Better pay Police officers are paid as little as $40 (£26) a month, this should be raised to $100 for police constables

Bad eggs Deal with the estimated 10,000 officers with criminal records hired between 2001 and 2004

Complaints A reliable system for the public to complain should be established

Better educated Recruits should attain a certain level of qualification before being considered

Promotions Job applications should be transparently managed

Uniforms Policemen should not have to buy their own

Communications Police should get an up-to-date communication network

Equipment Police should be given better investigating tools and the training to use them

These proposals feels like the real deal to me, well at least on paper. However, it may need minor tweaking here and there. For example, £100 a month is just to small in my opinion for anyone to live on, talkless of feeding a family, shelter and maintenance for a whole month.

The bad eggs have eaten deep into almost every aspect and every level of anything "Nigerian" it remains to be seen how this 10 000 or so officers will be dealt with? Sack them? Retrain them? Speaking of retraining them, can you train an old dog new tricks?

Complaints appears to be something we are not used to. It is an aspect that appears to be severely lacking in us. We respond to complaints, or criticism with manners that suggest we really do not like to be complained about or criticised. If we can pull this off, then we may be heading in a good direction.

I agree, Promotion should be more transparent. It should be based on qualification, attitude and approach of the individual to work and not from where they are from, or because they have "long legs" or know the IG etc. About time we recognise people who are worth their places.

Again I agree that we need a good communication link. The UK have dedicated airwaves for Military and other forces use. It would be nice and helps a lot to see our police force having the latest communication link system, instead of the UHF channels that is a bit dated now.

It is true and well known that our police force do lack the necessary equipment to carry out the basics of their Jobs. Ak 47 are not exactly ideal in a modern force. Most modern forces tend to do away with them. Having said that, I can see the reason as to why it is popular with developing world though - cheap to maintain and run, reliable etc.


Another thing that may be of slight concern is how long will it takes for this proposal to become reality? A we looking at a ten year period, or less than that? It would be nice to have a very modern force fit enough to police Nigeria and help in combating crimes, I suppose this is the first step towards that.

Proposal taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8034141.stm


Feel free to add anything that may be needed.

complete rubbish.

This is for gullible Nigerians.

At least make attempts to elaborate. Do you think it won't work? What are your reasons? 

And this people accusing me of rubbish everything from Nigeria.

ElRazur:

At least make attempts to elaborate. Do you think it won't work? What are your reasons?

And this people accusing me of rubbish everything from Nigeria.

I dont waste time on rubbish.

Gullible Nigerians may be and they are plenty.

busi-bodi:

I dont waste time on rubbish.

Gullible Nigerians may be and they are plenty.

But you have the time to reply to this Please just go away, because the joke is on you. Someone with a better scope will soon come in to make a proper contribution.

sorry to digress.

it is a proven fact that an AK 47 will still fire bullets even after been sub merged in sand and water - Unlike the error prone western european and American rifles. 

blacksta:

sorry to digress.

it is a proven fact that an AK 47 will still fire bullets even after been sub merged in sand and water - Unlike the error prone western european and American rifles. 

I agree. However, why is not primarily used by modern forces? Personally, I will prefer our elite forces [police and what not] use something better than a Klashnikov.

where is the money for this reform coming from? increase tax

secondly i think they should reduce the number that cary weapons, the are far too many policemen with weapons
there should be a dedicated team that use weapon or they should all get pistol-concealed from public
we need a force that is approachable- i dont think anyone will like to approach a hungry man with ak 47 under the sun
to report loud neighbours or petty crime

graduates should start on a higher salary and fast track scheme- police graduate schemes

Bad eggs Deal with the estimated 10,000 officers with criminal records hired between 2001 and 2004

hmm shouldn't background checks be done before cops are hired.

nice reforms by the way. What about mandatory ethics training for current cops. You can increase ur pay but their mentality won't change

bawomolo:

hmm shouldn't background checks be done before cops are hired.

nice reforms by the way. What about mandatory ethics training for current cops. You can increase ur pay but their mentality won't change

I really do not know the background details to that one. However, given our poor record keeping attributes, it should not come as a surprise. I suppose it is slightly better now due to record keeping moving away from the "physical file format" to "Computerised format" instead.

As for mandatory ethnics training, those with better education will have basic understanding of the ethnics around them in my opinion.

Good idea,but implementation wise,no hope.Don't trust those guys a bit,they speak with both side of their mouth.More noise than action!

Dis Guy:

where is the money for this reform coming from? increase tax  

secondly i think they should reduce the number that cary weapons, the are far too many policemen with weapons
there should be a dedicated team that use weapon or they should all get pistol-concealed from public
we need a force that is approachable- i dont think anyone will like to approach a hungry man with ak 47 under the sun
to report loud neighbours or petty crime

graduates should start on a higher salary and fast track scheme- police graduate schemes

Hahaha. . .    You can do that at the risk of getting shot or blackmailed into paying a ''fee''.

I believe a reform is well overdue. Most of these people have no sense of reasoning and only rely on emotions which is usually anger and ''ego massage''. They are always eager to show you don't argue with a man with the  gun by shooting you for asking a simple question like "Officer, what is going on?"

Mr Kenny Martins started an enviable project some years ago tagged the Police Equipment Fund which by now we all know should have been tagged Police Syphoning Funds as the man and all those concerned have shown their true colours. However, what I have learnt from the ''initiative'' is that people are willing to contribute to the growth of the Nigerian Police and when I say people, I mean private indivisuals and organisations. The PEF people raised 100s of millions of naira which if well implemented would have changed the face of the Nigerian police.

What we need is proper training. The Nigerian policeman like his colleague in every government parastatal is ill trained to handle situations he faces everyday and thats why he relies on his gun to solve every problem. A well trained policeman would know that his weapon is his last resort. He would know how to use his greatest weapon ie his mind to arrest situations and thus take charge.

Communication is also very important. How fast he can get back up when he is in trouble or call in to report situations will determine how confident he will be in the face of adversity. Walkie talkies, mobile phones, etc are minimum communication gadgets a policeman should have.

Insurance. When he dies or is incapacitated, an average policeman should be certain that his family will be taken care of. That they would not be kicked out of the police barracks nor would his wife have to wait on long queues for his entitlements to be paid.

A new image. If the above are done then the Nigerian policeman should be given a new image. In my opinion, the black coloured uniform should be done away with. The current blue ones being test run by the 'ogas' looks better. However, this should not be adopted until the above are done because I do not believe in painting the house when the insides are still as filthy as a sty. Also, he should learn with his new uniform to dress smartly. Nice shirts, nice trousers and proper black shoes not tattered clothes and bathroom slippers like some of them wear these days.

proudly9ja:

Mr Kenny Martins started an enviable project some years ago tagged the Police Equipment Fund which by now we all know should have been tagged Police Syphoning Funds as the man and all those concerned have shown their true colours. However, what I have learnt from the ''initiative'' is that people are willing to contribute to the growth of the Nigerian Police and when I say people, I mean private indivisuals and organisations. The PEF people raised 100s of millions of naira which if well implemented would have changed the face of the Nigerian police.

What we need is proper training. The Nigerian policeman like his colleague in every government parastatal is ill trained to handle situations he faces everyday and thats why he relies on his gun to solve every problem. A well trained policeman would know that his weapon is his last resort. He would know how to use his greatest weapon ie his mind to arrest situations and thus take charge.

Communication is also very important. How fast he can get back up when he is in trouble or call in to report situations will determine how confident he will be in the face of adversity. Walkie talkies, mobile phones, etc are minimum communication gadgets a policeman should have.

Insurance. When he dies or is incapacitated, an average policeman should be certain that his family will be taken care of. That they would not be kicked out of the police barracks nor would his wife have to wait on long queues for his entitlements to be paid.

A new image. If the above are done then the Nigerian policeman should be given a new image. In my opinion, the black coloured uniform should be done away with. The current blue ones being test run by the 'ogas' looks better. However, this should not be adopted until the above are done because I do not believe in painting the house when the insides are still as filthy as a sty. Also, he should learn with his new uniform to dress smartly. Nice shirts, nice trousers and proper black shoes not tattered clothes and bathroom slippers like some of them wear these days.

The part in bold is not completely true and a tad simplistic, there was more to it than "the police equipment fund was for siphoning money". The project started promising and seemed genuine till it was hijacked by Kenny Martins. Kenny Martins did not start the Police Equipment Fund initiative, he simply hijacked it when he was invited to join and the original instigators tried sueing him. Read a really interesting and insightful article a while ago that plotted the rise and fall of the police equipment fund. There was more to it.

@poster, was trying to avoid this topic because making a list seems like an easy thing to do, what seems lacking in the list like someone rightly alluded to was were all the money would come from. I don't get goosebumps when politicians promise heaven on earth, what inspires confidence is when such people who make promises (like politicians do with regards to development) can show a well thought out plan which includes where funding is going to come from, how things are going to be executed etc. Anyone can write, "ban corrupt elements", however, how would such be actualised? Raise allowances using what money? Sorry but a list like the one posted does not seem like a plan to begin with.

@ Sky, tbh, I don't know the origins of the PEF issue all I know is that the people in charge used it in syphoning money and if I may add, all these Kenny Martins did this, that person did that is the same old tale if you ask me. We have heard it before and we will prolly hear it again. I don't even try to remove anyone from blame when it comes to corruption in Naija. Dey all have a way of passing the buck when the long arm of the law catches up.

There have been numerous proposals before this. Have any of those been implemented so far??

I can understand where most are coming from. Do we however give up due to similar projects in the past that have been nothing but a scam?

Well, the problem I see is that we are good at PROPOSING NEW SOLUTIONS to the same old problems, little implementation going on. I have read threads on here for years now on proposals to fix the Police force but so far, it seems no committee out there working to ensure these proposals at least get implemented at some point.

You can only keep on trying. One just has to hope they have found out what went wrong in their prior attempts.

Like many other things our Policing System suffers from over-centralization, sole reliance on hardware, and disregard for the people's wish. We need to restructure the system into a multi-level system with well-defined boundaries, interfaces and lines of authority - Village/Town/City, State, Federal. We need a system of measuring performance, then we can move on to good pay, appropriate equipment and all the rest.

All the items on the reform agenda except the first is realisable for now. Others are seriously handicapped by the same nigerian corrupt mentality which will only be realisable when Nigeria is completely rebranded.

Our record keeping attitude is marred by corruption. If you have a criminal case and you have a powerful godfather, the file will miss overnight. Or if you have the wherewithal to bribe your way through, the case file will evaporate faster than water vapour. Come to think of it, with all the witch-hunting of junior officers by senior officers for no just cause, can they be justice in such cases? As for the outdated weapons, What was the police equipment fund supposed to cater for? And where is the fund now? Did I hear somebody suggest that persons joining the PF be properly scrutinized? Let me laugh first. . For your information, I can categorically state that more than 85% of persons admitted into the force these days are through godfathers, in which case it is automatic admission irrespective of how crooked the records may be.

As far as I know nigerians, it is only the committee for the implementation of the reform that will enjoy because they will collect fat allowances while the problems will remain. The problems will continue to stare us in the face untill our leaders rebrand themselves.