SOURCE - Let me begin with a confession: For a very long time, I was the poster child for all forms of optimism about Nigeria, often in extreme measures. I was the one who refused to move abroad when my brothers did so. I was the one who turned down two opportunities to do postgraduate studies abroad, believing that my mission in life can be fulfilled here and I’d rather do my PG studies here. Rallies, protests etc have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Of course I knew we had many issues we were not paying attention to, nonetheless, I was sure we would pull through somehow. I’m no longer that person; I no longer believe that Nigeria will be great anytime soon.
In recent times, I have begun paying a little more attention to how countries achieve greatness. It’s been an eye-opener in many ways, and I have
come to the conclusion that, with our current form of governance, policy direction and overall leadership, greatness will elude us for a while to come. I have since discovered that success never just happens; true success is never a fluke. Nations achieve greatness because they work hard at it over a long period. It is actually very simple. In this series, I shall be looking at aspects of our national life that I believe is responsible for our inability to achieve greatness. Let us begin with the Nigerian Police Force.
come to the conclusion that, with our current form of governance, policy direction and overall leadership, greatness will elude us for a while to come. I have since discovered that success never just happens; true success is never a fluke. Nations achieve greatness because they work hard at it over a long period. It is actually very simple. In this series, I shall be looking at aspects of our national life that I believe is responsible for our inability to achieve greatness. Let us begin with the Nigerian Police Force.
For around N12, 000 a day, you can hire a Nigerian policeman to drive you around town, wash your car, pick up your kids from school, stand at the door at an event, beat up someone you don’t like, arrest someone you think may have taken something that belongs to you but you are not sure, guard you at an event, stand behind you while you and your friends have a couple of drinks, help you pick up a prostitute (or two), stand in front of your gate and send away people you don’t want to see, travel with you while you carry contraband so his colleagues don’t stop you, and so much more. Basically, the list of what’s possible with a Nigerian policeman is endless. So, ‘what has this got to do with a country’s greatness?‘ you are probably wondering at this point. Well, in my opinion, any country that is serious about greatness must have a police force that is respected by all and aided to do its constitutional duties to the best of its abilities.
We often talk about corruption in the Nigerian Police Force, and until the recent directive by the new Inspector General of Police that all roadblocks should be removed across the country, the shameless armed robbery carried out by men and women of the NPF on our roads daily visually represented how unabashedly corruption thrives with a force that should be at the forefront of tackling it. Beyond being corrupt, the NPF is also largely incompetent. Scores of murders populate our history and I cannot remember the last time a major one was solved. Oh yes, that has political implications, but it is also because the NPF has for so long been a tool for the truncation of justice.
Beyond corruption and incompetence, however, the Nigerian policeman is an object of ridicule, and no nation serious about greatness can afford a police force that is corrupt, incompetent and above all, an object of ridicule. Taking off roadblocks and changing uniforms may be good ideas, but the issues are way beyond these minor distractions. The average Nigerian policeman is a policeman because there’s nothing else for him/her to do. He/she is uneducated and has not been properly trained. He/she is ill-equipped for the job at hand. His/her pay is poor and risk is high. In the hands of these uneducated, untrained, poorly-equipped, poorly-paid people, we place the security of lives and properties of the citizenry. Is there a better set up for anarchy?
Accuse me of over-the-top pessimism, call me unpatriotic and infer that I am faithless; but please don’t tell me that the handwriting is not on the wall, that somehow we shall be able to achieve greatness as a country with the kind of police force we currently have. Change will take a long time, and we have not even started. Optimism is a commodity I cannot afford at this point.
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