From the tenor of media reportage of the opening ceremony of the ongoing National Conference in Abuja, it is crystal clear that the Jonathan administration has scored significant mileage by its convocation.
However, beyond the mundane or rather the convivial significance of the dialogue, one thematic item in the agenda highlighted by President Goodluck Jonathan’s speech, a major concern for most Nigerians is the task assigned to the conferees to debate the merits or demerits of the establishment of state police.
There is a universal unanimity of opinion that police as an institution is integral and strategic to the security of any sovereign nation given that a central duty of this body is to detect, prevent and protect the society from crime and the consequences of disrespect to the time honoured principle of rule of law.
In contemporary Nigeria, even the infants in the lowest strata of the educational institution must have been inundated by the visible threat to the security of lives and property of Nigerians.
Citizens of diverse status have therefore asked to know why government at all levels has failed to keep faith with the tenet of the constitutionwhich emphatically charged officials of the Nigerian state to see the security of lives and property of Nigerians as the most primary purpose of government.
The Nigerian constitution in section 14 (2) (b) provides “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”.
But from empirical evidence it is clear that the Nigeria Police Force has failed to carry out this sacred constitutional duty thereby leading to the serial killings of Nigerians by armed hoodlums in all parts of Nigeria.
The need for the National Conference to devote quality time to work out the best form of policing for Nigeria cannot therefore be over emphasized.
What kind of policing institution do we need in Nigeria? I will look towards the United Kingdom’s jurisdiction for possible solution.Britain places premium on the formation of what is called neighbourhood policing institution grounded under what the British Association of Chief Police Officers rightly code named “the Peelian Principles.”
Neighbourhood policing and the Peelian Principles are the heart and soul of the British model. This is the aspect of policing that most people related to and evidence points to increases in public confidence directly linked to visibility of police officers and staff.Findings show clearly that public confidence underpins police legitimacy and has practical benefits. These include gaining intelligence about criminal activity within communities, opportunities for engaging with neighbourhood groups and boosting recruitment of those either wishing to volunteer or join through the Special Constabulary.
The Peelian principles are: The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder; the ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions; police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.
Over the years of successful policing work, the British Police officials know that the degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force; and that the police should seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.
Other Peelian Principles are that; police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary; the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.
It is therefore safe to state that the British model of policing if experimented in Nigeria may help curb the persistent attacks on communities by armed freelance terrorists.
The United States also practices local and state policing institutions and from transparent media reporting of the crime statistics, it is clear that no single crime has gone unpunished but in Nigeria even operatives of the Nigeria police are glad to see that heinous crimes are swept under the carpet.
This is the reason for the regime of impunity that reigns supreme in all parts of Nigeria, making it all the more imperative that the dysfunctional Nigeria Police Force must be comprehensively reformed.
I am for state police in such a way that the federal policing institution should be significantly scaled down, thereby allowing those neighbourhood police operatives drawn largely from the various communities to stamp out crimes and criminality from their neighbourhood. The federal police should only operate as an interventionist force whenever the state police demand their presence.
My conversations recently with a former Inspector General of police shows that Nigeria sits on a time bomb if the current structure of the Nigeria police is not fundamentally reformed. The ball is in our court.
Onwubiko wrote from Abuja
