Presidency Okays the Establishment of State Police

Yesterday the 3rd of June 2019, the News Agency of Nigeria, and the Vanguard Newspaper, carried headlines which categorically stated that President Buhari had Okayed recommendations to establish a state and Local government police in Nigeria.

Vanguard went into further details, stating that the presidency had accepted the recommendations of the Presidential Panel on the Reform of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, to set up state and local government police in Nigeria.

Presidency did not Okay the Establishment of State Police in Nigeria

A few hours after this news was published, a completely opposite headline was again published on the Vanguard to counter the news. The headline read: ‘Breaking: Buhari hasn’t approved State Police-Presidency’. They claim that what the presidency did instead, was leave specific directives that a three-man panel be set up to produce the white paper which would then form the foundation of government decision on the issue.

So why the initial confusion? Is this just a case of miscommunication and misinformation or is there another government conspiracy going on right under our noses.

What Does President Buhari Think about State Police in Nigeria?

The president has always made it abundantly clear that he does not believe in the establishment of state and LG police. He has repeatedly said that a majority of the states cannot pay workers’ salaries, so how do you justify making the states, who are too poor to even pay their workers, also take up the responsibility of paying the police. He has also asked that we imagine what would happen if you give a man a uniform and a gun, and cannot feed him. I’d say, the uniformed man, would take his gun out on the streets and look for ways to feed himself. But haven’t the members of the Nigerian police from as far back as we can remember, always been out on the street with guns looking for ways to fend for themselves.

So could there be other reasons why the presidency is so vehemently against the creation of state police. Consider the fact that presently, all policemen, all over the country, answer to the presidency. Which means the presidency gets to give the ultimate order when it comes to police affairs. This is a lot of power, which may not be easy to relinquish. But let’s hold this thought while we take a look at what the vice president thinks about all this.

What Does Vice President Osibanjo Think about State Police in Nigeria?

Remember the one time during the campaign for the April 2019 elections, when vice president Osibanjo, openly disagreed with Buhari on the issue of state police. This however did not come as a surprise as the entire country already knows that the president and his vice president have always had very divergent political views. They are two people with very conflicting belief systems who came together for no other reason than the political convenience. The vice president has always been a longstanding advocate of state police and, it is an open secret that Mr. Osibanjo finds the existing federally-structured police system fundamentally ineffective.

“I have argued in favour of State Police, for the simple reason that policing is a local function,” Mr Osinbajo once said to his political opponent during a debate. “You simply cannot effectively police Nigeria from Abuja.”

What a coincidence that the state police got approved as soon as the president left the country for Saudi Arabia for the 14th session of the Summit Conference of the OIC, when his VP, who has always been vocal about his support for the state police temporarily took over leadership of the country. Of course the news was reversed a few hours later, with the presidency stating, “President Buhari’s specific directive is that a three-man panel be set up to produce the white paper.” In other words, it doesn’t matter what Osibanjo thinks, the president is not ready to relinquish his hold on the country’s policing, and only wants to have everyone once again beating about the bush, until the issue is forgotten.

Possible Government Conspiracies Surrounding the State Police