The image conjured in the minds of Nigerians by the word “police” is a far cry from the representation of the dapper London bobby picking drunks up from the doorways of pubs and generally posing a benign but effective deterrent to petty crimes. Replace that mental picture with a caricature of a ragged, ignorant and inefficient gun-toting brute and you have a portrait of the Nigerian policeman as painted by citizenry. However, the extremes of black and white are rarely accurate depictions of reality, so a second look at the fortunes of the Nigeria Police will perhaps provide the shades of grey needed to soften the starkness of the nation’s impressions.
The many troubles of a Nigerian police begin upon recruitment into the force. A number of Nigerians will recall the shocking images of dilapidation at the Police College, Ikeja, unveiled by Channels Television in January 2013. Footage of the poor sanitation facilities, cadets queuing for meagre rations and the sight of crumbling structures and outdated equipment made a deep impression on viewers. Spurred by the evident decay in Nigeria’s first police training institute which was confirmed during an unscheduled visit, President Goodluck Jonathan mandated an immediate overhaul, undertaken by the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers. Not surprisingly, the media was agog with news of the successful revamp, but the operation also raised a few eyebrows among questing minds who wondered what condition the other 28 training institutions of the Nigeria Police Force were in and the state as well as relevance of the curriculum.
There are no ready answers to those questions, of course, but perhaps one need not wait for answers. Proof of the plight of the Nigerian policeman may be obtained by anyone brave enough to venture into the squalor of a police barracks. The location is irrelevant – any barracks will do – as the general grimy conditions of one mirror the unhealthy surroundings of all, especially in the quarters housing the rank and file of the force.
Despite Nigeria’s much-vaunted prosperity, the nation’s 370,000 policemen are the worst paid in West Africa, reportedly earning even less than their counterparts in the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps. Under the 2011 Consolidated Police Salary Structure (CONPOSS), each raw recruit receives a gross salary of N9,019.42 monthly or a net monthly wage amounting to N8,342.96; constables on Grade Level 02 are entitled to salaries of between N42,000 and N46,000 monthly, while sergeants earn N48,000 per month, compared to their Ghanaian counterparts who earn the equivalent of N77,000 monthly. Even the Inspector General of Police is reported to receive considerably less than the heads of the State Security Service and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Budgetary allocations to the Police Force have also been dwindling since the 1980s, intensifying the funding challenge that has resulted in a shortage of equipment and a preponderance of community-run police stations. Apart from 1983, when 10.7 percent of the national budget was allocated to the police, it has constantly received an average allocation of less than 5 percent of the national budget. In the 2014 budget, the sum of N279 billion was allocated for police personnel salaries, N14.4 billion less than the N293 billion calculated by the force. Allocations to Police Commands and Formations for overheads were also reduced from N7.6bn to N5.4bn.
The Nigeria Police Force is the largest single public sector organization in Nigeria. Its officers and men require adequate transportation, communications equipment, armament and logistic technologies to be able to effectively curtail crimes in the country. Needless to say, it is imperative that police officers have adequate levels of education, training, kitting, technical competence and the operational capacities to carry out their duties. It is unnecessary to ask whether or not our police force possesses these. It does not!
The burden of providing a solution to this challenge has shifted to the new acting Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase. It is an unenviable task, but for a man of his pedigree, talents and experience, it will not prove impossible!
Sopuru Uwadiegwu
