“…It is the position of our party, that you cannot police a country of this size, with a police command that functions out of Abuja. It is just impossible, we must have a state police, community police.”
BY SHOLA OSHUNKEYE
The Federal Government may have, at last, agreed that the creation of state police is a necessary condition for dealing with the spiralling security challenges facing the nation.
Delivering a keynote address at the third anniversary of the 8th Assembly of the Lagos State House of Assembly, on Friday, in Lagos, the vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, took a critical look at the endless herders/farmers clashes in the Plateau Basin, as well as several parts of the North, and concluded that the only way to stop the mindless killings is the creation of state police.
Since the return of democracy in 1999, there has been loud clamour for the creation of state police to tackle some of the country’s security challenges. But successive administrations, from President Olusegun Obasanjo’s, had turned deaf ears to the strident calls.
Only last week, Amnesty International announced that at least 1,813 people have been murdered in 17 of the nation’s 36 states since January 2018, a figure that, it added, doubled the 894 people killed in 2017. Making that disclosure, Amnesty said the figure was “independently verified” from various sources. The organisation further stated that the staggering death tolls reflected killings from farmers-herders clashes, communal conflicts, Boko Haram attacks, as well as armed banditry.
“The authorities have a responsibility to protect lives and properties, but they are clearly not doing enough going by what is happening,” said Osai Ojigho, Director, Amnesty International Nigeria. “The latest incident in Plateau State, where armed gunmen attacked 11 villages on 23 June for at least seven hours and killed at least 200 villagers without intervention from security forces should be investigated.”
In the past, the Buhari Administration had been quick in rubbishing reports on insecurity and human rights abuses by Amnesty International, urging citizens, critical stakeholders in the Nigerian enterprise, as well as the international community, to take them with a pinch of salt.
But going by Osinbajo’s address in Lagos, on Friday, the government may have agreed that the country is truly under policed; and a crucial solution to the senseless killings needs to be found, speedily. And the core of that crucial intervention would be the establishment of state police.
“Some of what we have seen in many parts of the country, where we have had herdsmen killings and clashes with farmers, and the slow responses of the security agencies, have been on account of the fact that local policing is weak,” Osinbajo said frankly. “If you look at the Logo Local Government Area in Benue State, it is on the border and far away, the number of policemen stationed there, and several other local governments, are far too small to contain the sort of challenges that they have there. We must have Special Forces and Joint Task Forces, in order to maintain peace.”
“But how is that possible in several local governments across the country?” the Vice President asked. Nigeria has 774 local government areas.
He proffered the answer: “The only solution we can proffer, therefore, is some form of local policing so that the state can decide, how many policemen, how many security agencies are required. That is the way by which we can have enduring solutions.”
“…Policing is always a local function. Anyone who is a police man must be able to speak and understand the local language. If a police man doesn’t understand the local language, he stands at a major disadvantage. This is why state or local policing is important as part of our security architecture.”
Earlier, Osinbajo had underscored the nexus between insecurity and national development. It’s practically impossible to have unhindered commercial activity or satisfactory social activity in an atmosphere of chaos, or in a situation where government was unable to guarantee security, the VP said. But in guaranteeing security, he emphasised, the role of the federal government, state governments and the state judiciary, are crucial.
In all of these, Osinbajo continued, “The Federal Government has the overarching role of ensuring that the Police works, the Army is doing their job, and other security agencies are doing their work.
“But we have argued repeatedly, and we believe it is the position of our party, that you cannot police a country of this size, with a police command that functions out of Abuja. It is just impossible, we must have a state police, community police. The reason why it is so obvious is that policing is always a local function. Anyone who is a police man must be able to speak and understand the local language. If a police man doesn’t understand the local language, he stands at a major disadvantage. This is why state or local policing is important as part of our security architecture.”
“The truth is that a combination of visionary leadership and strong autonomous states is a winning formula for economic development, and that is really as simple as it is”
Osinbajo, a Professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, also spoke on the imperativeness of devolution of power and making the states stronger. This has been a major advocacy championed by the progressives. But as it has been with the clamour for state police, no administration has given devolution of power serious thought. The Vice President, however, believed, that was the way to go.
First, he explained the concept of stronger states. “It means two things,” he said. “The first is what states must do for themselves. By that I mean the three arms of government, especially the executive and the legislature, working proactively and creatively as independent administrative and wealth producing economic entities.
“The second is the devolution of more power to the states, enabling the states to control more of their resources and make more of their own administrative decisions such as creation of Local Governments; the state and community police, including the state prisons; creation of special courts and tribunals of equivalent jurisdiction to high courts. The point I am making is that states must have more powers and more rights.”
He justified that position citing the phenomenal achievements that the Western Regional Government of Chief Obafemi Awolowo made in six short years. The Awolowo phenomenon, an archetype of discipline, focus, prudence and a resolute determination to leave worthy legacies, said the VP, illustrated “how the convergence of the two imperatives I have mentioned earlier can be used to transform the socio-economic destinies of millions.”
“He was Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria from 1954 to 1960,” Osinbajo continued. “The Western region is what today constitutes Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, parts of Kwara and Kogi, Edo and Delta, Lagos ( as far as Jibowu/ Ikeja, Agege).
“The six year period of the Awolowo government is often cited as one of the most progressive of any government in the developing world.
Some of the major accomplishments include a major agricultural revolution, government supporting and subsidizing cash crop production, using commodity exchanges to enhance agri-business, several farm settlements, several Agro-allied (concerns) and other industries including Oodua Textile Industries, Ado Ekiti, Okitipupa Oil Palm Mills, Oluwa Glass, Ifon Ceramics, and Ire Ekiti Brick Industry, as well as several industrial estates or parks, including the Ikeja industrial estate. A network of roads across the region. the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), the 26 Storey Cocoa House, Ibadan, Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Western Nigeria Television Authority (first of its kind in Africa, ahead of many European countries and certainly ahead of South Africa).
“But by far the most significant of these achievements is the Free Universal Primary Education. In 1952, when the scheme was proposed, 381,000 children were enrolled in school. By 1955 when the scheme took off, 811,432 children were enrolled and the numbers continued to grow.
“The government devoted as much as 41.2% of the 1958/59 recurrent budget to Education, at that time, one of the highest in the world. At the same time, the region nurtured a vibrant civil service and judicial system, which is widely acknowledged as a model, even today.
So, how were Awo’s phenomenal achievements possible? There was no oil revenue and no Federal revenue. In fact, the Western region gave revenue to the central government. How did they do it? Mostly taxes and revenues from agriculture, especially cocoa.
“Free education which was audaciously launched by the Awolowo government was directly on the back of income taxes. A capitation or poll tax was imposed by the Western region government mainly to fund free education, despite much opposition and protests. For those who follow his political history, Awolowo of course lost elections in the west on account of his insistence on free education. That kind of political courage is always difficult to find these days but that is the cost of leadership.
“The truth is that a combination of visionary leadership and strong autonomous states is a winning formula for economic development, and that is really as simple as it is. Awolowo was also a visionary leader but he also had an autonomous region behind him.”
Osinbajo spoke on other pressing issues bothering the nation in the nine-page address which Laolu Akande, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, circulated to media houses, including The Crest, on Saturday.
He spoke on education, health and poverty, assuring that the war against poverty was winnable but would require “the three arms of government, especially the executive and the legislature, working proactively and creatively as independent administrative and wealth producing economic entities.”