be shortlisted and interviewed, and then screened and approved by the state House of Assembly. The tenure of the police chief could be limited to two or three years, renewable subject to good performance to be assessed independently by an impartial body whose recommendations for renewal or otherwise would then be approved by the state House of Assembly. Appointment to the most senior command positions should not be on the basis of seniority, as is the current practice with the Nigeria police, but subject to performance evaluation and demonstrated competence. In addition, there should be an independent and impartial ombudsman charged with investigating complaints against police personnel whose reports would be submitted quarterly or periodically to the elected state assembly for consideration. A state police commissioner who knows he/she will face scrutiny and competition every two or three years will sit up and not allow the force to be misused by state chief executives for political witch-hunt of political opponents. Promotion and career mobility of all police personnel should be tied to performance and not seniority. This will reward efficiency, encourage good performance, and discourage redundancy. As for other categories of police personnel, there must be a minimum educational attainment of OND. Policing a modern society is no longer a job for the illiterate; proper education must be a priority. Training and retraining – in the basic law, human rights, and global best practices – including periodic psychological evaluations must be emphasized.
“Promotion and career advancement of police personnel would be based upon performance evaluation which will also enable redundant elements to be wielded out of the force. Though the broad operational directives would still emanate from the governor, who is constitutionally the chief security officer of the state, but the police personnel who know they are subject to democratic control would be emboldened to refuse illegal or illegitimate directives. This is a creative way of putting the police under popular democratic control. Such a police force that is not subject to the arbitrary discretion of the state governor would most likely be sensitive not only to doing a proper job of policing but also to the feelings of members of the public it is established to protect and serve…
“One issue that must be creatively worked out is the jurisdiction and powers of the state police. There must be a clear definition and demarcation of what constitutes federal crimes and offences for which state police will have to yield jurisdiction and control to the federal police. Let’s borrow an example from the US for illustration. The crime of murder in Washington D.C. is ordinarily within the jurisdiction of the homicide branch of the D.C. police, but instantly becomes a federal matter if for example the victim is a US Senator. Jurisdiction is yielded to the FBI because the crime may have national security implications. We can borrow a leaf from other societies that have successfully operated separate police systems to guide us, instead of the jaded excuse that Nigeria is not yet ripe for such!
“Since the provision of security, not food and shelter or health and education, is the most fundamental and critical function of government, funding it should take priority over other considerations. It is only when a society is secure and protected that government can function effectively to provide the enabling environment for inhabitants to make wealth and develop. It deserves to be given utmost priority. To be effective and function efficiently, police personnel must be well trained and remunerated, well-resourced with modern means of policing such as communication equipment, good office accommodation, vehicles for easy mobility and quick response, sophisticated weapons, armoured personnel carriers, flak jackets and other protective gears; good and smart uniforms with proper insignias, decorations and medals to give police personnel a sense of pride in their profession and self-esteem, among others… Career mobility should not be made cumbersome, and there would be a need to shorten the number of ranks, or rank reclassification. This is because the ranks between the lowest police constable and commissioner are too many, and this is because of the lower educational requirement for most of the junior positions. An educated police corps can do with fewer ranks before reaching the top profession rank.
“For those who may think doing all these will be expensive for a state government, let me emphasize again that the primary duty of any government is the provision of security for lives and property, not food, shelter, education or health. Besides, devolution of more responsibilities to states will have to be accompanied by devolution of additional resources. Security will provide the enabling environment for the release of the prodigious energies of the people to produce and make wealth. All developed societies take security very seriously, and Nigeria cannot be an exception, especially considering the nature of the contemporary challenges that we have to contend with. Let us create a democratically controlled state police.”
To accomplish the dream of a democratically controlled state police, the National Assembly should not constraint the states from being creative and unique in their own way through the usual excessive and overbearing national legislation. It is enough to put in the constitution that state that so choose can have their police systems but should avoid legislating to create a one-size-for-all-states police system. As a matter of fact, the National Assembly should leave the states free to design their police systems as long they are not outside the prescriptions of the constitution.
- Prof Fawole writes from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
