*The Dangers of Establishing State Police in Nigeria Under Current Governance Conditions*

By
*Umar Ardo, Ph.D*

The proposal to establish State Police in Nigeria has sparked a contentious debate due to the concerns surrounding the persisting abuse of power by state governors. While the concept of State Police aims at enhancing security and law enforcement at the state level may seem plausible, however, the existing governance challenges and abuse of authority raise significant apprehensions about the potential consequences of entrusting state governors with coercive powers through State Police forces. Besides, in all the arguments for the establishment of State Police, there is not a single point where it is shown how the absence of State Police is responsible for breeding insecurity and how its establishment would solve the problem. It is therefore important to rethink the idea of establishing State Police in Nigeria in the bid to address the current security situation.

One of the primary arguments against the establishment of State Police in Nigeria pertains to the chronic abuse of power by state governors. The mismanagement of state resources, widespread corruption, and the manipulation of the state electoral commission in our Local Government elections for political gains are prevalent issues that have eroded trust in our state governance system. The consistent pattern of election rigging and the imposition of one-party rule at the local government level underscore the extent of authoritarian tendencies exhibited by all state governors in the country.

Granting state governors control over State Police forces in the current political climate, therefore, poses a grave risk to democracy and the electoral process in Nigeria. The history of state governors stifling democratic elections at the grassroots level and silencing opposition voices represent a clear warning sign of the potential repercussions of consolidating coercive powers in the hands of a few political elites. Allowing state governors to wield State Police authority could lead to the further erosion of democratic principles, free and fair elections, and the stifling of political dissent.

The decentralization of policing authority under state governors raises fundamental concerns about the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the independence of the judiciary. By empowering state governors with State Police forces, there is a real danger of executive overreach, abuse of power, and the subversion of constitutional safeguards. The concentration of coercive power in the hands of political actors who have a history of undermining democratic institutions could have far-reaching implications for the rule of law and accountability in Nigeria.

Also, very importantly, the discourse on the establishment of State Police in Nigeria has proponents advocating for enhanced security and decentralization of law enforcement. However, a critical analysis reveals a conspicuous absence of concrete evidence linking the absence of State Police to the country's security challenges. My argument hence aims to deconstruct the prevailing narrative and advocate against the establishment of State Police based on the lack of substantive justification for its necessity in addressing insecurity in Nigeria.

The key point to note therefore is the complete absence of any causal link between the prevailing security challenges and State Police. This is a central flaw in the argument for establishing State Police in Nigeria. Peruse all the arguments of the proponents and a point of note is the failure to establish a clear causal relationship between the absence of State Police and the country's security threats. Proponents often assert that State Police would enhance security and improve law enforcement, yet little empirical evidence or data is presented to demonstrate how the current centralized policing structure is the root cause of insecurity. Without a compelling case linking the absence of State Police to the proliferation of insurgency, banditry, crime and violence, the urgency for its establishment is obviously called into question.

Also, another critical lacuna in the discourse surrounding the establishment of State Police is the reliance on unsubstantiated assumptions about its efficacy in addressing security challenges. Advocates frequently argue that State Police would be more responsive to local needs, improve intelligence gathering, and enhance community policing efforts. However, these assertions are often speculative and lack empirical validation. The mere act of decentralizing law enforcement does not inherently guarantee improved security outcomes unless accompanied by comprehensive reforms, capacity building, and accountability mechanisms.

Furthermore, the exclusive focus on the establishment of State Police as a panacea for Nigeria's security woes overlooks the systemic challenges and structural impediments that undermine effective policing. Issues such as corruption, lack of training, inadequate resources, politicization of law enforcement agencies and weak coordination between security forces represent significant barriers to achieving sustainable security outcomes. Merely creating State Police without addressing these underlying issues is akin to applying a superficial solution to a complex and multifaceted problem.

Hence, rather than rushing to establish State Police under the guise of addressing insecurity, it is essential to explore alternative approaches that can yield more sustainable and effective results. Strengthening and expanding existing federal law enforcement agencies, investing in training and capacity building, enhancing intelligence sharing mechanisms, promoting community engagement and improving good governance and rule of law at all governmental levels are critical components of a comprehensive security strategy. These measures address the root causes of insecurity and foster a holistic approach to law enforcement that transcends mere structural reorganization.

My argument against the establishment of State Police in Nigeria, therefore, hinges on the critical examination of the security fallacy perpetuated in the discourse surrounding its necessity. The absence of a clear causal link between security challenges and the need for State Police, coupled with unsubstantiated assumptions of its efficacy, underscores the imperative for a more nuanced and evidence-based approach to security reform. By reframing the debate to focus on addressing structural impediments, enhancing existing law enforcement capabilities, and adopting comprehensive security strategies, Nigeria can adopt a more pragmatic and effective approach to enhancing security and promoting the rule of law.

In light of the aforementioned, therefore, it is imperative for all stakeholders, including President Bola Tinubu and advocates of democracy, to oppose the establishment of State Police under the current governance conditions in Nigeria. The potential consequences of granting state governors unchecked coercive powers are dire and could undermine the foundations of democracy, pluralism, and political participation. Instead of reinforcing authoritarian tendencies, efforts should be focused on strengthening existing institutions, promoting transparency and upholding the rule of law to safeguard democracy in Nigeria.

Undoubtedly , the establishment of State Police in Nigeria under the prevailing governance circumstances characterized by abuse of power and authoritarian governance poses significant threats to democracy, opposition, and the rule of law. The historical misuse of constitutional powers by state governors and the erosion of democratic principles at the local government level serve as cautionary tales against further decentralizing coercive authority. It is essential to prioritize institutional reforms, accountability mechanisms, and respect for democratic norms rather than risking the consolidation of power in the hands of a few political elites through State Police forces. Protecting democracy in Nigeria requires vigilance, advocacy for good governance and a steadfast commitment to upholding constitutional principles that safeguard the rights and liberties of all citizens.
https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.nationalaccordnewspaper.com/the-dangers-of-establishing-state-police-in-nigeria-under-current-governance-conditions-by-umar-ardo-ph-d/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjb9IWA4NmFAxUXiP0HHazgBGUQFnoECAQQAg&usg=AOvVaw3npRqsnco_tdSoaGwSPN1H

Israel knows the consequences of an all out war with Iran. This purported attack on Iran is just for domestic consumption.

What does 'declears' mean?

All I know is that the government exists for the people.
Anywhere in the world making sure no citizen goes hungry is considered as a most.

lexy2014:


can you show where it is in the constitution that it is the duty of government to do what will make the citizens happy?

which is better, providing food for fasting and subsidy for hajj or improving standard of living so that people can afford to live the lives they want?

does the constitution provide for providing food for fasting?

I'll not give my children snake if they request but but I'll not complain if the children make such request and the parents oblige them. I have seen parents who taught their children how to rear snakes. If it makes them it is none of my business.

GenFunction:
So if ur child requests for a snake u go give am?

I'm not supporting embezzling money in whatever name. My response is to the person who wants to derail the threat by bringing in issues of sponsorship of hajj and feeding the poor during the Ramadan.

Racoon:
Embezzling government money in the name of religion? Stealing in God's name? UAE, Saudi Arabia didn't developed that way.

There is always those who do not benifit from government spending. Government builds schools, hospitals, roads etc but it is not everybody that benefits from them.

SULBELL:


But that will be sentimental and unproductive, so what happen to those who will not get the Ramadan food, or in this case where the fund is embezzled by one person?. is it only during Ramadan that people need food?
Then what is the business of Government sponsoring or subsidizing people to hajj which is a private tourist visit when there are many poor and unfed citizen

emkz:
One of the greatest anomalies in northern Nigeria is the misappropriation of resources on matters that have no developmental value to those states, for example:

(1) Ramadan feeding
(2) Hajj subsidy and outright payment
(3) Mass weddings.

Internally generated revenue in some of the states doing these things are extremely poor. They include: Sokoto, Kebbi, Jigawa, and Kano. The quality of life of the population is also disturbing, yet they invest in things that cannot improve the lives of their citizens. For example, do all these states have good drinking water? Are their citizens gainfully employed? Are their children in school? Is infrastructure in top shape?

Okay, the funds allocated for Ramadan feeding: are the included in the budget? If not, how will the funds be accounted for? After Ramadan, will the people not eat again? Is it the responsibility of state governments to feed citizens during Ramadan? Do the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia feed their citizens with public funds during Ramadan?

Then to the issue of Hajj sponsorship: when the sponsored return from Hajj, would they return to an eldorado state of affairs or they return to an endemic poor state of affairs?

Northern governors must separate personal spiritual pursuits from public funds. Public funds belong to the public and should be geared towards public good and not fund people's private spiritual pursuits.

As for the Jigawa State Commissioner for Commerce suspended for alleged mismanagement of iftar feeding programme funds, I think the state government and entire cabinet ought to suspend themselves too for misappropriation of public funds to a feeding programme unknown to the state's appropriation bill.

It is the duty of government to do what will make the citizens happy, so if they are happy when a government provides food for those fasting and subsidy for hajj that's none of your business.

So Tiv and Kanuri who have only one state each are larger than Fulani who either the largest tribe in most Northern states or are second in states where they are not the largest tribe? Continue.

May Allah bless us with the blessings of the month of Ramadan.

This is a great achievement. Congratulations to her.

Better.

The list is not complete without African Thinkers Community of Enquiry campus Operating in Ganye Adamawa State. It is said to be affiliated to Enugu State University of Science and Technology. It operates in a secondary school.

Israel has succeeded in killing Hamas leaders but its terrorist acts will ensure another leaders, even more ferocious, will emerge. They are left with no option but to continue fighting even it means dead.

Any measure taken must ensure fairness and justice to all. Anything short of this won't stop the cycle of violence.

Anyone who knows some history of the Igbos knows that the Igbos have no kings prior to the introduction of the warrant chiefs by the Colonia masters. The Igbos vehemently rejected the the creation of the warrant chiefs. Historical sources and literature about the Igbos all suggest that the 'kingship' is alien to the Igbo therefore your attempt to rewrite history fails.

Abagworo:
All these illiterates like Reno need to stop writing in ignorance. Igbos had Kings on town levels even before the origin of England. The White man's understanding of Kingship was imperialist not clannish. Benin was an ethnic group with one King just like Itsekiri but the Igbos , Urhobos, Ijaws, Ibibios, Yorubas, Esans and other tribes had no central King but leaders of Hamlets known as Obi, Eze, Igwe, etc . During expansion of Benin from a Kingdom to Empire many of those other tribes were either forced or voluntarily accepted sovereignty of the Oba over them and started paying tributes to Benin but it wasn't for long before the Benin Empire weakened and the Oba lost his relevance in areas outside Benin proper .


Igboland is diverse from clan to clan, town to town and village to village unlike the tiny Itsekiri where he comes from. Ngwa alone is bigger than Itsekiri and same size as Benin ethnic group. Igbos believe in "live and let live" so nobody forced other people to speak their dialect or pay tribute to his tribe as King of all Igbos. Onitsha was just King of Onitsha, Aboh was just King of Aboh, Agbor was just King of Agbor, Abiriba was just King of Abiriba, Aro was just King of Aro, Nri was just King of Nri etc. Aro King never lorded over Ohafia and Abam despite thembeing involved in business together. Finally the Igbos raided by Benin,Ijaw and Itsekiri were the Delta State Igbos not Southeast. They had more Yoruba sold to slavery than Igbos but Reno in his illiteracy was trying to restrict Igboland to Onitsha while also stupidly saying his ancestors sold Igbos. The Southeast slave trade was done by the Aros in connivance with the Ohafias and Abams who are all Igbo tribes. The so called Ijaws in Rivers State are a blend of Aros, Abams, Ohafias, Ijaw tribes and their assimilated Isoama Igbo that ended up not being sold into slavery .

A Child rights advocacy group in Bayelsa, DO Foundation, on Thursday, kicked against the Dec. 26, traditional marriage between a 4-year-old ‘bride’ and a 54- year- old man at Akeddei community in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.

DO Foundation, in a statement availed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa, described the marriage as illegal, criminal and a child marriage which is against the constitution and the Child Rights Act.

The statement was signed by Mr Elvis Mannie, Bayelsa Chairperson of DO Foundation.

The foundation condemned the child marriage as horrendous, despicable, and a criminal activity.

According to the civil society group, the act is capable of retarding the giant strides made by the government and people of Bayelsa in the area of protection of child rights.”

DO foundation noted that the Child’s Right Law was domesticated in the state in 2016 and is still in force in Bayelsa.

”This law criminalises child marriages and child betrothals prescribing various terms of imprisonment and heavy fines,” the foundation noted.

The foundation called on the Bayelsa government, the Gender Response Initiative Team and all stakeholders in the gender response system to immediately swing into action to respond appropriately.

It urged the security agencies to launch a thorough investigation into the incident, with a view to the protection of the child from sexual exploitation.

The group also demanded the arrest and prosecution of all persons found culpable in this despicable act.

The foundation has launched an investigation into the development aimed at saving the child from the obnoxious situation.

NAN learnt that the marriage between the four-year-old ‘bride’ and the 54-year-old man, simply identified as Elder Akpos, was at the instance of the girl’s parents.

According to a source who does not wish to be named for fear of penalty for desecrating traditions, the parents of the girl claim that the 54-year-old man was her husband in their previous life.

According to community sources, the girl claimed that the man was her husband who died mysteriously in their previous life.

The toddler narrated that over the years, she has been moving from place to place, to be given birth to by different parents, searching for her former husband.

The source said: ”The little bride said if she was not allowed to marry her husband, she would have no other business in Akeddei community, and that she was going to die peacefully and go her way.

“In order to avoid losing the girl to death, the people of Akeddei decided to organise a glamorous wedding ceremony to mark the union of the two previous life lovers.”

https://sahelreporters.com/2023/12/29/foundation-kicks-against-as-54-year-old-man-marries-4-year-old-girl-in-bayelsa/

I'm not one of those who are foolishly brainwashed into believing that a certain race is blessedly by God to commit any atrocity it wants. So because Jews are the God's chosen one they shouldn't be condemned when they bomb hospitals, schools, residential buildings, journalists, UN staff to kill women, children and innocent unarmed civilians?

Idiko1:


Those who tiptoe around the truth are merchants of war!!!! The above post is stereotypical crap informed by Arab's propaganda.

Gainman:
Why not discuss on the killings of innocent people in d north.

Who stops you from discussing killings of innocent civilians in the north?

Condemnation of atrocities being committed by the isareli state is not wrong at all. We cannot keep mute when the state of Israel attacks children, women, hospitals, schools, residential buildings.

This clearly illustrates the way Israel has been waging its murderous war on the Palastinian civilians. If it can kill armless Hebrew speaking Israelis waving white flags you can only guess what they do to Palastinians civilians.

N66,000 Lagos - Abuja.

MrDoGood:
Those na regular stories.

My question is

How much is their air fare?

My problem with the man is not that he supported Obi but his believe that Obi who came a distant third won the last presidential election. How can a man who believes that Obi won the last presidential election be unbiased in his assessment?

Continue deluding yourself that Obi who came a distant third won the election. How is Obi the most popular politian in Nigeria? If Obi continues to play the kind of politics he played in the last election his electoral fortunes will continue to dwindle as most of his myopic fanatical supporters will come to realize the futility of following him.

Cowards are the people who bombed hospitals, schools, homes, refugee camps, journalists and other innocent people from the air.

Dexy4yah:
Cowards that have no regards for human live....they are now clamouring for cease fire so that they can get more weapon from Iran to there rat holes


If not for the innocent civilians....the name Hamas would have since be forgotten

Exactly. It was most of the times the gangs killing people and Orthom deliberately accuse the Fulani for mischievous reasons.

Isobug:
Hmmm...Is this a movie? The names mentioned sounds like film makers.

Con men .....if this is real then I have to believe that they are the ones killing themselves since and not Fulani because how can these type of people/gangs be there in Benue state and Fulanis want to finish them, the story dey one kind naa. It means they have been the bandits all these white.

Meanwhile, the Police will see this kind of news and look elsewhere

The piece by Mr Kperogi forgot that the North is made up of three geopolitical zones and that not every northerner is Hausa or Fulani. Limping the three northern zones into one and treating the three zones of the south as one makes his analysis flawed.
If one criticised Buhari for lopsidedness of his appointments it is also fair to ctistise Tinubu for the same. Are Tinubu's appointments balanced? Definitely not. If Tinubu's appointments are not balanced and fairly distributed what is wrong in pointing out that?

Natanyahu is unrealistic in his demands as there is no way he can get the hostages back with force without endangering their lives. Hamas definitely will not release the hostages without Israel stopping the bombardment and releasing Palestinian hostages held by Israel.
He can bomb Gaza and put troops in Gaza but the hatred these creates guarantees that the another generation of Palestinian freedom fighters more determined than Hamas to sustain the fight for their freedom is created.
Russia invaded Afghanistan committed all sorts of atrocities but in the end it was chased out of Afghanistan. The same with America's invassion of Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam and Syria ending with the Americans incurring huge loss of manpower and equipment and in the end they have to fled.

Sensationalism at its peak. I didn't see where it is stated that an Iranian court sentenced him to 99 lashes.

I hold the same opinion. The objective of exposing young Nigerians to other parts of the country since been defeated because all the corpers are posted to serve in their zones.

Both Fintiri and Binani are Muslims and they both got support across both faiths. Every unbiased mind knows that Fintiri has won the election and the kano and Adamawa circumstances are quite different.

Bala Ngilari owns Muna hotel in Yola and the hotel is worth much more tgan one billion Naira.