Thread by @busanga

The Nigerian Police urgently needs to be devolved. The police council as it is constituted today can effectively do it under a transition arrangement without requiring a constitutional amendment. It should be LG based and community not state governor controlled. It is not working

https://twitter.com/RotimiAkeredolu/status/1572894179151482881

Whether the video making rounds is true or not is mute. A unitary police system is a complete and utter failure. Only local police specific to the 774 LGAs of the nation, funded locally with additional block grants from FG and States can secure a diverse, federal union.

The easiest way to achieve this is for the Police Council made up of the 36 Governors, IG & President to set up community policing committees by gazette with stakeholder representation, & delegate the powers of police operational management & control to them- away from IGP.

Note that Section 216 already allows the Police Council to delegate its powers, and the power of supervision is one it should give to these local committees who can operate in the adhoc period to supervise policing at every LGA that can be co-founded by local stakeholders.

As it is today, the Police Council does not work. It hardly has meetings unless to rubber stamp the Presidential appointment of IGP. Since it is not exercising supervisory powers to the point where one of its members is complaining on Twitter, it is time to delegate for good.

As a matter of policy steps, it can direct by fiat that the Police Service Commission whose Chairman is also a member to cause that all ordinary policemen (mobile force can be maintained centrally) be posted to their LGA of origin. I think the impact will be immediate.

For one, we can immediately lose the barracks, since it is safe to assume that you’re returning home and this frees up serious landed asset for the police remaining mobile force and special units, as well as for the Trust Fund that can take over those barracks for commercial use.

Losing the barrack system also@imposes a mindset shift from an occupying force to one of a true local community policing force that must live among us. Even the bad guys now have to guess who is a police man and who is armed on our streets & neighborhood. #Safer

Transferring the supervision to a gazettes committee of stakeholders like community landlord association, traditional ruler, labor union, schools board representatives among others will also bring better accountability and will empower such committee to raise revenue for them.

Local security levies taxed to LG residents by these committees can be utilized for supplementing emoluments of devolved police force,buy them equipment including vehicle and arms, and enable every LGA build a police they think they deserve while guaranteeing base income from PSC

PSC will still maintain the hire and fire powers it has in the transition period, but will depend largely on feedback from these committees documenting its supervisory powers, & also demand for more recruitment based on their need and ability to pony up more levies to support it

Instead of race to the bottom, we can reverse the current situation and create a race to the top. It will also reinvigorate our local government system, and deliberately side step the danger of abuse by power drunk governors & fear of unknown by current officers. It is a win-win

Will there by problems in the process of devolution? You bet.Some LGAs will be clueless and lack capacity. A proactive plan by the Ministry of Police for capacity development & support of Intl Devt orgs can help. Phased roll out can also be a strategy to enable change be absorbed

Funds currently used centrally for procurement & being looted effectively can then be re-arranged as block grants on monthly basis to LGAs to support their policing system aside from the Feds being responsible for the basic pay and allowances via PSCs. Bingo we solve salary probs

The Federal system can also be simplified into an FBI like police system, that creates standards, enforce inter state laws & prosecute federal crimes while maintaining a strike mobile force & special units and being on standby to take over LG police if abused temporarily.

However, the benefit of a devolved police force with local oversight and federal inspection based on standards far outweighs the risks. Local police kitted uniquely by LGA will suddenly be better respected & integrated. DPOs will answer to local security committees & act better.

Governors will also stop giving excuse for security as they now can send their own block grants too and design a system to support LG committees that have actual supervisory oversight but does not answer to them operationally, but to their respective communities (LGAs).

Commissioners of the Federal Police will continue to be appointed by the PSC (should be Police Council if you ask me) & supervise the Federal Police Superstructure that can now be simplified into a merged EFCC, FRSC, Mobile Police & Special Units as well as clueless NSCDC.

Crimes investigated by local police led by DPOs can either be sent to State AG office if they’re state crimes or Federal AGF if federal crimes. The era of police giving excuse for not prosecuting crimes will be over, as they can focus on investigation & Feds can take over too.

We must note that there is no scarcity of uniformed forces in Nigeria today & that in fact, Nigeria is not under policed as opposed to the popular belief. We spot better police statistics than most advanced nations un.org/africarenewal/… They’re just badly utilized & structured

“Nigeria has more than 370,000 police officers and a police-to-citizen ratio of 1 to 400, which more than meets the UN’s recommended figure. Paradoxically, ..researchers at the University of Wales, Nigerian society “is over-policed and under-secured.”

Enough Said.

There is legislative work needed to be done to reverse this reality. First, the consolidation of plethora of remnant agencies after the core everyday @PoliceNG is devolved, into a coherent, renewed and rebranded Federal Policing Outfit will require out of box thinking.

I strongly recommend the @officialEFCC to be at the core of such consolidation, with its core already having some policing panache, and with a redefined outlook, it can easily become the face of the new Federal Investigative Bureau with the Mobile Force being its Marshal arm.

Second, some functions that current overburden the FGN like that of the @FRSCNigeria should be handed back to the state. Every state can produce their own plate, license & enforce traffic. Inter state highway patrol can be the work of new FRSC as a unit within the Fed Police.

Thirdly, with the mobile force & special counter terrorism units now free from identity crisis in the new federal policing system that will emerge at the end of a 5-7 years transition period, they can be better trained to tackle urgent terror & bandit crisis with resources freed.

Inevitably, this will enable our military to refocus on guarding the nation against external aggression & leave the turf on internal security to the police. Currently they’re over stretched & it is dangerous. Military shouldn’t be handling bandits & insurgents.That is police work

I cannot close those thread without speaking to what a permanent structure will look like after the transition period. I have to say it will still resemble this proposal. A Local Government, Local Community controlled policing system free from political manipulation.

Eventually, DPOs will emerge from local police system by merit and consideration of their Police & Security Committees recommending them to the Police Service Commission, ensuring a hybrid of local-central check & balance is maintained, while guaranteeing standards.

Governors that want their own security outfits should still be able to have it, but not until we install Legislative and Judicial autonomy at our state levels to check their current obscene powers. After all, as security officers they too will face unique state wide challenges.

One last note, we won’t truly be able to guarantee physical security also if we don’t establish good border controls and protection. The current confusion between the Customs & Immigration is confusing and need be rested. A Customs & Border Protection Force makes sense.

Above all things, we also need stronger Intelligence. The Department of State Security working with the new layered police structure should restore spying cells in every ward of Nigeria. No single cricket should croak without them hearing it. It is the basics.

@UnrollHelper unroll