Although Section 14 (2b) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as amended proclaims “security and welfare of the people” as the primary purpose of government, the reality of everyday life in the country is quite different. The definitive constitutional assertion notwithstanding, the impunity with which criminals, outlaws and marauders undermine public peace in Nigeria has reached an alarming proportion. Long gone are distant memories of the years when Nigerians could travel and traverse different parts of their vast country without fear of being killed or kidnapped. Also forgotten are the times when communal conflicts could be resolved through dialogue and mediation.
As things stand today, criminal subversion of the State and its authority has become the new normal. In the broader society, the slightest grievance is no longer resolved through dialogue and dispute resolution. Minor disagreements in communities now frequently lead to breakdown of law and order. Nigeria is now known to be a disorderly country where there is little or no respect for the rule of law. Readily, groups and individuals are quick to resort to criminality and self-help. This approach, wherein the rule of law is kept in abeyance has left a sad tale of sorrows, tears and blood.
As a result, it has become the Nigerian norm for resolvable disagreements within communities to degenerate into violent flare-ups that claim lives and property. All these anomalies have led some to the conclusion that fundamentally, Nigeria faces a law-and-order problem. This assertion appears to be justified by the sheer number of violent attacks, leading in many cases to losses in lives and limb. Obviously, this high level of violent crimes has had the effect of undermining public confidence in the criminal justice system. In the face of these challenges, many powerless citizens have resorted to fatalistic notions that it is only God that can apprehend those whose evil mission against the people of the country, is to kill, steal and destroy. Unfortunately, the moment citizens develop the mindset that the State lacks the political will and capacity to bring criminals of shades to justice, the resort to self-help becomes much more prevalent.
This clear and present danger has manifested in the regularity of recent attacks across Nigerian cities. On March 16, a suspected suicide bombing in Maiduguri, Borno State, Northeast Nigeria claimed the lives of at least 23 people and injured over 108. The attack was described by security analysts as a pointer to an escalation in violence in an area, which has for years emerged as the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency. The bombing, blamed on Boko Haram, targeted crowded areas including a post office, the Monday market and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. Similarly, on March 30, suspected terrorists attacked a wedding ceremony in Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria; 13 lives were reportedly lost. Yet another violent attack was recorded on Palm Sunday in Angwa Rukuba, in Jos, Plateau State, Northcentral Nigeria. At least 26 people are reported to have lost their lives when a religious gathering was reportedly attacked on March 27. Despite the intervention of the state government, which imposed a curfew, tensions remain high with warnings indicating possible reprisals against perceived perpetrators.
In the suburban area of Mararaba, Nasarawa State, Northcentral Nigeria, reports of a reprisal attack over a minor dispute led to three deaths and the torching of several buildings and business premises. In all of these incidents, one commonality is the slow and ponderous response of the security forces. The police and other branches of the armed forces supporting them only arrived when human lives had been wasted. This slow response time has led to intense scrutiny of Nigeria’s current security architecture after every cycle of violence. Part of the argument therefore is that Nigeria’s current centralised policing architecture is no longer fit for the purpose of deterring and responding to the nature of insecurity confronting communities. The diagnosis is that thinly policed rural and suburban areas have become soft targets for all shades of armed criminals. The logic of this critique is that Nigeria needs to evolve a smarter, proactive and efficient security architecture, which is capable of working with communities to respond to threats in real time.
It is in this context that the conversation about the creation of state police has gained traction. No serious country should watch helplessly and offer endless condolences when criminal and terrorists relentlessly undermine the sanctity of life. As such, any shape of reform required to bolster the State’s capacity to decisively address internal threats, should be speedily undertaken. With almost three years of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s four-year term gone, Nigerians can only hope that the political will and energy is still available to push through the idea of State police.
Nigeria is currently involved in a security cooperation with the United States to stop the repeated attacks on communities. Given the scale of insecurity in the country, the police and wider security sector reform should have been the topmost priority when the administration came on board in 2023. Nonetheless, in this situation where it is better late than never, the case for State Police sounds compelling. The broad proposal suggests that while the federal police will maintain pre-eminence in terms of hierarchy and command, State Police will be able to respond to local challenges quicker. At the heart of the reform is the urgent need to change the current model wherein instructions and command will have to be awaited thousands of miles from where a security situation is developing.
Already, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu has submitted the framework for the implementation of state Police to the National Assembly. Apparently, various constitutional and administrative tweaks are required to ensure the right legal and administrative frameworks and architecture for State Police. As this reform process gets underway, it is critical not to replicate the same problems facing the central police in the new architecture. The issues of funding, command, control and preventing the abuse of the police by powerful political and economic interests at the sub-national level, have to be addressed. The reform process requires transparency, citizens’ inputs and oversight. Beyond the current top-down model, there should be serious consultation at the community level to get the inputs of the people at the grassroots. Nigerians, especially those in communities, who have borne the brunt of mass shootings and killings by terrorists would have useful information to help the reform process to be effective.
Importantly, the reform process requires a quick timeline. The reality is that time is not on our side as a country. The terrorists, bandits and other outlaws who have made it their mission to violently cut short the lives and destroy the property of Nigerians, are not relenting. For Nigerians, the situation has reached a tipping point. Insecurity is the Achilles heel of the Nigerian State. The State therefore has to move quickly to reassure citizens that it is not shirking its responsibility in line with the social contract. In the reform process, speed, effectiveness and sustainability are critical to reaffirming the notion that the people’s security and welfare remains government’s raison d’etre.
