- Southern Governors renews call for state police creation in Nigeria
- House of Reps members, State Speakers Forum, others throw weight behind the state police creation
- Doyin Okupe reacts, says it is welcome development on security of Nigeria
Recently, the Southern Nigeria Governors forum held its meeting. The meeting which took place at Presidential Lodge, the Ogun state capital, Abeokuta had in its attendance, virtually all its members.
These governors comprising seventeen states in the South-south, South-west and South-east region had its resolutions, a renewed call for the creation of state police in the country.
According to the governors in its resolutions issued after the meeting, the call is sequel to the successes recorded by community-based regional security outfits that have significantly helped intelligence gathering, thus enabling governors to be truly chief security officers of their respective states.
WITHIN NIGERIA gathered that these among other items formed part of the communiqué issued at the end of the Southern Governors Forum (SGF) meeting held at the Presidential Lodge, Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
The forum also lauded the economic recovery policies, and the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while affirming its resolve to reposition the country.
“Southern governors resolved to continue to advocate for the creation of state police against the success of community-based regional security outfits that have significantly helped intelligence gathering. It is believed that this will enable governors to be chief security officers indeed.
“The forum, still on fiscal federalism, discussed the issue of solid mineral exploration and exploitation which today remains on the exclusive list in the constitution. Member governors expressed concern over current practices where minerals licenses are issued, and exploitations are undertaken without recourse to state governments.
“These continue to be carried out often attracting criminal activities and attendant negative environmental impact, ecological degradation with no remediation commitments, and no revenue accruing to both states and the federal government.
“The forum commended the laudable economic recovery reforms and policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda. The forum unanimously reaffirmed their support for him in his unwavering resolve to reposition the country and build a great future for all of us.
“The governors applauded the president for conceptualising and commencing the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project, which cuts across eight states. The forum noted that this laudable project will create employment in the construction industry ecosystem, boost productivity by drastically reducing travel time, promote tourism, and open up and integrate all the Southern states to more investment opportunities.
“The governors advocated that the federal government should rehabilitate, repair and reconstruct Trunk A roads and transfer roads to states that have expressed interest in taking them over.”
However, WITHIN NIGERIA findings showed that the police creation and maintenance falls on the exclusive list of the government.
Governors of respective states have no exclusive or full right over either the police commissioner or the police in their states; thereby making the governors lame duck even as the “chief security” of their respective states.
It is with the complexity and tortuous process associated with the creation of state police that recently, the National Assembly was reported to have been considering a legal framework for the creation of state police and intelligence gathering on the activities of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists.
It also challenged the local government council authorities, traditional rulers and community leaders to mobilise local vigilantes, hunters and able-bodied youths in defence of their communities and territories.
The Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele disclosed this when he spoke on behalf of all the recipients of honorary doctorate degrees at the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State.
In a statement released by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, Office of the Senate Leader, recently, Bamidele revealed the resolve of the National Assembly to develop a legal framework and support local intelligence gathering to tame the tide of banditry, kidnapping and terrorism.
Bamidele pleaded with the critical stakeholders – traditional rulers, community leaders, vigilante groups and able-bodied youths – on the need to provide useful information to the state security services on the activities of criminal elements disrupting our national peace.
He said all the state security services require community, group and individual support to confront the menace of banditry, kidnapping and terrorism across the federation.
According to Bamidele, “More than ever before, the National Assembly is working tirelessly to provide the necessary legislative framework to strengthen community policing and multi-level security architecture.
“Developing such a legal framework has become imperative at this time in our history. This plan is in the overriding public interest of safeguarding the security of lives and property, the stability of our democracy and the progress of our fatherland.”
Implications of state police
Proponents of the state police might have thrown weight for this project because it will impact positively on the people of their state.
But findings by our reporter showed that this can be a proverbial double-edged sword. This can either amount to positive engagement of criminal minded individuals by taking them off the streets in the short run and preparing them for officially sanctioned criminality in the long run, or a complete transformation of seemingly hopeless individuals to actors in state affairs where the issue of security matters.
For this reason quality screening of the candidates during the employment exercise is highly needed to birth policemen with determination and service-mindedness. To this end, the quality of screening in the employment process will play a vital role in the determination of these two sets of policemen recruited.
Though some advocates of the creation of the state police may have rightly argued that the recruitment should be locally sourced in which the advantages of native intelligence and uncommon sense of commitment and responsibility will result in nipping crimes in the bud. This is because a policeman who is a native of his station or post will be more willing to prevent crimes in the vicinity than a policeman who is not an indigene of the area. As plausible as this might be, there is also a hole in this argument.
It is not impossible that such natives are capable of using the mighty powers of being a cop to settle personal, family or communal disputes and vendetta so much so that they might assume the status of an indomitable worthy of worship in their spheres of influence, because the power attributable to having connection to the coercive apparatus of the state is infinite.
In any case, the localisation of recruitment of police personnel have its own challenges, and it can easily be abused. That apart, establishment of state police has its own inherent problems especially with regards to control, organisational structure, remuneration and so on. That being the case, certain questions naturally come to minds
like.
On the other hand, it is variously been argued that where the remunerations flow from the state governors, there is tendency that the state police can be used to muzzle political opponents and the opposition parties within their domains, thereby capable of turning the state not only into a one-party-state, but also a gestapo fascist dynasty. In other words, state police is likely to be abused to the extent that it may not guarantee the safeguard of security for which it was established.
It is a sad experience that in Nigeria, governors are the most powerful political bloc under the present political setting..
Examples of these naked powers can be seen in the way they muzzle the functionalities of the local government as a third tier of government and the killing of the constitutional amendment to make the judiciary, the local government and House of Assembly to have fiscal autonomy.
House of Reps throws weight behind the state police creation
Despite these challenges and fear about the existence of state police in Nigeria, many notable Nigerians, institutions have continued to push for its creation. However, on February 20, 2024,The House of Representatives passed a bill for the second reading, a bill seeking to amend the 1999 constitution by allowing the 36 states in the federation to establish state police.
The bill, seeking to amend the 1999 constitution, was debated that Tuesday and passed for the second reading.
WITHIN NIGERIA gathered that Ben Okezie Kalu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, representing Bende Federal Constituency and 14 others sponsored the bill.
The bill comprises 18 clauses intending to amend 14 sections of the constitution, notably to transfer police from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list—permitting both state and federal governments to establish a police force.
While presenting the bill on behalf of the co-sponsors, Muktar Shagaya stated that state police is not only a matter of federalism but an exigency of time calling for the creation of state police.
“This bill emerges as a necessary response to several calls for a decentralised and community-oriented approach to law enforcement. It seeks to navigate the complex landscape of security challenges by empowering our states with the means to address issues unique to their localities.
“This proposed alteration represents not just a legal adjustment to our grundnorm, but a visionary leap towards a safer, more secure, and harmonious Nigeria,” he said.
Chief Whip, Bello Kumo, expressed concerns about the prolonged military rule that relegated the police to the background.
“The federal government has not been able to adequately fund the police. Why have we not been able to adequately recruit personnel?” he said.
Reactions on the renewed call
Former Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign, Dr Doyin Okupe, says the creation of state police will help address the security challenges facing the country.
Okupe gave the view in an interview with the Newsmen on Sunday in Lagos.
He was reacting to calls by some stakeholders for the adoption of state police, to address the security challenges in the country.
The constitution only empowers the Nigeria Police Force(NPF), a federal police, to be in charge of policing in all the states of the federation.
Okupe, former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), said central police had failed and that states should be empowered constitutionally to take care of their security.
According to him, the excuse that governors will abuse state police is not a justification for not having a policing system,that can guarantee security of lives and property.
“We only need to find a constitutional way to stop abuse by the state governors.
“We cannot build and encourage wrong and not working, just because we fear certain things. Policing should be totally and completely decentralised,” he said.
Okupe also canvassed that each of the zones in the country should have its own military, with its own chief of army staff, to strengthen security.
“Each of the zones can have its own army and we have a central command somewhere, where each zonal chief of army staff links up.
“In this situation, the issue of coup does not arise again.
“If there is a war, all the zones will contribute soldiers to prosecute the war and after that, everybody goes back to their zones. These are the things we need,” Okupe said.
36 state speakers support state police creation.
The Speakers of the Houses of Assembly across 36 states in the country, recently, backed the ongoing constitution review exercise for the creation of state police.
The Speakers, under the aegis of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, took the stand in a communique issued at the end of their meeting in Abuja recently.
The communiqué which was signed by Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Mr Adebo Ogundoyin, who is the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, explained the Conference is in full of the state police creation in the country.
When transmitted to the state Assemblies, the Speakers pledged their readiness to support the bill for the state police creation.
The communique partly read thus; “The conference strongly advocates for state policing to check the negative trend of insecurity in our country.
“To achieve this, the conference appeals to the National Assembly, Presidency and other relevant stakeholders to leverage on the ongoing constitution review exercise.”
The Conference of Speakers acknowledged the “courage of the President Bola Tinubu on his economic policies taken so far such as the removal of petroleum product subsidy and the floating of the exchange rate.”
They also maintained that “the unintended consequences of these policies are too harsh on the populace.”
The communique further read, “We therefore, urge the Federal Government and State Governments to initiate sustainable policies with equal measure of courage to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
“The Conference observed that in spite of the constitutional provisions that grant financial autonomy to the state legislature, the implementation has been observed in breach.
“We, therefore, call on all the relevant stakeholders to comply with all the provisions in the constitution and not by breach.”