A few authoritative voices are beginning to make the rest of us think again about the state police issue. Until a week or so ago, some of us had no objection to the establishment of state police in Nigeria. Our position was influenced by the unending attacks on citizens particularly in rural communities. We had imagined that state police will bring in more hands into the fight against insecurity as the concept of state police will necessarily make each state see the need to protect its own boundaries.
It is not as if we were unaware of the likelihood of abuse of the concept by governors. Our assumption was that no matter the abuse that may occur along the line, let’s first reduce the tension of insecurity across the nation. Now that experienced analysts like my friend Hakeem Baba Ahmed is highlighting a greater danger that may befall the nation from a misuse of state police by the ruling political class, let’s not hang on rigidly to the federalist ideals without joining to sound a note of warning.
Hakeem spoke some 2 days ago via a national television slot on the need to handle the state police issue differently. He was not against the idea of state police, instead he was worried about the timing. His recommendation that state police in Nigeria should start after the next general election is instructive considering that the elections are only a few months away. It means those who have always believed that state police can be used by the ruling class especially state governors to cause huge political unrest during elections are hugely adamant. The major reason informed minds are getting agitated is because history tells us that governors can ignore laws and rules to meet a particular goal. In other words, even if several provisions are put in the enabling law of state police, governors can decide to be lawless without consequences.
