2 December 2007
editorial
Lagos — Ordinarily, assistance from advanced countries to developing ones is healthy, perhaps inevitable. But the federal government's invitation to the British Police to restructure its Nigerian counterpart exposes government's unreadiness to frontally tackle the numerous problems of the Nigeria Police.
The circumstances that produced the request is understandable, though. It was in response to the offer reportedly made by the British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, during last month's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to name an area in which his country should support Nigeria. And probably worried about the nation's worsening internal security, Yar'Adua decided that the Police should utilise the overture. But in so doing, President Yar'Adua inadvertently demonstrated a lack of understanding of Police's contemptible situation - an attitude that had also been exhibited by previous governments which had formed the habit of setting up panels to examine the predicament of the Police, without giving bite to their recommendations.
And now, the government has taken the same route, this time, with the addition of looking outwards for solutions. A committee of retired and senior police officers who have distinguished themselves will soon be inaugurated by the Minister of Interior, Major General Godwin Abbe, who is clearly upbeat about it. As he put it, "We have it on good authority that the British government is ready to support us in reorganising the NPF (Nigeria Police Force) and empowering it to be able to carry out its assigned role of ensuring law and order. The extent of involvement will be determined by the committee... The British government has done well in the past and the Nigerian government appreciates that. That is the essence of the cordial relationship between the two governments."
No doubt, this nation is under the siege of social misfits like armed robbers and militants at the moment and, therefore, in dire need of a functional and highly responsive police. But it is unfortunate for the government to feign ignorance about the nature and scope of the deficiencies of the Force.
To begin with, the shortcomings of the Police are well known, some of which are a bankrupt system that does not always reward diligence and merit, poor remuneration, grossly inadequate equipment and weaponry, insufficient funding and mismanagement of available allocation, corruption and recruitment of reluctant and unqualified staff. These are self-inflicted problems that are certainly beyond the expertise of even the best police force in the world.
Also, certain situational facts make the move to enlist Britain's surgical dexterity even more ridiculous. How well has Nigeria benefited from the training received by some of its officers in British Police academies over the years? Moreover, it is incongruous for a nation that practises presidentialism to submit its police to the one that operates the parliamentary system of government for repositioning. And a police not in harmony with its country's political system could actually become inimical to its progress.
It is indeed disturbing that the government seems to ignore the outcome of similar attempts in the past. Some Chinese and Indian companies were once invited to revamp the nation's comatose railway. A Dutch airline was also asked to revive the now defunct Nigeria Airways. Both strategies failed, reinforcing the fact that a thorough familiarity with and understanding of the environment are required for such ambitious projects.
So, the government should realise that the remedy is within - if it garners enough political will to restore the dignity and potency of the Police. With the right programme and vision, the officers and men of the Nigerian Police can be encouraged to reproduce here the kind of excellence they often exhibit at peacekeeping operations outside the country. And that can be achieved without evoking the master-servant relationship that existed between Britain and Nigeria in the days of the colonial Police.
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