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[TVC Insight] The History Of Nigeria Police Force And The Quest For State Policing — Transcript

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0:00[Music]
0:22in part two
0:24we'll look at the history of policing in
0:26nigeria the challenges
0:29the recruitment and funding of the state
0:31police as well as the advantages of a
0:34state-owned police
0:37the first ever recognized police unit
0:40was in 1861 and had 30 men
0:44it was a creation of the colonial
0:46masters with the annexation of lagos as
0:48a british colony
0:50then by 1862
0:52the number increased to 100 men and 600
0:55men by 1863
0:58these men were largely drawn from
1:00ex-slaves from syria alone the force
1:02unit was mainly created as a tool of
1:05repression and suppression
1:07control and order
1:09to protect the britons and their
1:11properties against citizen agitators
1:14who would want to go against the desires
1:16of their masters
1:17to qualify as an officer
1:20all you needed to do was to pass a
1:22fitness test
1:23education was never part of the criteria
1:26neither also where the men schooled
1:28thereafter in 1888 the northern
1:31constabulary was created in lokoja the
1:33niger coast constabulary was created in
1:361894 in calabar while lagos was created
1:40in 1896 and they remained the central
1:42command station but the nigeria police
1:45became a unified organ under the federal
1:47command of an inspector general on the
1:501st of april 1930
1:52by the provisions of the 1963
1:55constitution
1:56native or community policing was allowed
1:59to operate until february 1968
2:02when under the general yakubu gowan
2:03regime all other expressions of policing
2:06were collapsed and recruited into a
2:08unitary nigeria police force
2:11so what went wrong it's because of
2:13history it's because of where we're
2:15coming from and how the police how
2:17politicians made use of local
2:22in the 60s and how we saw the impact of
2:25it with elections with electoral
2:28violence you know and the rest is
2:31history it's because of where we're
2:33coming from however if you want to
2:36negotiate the arena for state police
2:38what can we learn is it limiting the
2:41scope of
2:42what they can do is it limiting their
2:45operational framework is it looking at
2:48how do you coordinate what would be the
2:50coordinating mechanism there are
2:52different ways we can look at it to
2:54strengthen what we had before that was
2:57abused to ensure that it's not abused as
3:00we move forward because it will keep
3:03coming back onto the table
3:05because it is a necessity according to
3:08the antagonist of state police
3:11the state governors may hijack the
3:13agency for their personal political use
3:16as was in the 1960s
3:20i know why people are apprehensive about
3:22state police
3:23that the gov the governors might misuse
3:25them well that's where the law should
3:27come in
3:29in a constitutional democracy you cannot
3:32afford not to have a strong rule of law
3:36that's just it
3:38if we can strengthen the rule of law
3:42a governor misuses it
3:44the state police you lift the immunity
3:48and jail one
3:50every other one will sit up
3:53but if we won't do this if it's a case
3:54of cash and curry
3:56a governor can't do anything
3:59go to a court
4:00under the
4:02impression that has immediately they
4:04will not visit the person you are
4:05waiting for him to leave office and he
4:07can commit all manner of things
4:09now that people are jittery but
4:11otherwise if we allow the rule of law to
4:13thrive in this country
4:15certainly things you bought about
4:17like in the us you think they both about
4:18things like that that the governor will
4:20misuse
4:22the police or the local government
4:24chairman a mayor will misuse the police
4:26no
4:27but that has long been conquered
4:29so we need to take care of the basic
4:30things if we take care of those things
4:32these are the ones we stand on top
4:34but is this fear enough to stop the
4:36creation of a state police
4:39considering the weight of insecurity
4:41facing the country now
4:44what can be done to prevent these from
4:47happening
4:48in addition to the creation of state
4:50policing which is a personal issue
4:52because we need to amend the condition
4:53to reflect that we must
4:56insert all the safety guards all the
4:59safety guards a strong judiciary is very
5:01important we must also agree that the
5:03citizens might be alert
5:05in order not to allow any governor to
5:07misuse the state police that is actually
5:10being funded by taxpayers in order to
5:12oppress the citizens in the states or in
5:14his jurisdiction we must agree on that
5:16we must also agree that in case of any
5:19operation in case any violation
5:22then there will be an intervention by
5:23the nigerian by the federal police in
5:25order to ensure that there is no you
5:27know a violation of anyone's rights you
5:29know in the various states where the
5:31governors now have state policing so
5:33these are some of the safety guards in
5:34addition to some other ones that people
5:36will suggest in order to ensure that
5:38this is the light of the day is the rule
5:40of law
5:42that's just the challenge if we have
5:44the courts make decisions
5:46or take actions on certain things almost
5:49immediately
5:50most of this is going to be happening
5:51now today we are talking about electoral
5:53uh
5:55my practices and
5:58on fraud during election
6:00if you to do it in third grade and all
6:02how many people have been
6:04[Music]
6:05i had somebody saying that over 5 000
6:07cases
6:09or 50 50 about 5 000 or so in the last
6:12election
6:13can you see that he didn't tell me that
6:15one person has been jailed
6:17so that's the challenge and we want it
6:20to stop
6:21so that's what some of us have said
6:23yeah it's good to amend the electoral
6:25electoral act
6:27but that would not solve everything
6:29because even in the old act
6:32there are enough things there to drill
6:34anybody involved in my practice
6:37but nobody has been due electoral
6:38violence nobody's been jailed for
6:40current snatching bubble boxes
6:43so see you take action people are not
6:46likely to change their behavior
6:49human beings all over the world whether
6:51africans or caucasians or asians
6:54is the law
6:56the way that people will say it somebody
6:58is in the u.s he's in the uk he's in the
7:00airport he will join the queues waiting
7:02for the boss he will join the queue you
7:04come to nigeria he disregards all that
7:06is it no you are driving on the opposite
7:08side of the road here in nigeria because
7:10you can get away with it but in the uk
7:12you know you can't even think of it
7:15because the law
7:16they will first throw you into jail
7:19to know whether you are seen
7:21and they want to determine that you are
7:22okay i know that they hit your pocket
7:26you know so those are
7:28these are things to to restrain you from
7:30behaving like an animal
7:32but here it's not there if you have
7:34money you can buy your way and walk away
7:35with anything
7:37you know so that's why i said the rule
7:39of law in the constitutional democracy
7:41is key
7:43it must function effectively well
7:46and all it takes
7:47when you have stateful is jail won't
7:49govern you don't need to drill more than
7:51one
7:52you will see everybody line up
7:55anything happens and they come to say
7:56we've seen you please what is the right
7:58thing to do
8:00that the commissioner reports to you
8:01does not mean that you misuse the
8:03authority of your office
8:05just jail one
8:07is a governor that's voted for you're
8:09not waiting
8:10after eight years in office or four
8:12years in office straight from government
8:14house is going to jail you will see what
8:16will happen
8:17are the advantages of a state police
8:20more than its disadvantages
8:22in nigeria having a state police i think
8:24it's a good idea now one of the
8:26advantages i can think of now is proper
8:28management of the police system because
8:31it's being controlled from the central
8:33federal is kind of big why the state is
8:36smaller compared to the federal so you
8:38have a good management and good overview
8:41a view of the police system
8:44in
8:45the states one two if you have a state
8:48police the police academy or the police
8:51department will know more about the
8:54state itself more about the people and
8:56can manage better not about
8:58the criminal offences going on in the
9:00states and all of that and now to cater
9:02for the people so i think that that's
9:04the advantage of the state police i'm
9:06sure they'll be able to
9:08hurt to what the nigerian police is
9:10doing
9:11because they will also understand the
9:13environment better
9:15so it's it's a welcome idea and it's
9:17really needed you're very proud you have
9:19a state policy and
9:20they will have enough funds to to get
9:23enough equipment or materials to ensure
9:25that the crime reduced i i hope i have a
9:28key i believe that everything will be
9:30fine the head of the state police as
9:33the state police had
9:35we were able to we would go around the
9:38states
9:39and look at the crime himself look at
9:41the issues that run that and even having
9:43someone in abuja taking charge of the
9:45whole
9:46new stuff let's begin to limit what
9:49others have done and have gotten it
9:50right and then put it here and then
9:52localize our own and then add value to
9:54it and get it right and move as a nation
9:56that for us foreign for us to grow else
9:59we are going behind you know going back
10:01to 15th century you know and that again
10:03is not too good for us if and when
10:05created
10:07what happens to the central nigeria
10:09police
10:10what happens to our motekun
10:12ebubayagu
10:13and hispah
10:15they will stay coming the they'll play
10:17what i want to call
10:19the grassroots
10:21grassroots
10:24structure
10:25grassroot structure you know
10:28you know
10:29we we generate intelligence from
10:31information pieces of information coming
10:33in and this information
10:35mostly flows from the grassroots
10:39we mustn't abandon all these
10:43subnational original
10:46policing groups or groupings you've just
10:48measured
10:49they are highly important
10:51i'm also given their connection with the
10:53people
10:54at the grassroots level
10:56it's important
10:57any police
10:59commissioner in any state
11:01after the state police is created any
11:04commissioner of police who does not
11:05recognize the role
11:07of all these organizations does not know
11:08what is
11:09all i am emphasizing on is that it
11:12should be so done in a way that
11:14they play a vital role at the grassroots
11:17generating information
11:19federer will have been doing their own
11:21thing there will be collaboration though
11:24like it happens in the western world
11:25there will be collaboration but everyone
11:27is operating dependently
11:29like even today you have the civil
11:30defense they are armed
11:32then you have
11:33the state department of state security
11:36then you have the police you have the
11:38army at times they have joint patrols
11:40but they still know the area for
11:41operations or the uh the scope of work
11:44you know they maintain them
11:46but they have to work together the same
11:48thing like i said for most
11:50state federal roads
11:53if the if the federal police are enough
11:55to patrol federal roads yeah but if they
11:58are not enough to patrol federal roads
12:00just like what is happening today when
12:02you have when federal rules are very bad
12:05state governors intervene
12:07whether they get the money back is a
12:09different thing entirely because that is
12:11your state if you have an argument
12:12against that
12:13you have a major road traversing the the
12:16cities
12:17this is a federal road but the people
12:20passing through that road are paying tax
12:22in the state it's not coming to the
12:23federal
12:25so fix it so i'm very sure
12:28when we have that law tomorrow
12:31they can work together if you don't have
12:33enough policemen to man the federal
12:34roads
12:35the state police can very well manned
12:37because if you kidnap anybody on the
12:39federal road that person is from the
12:41state
12:42and it becomes a constitutes a security
12:45issue
12:46that may make investors not stay in that
12:48state to do business so the state will
12:50not sit and say because it's the federal
12:52road and it's being patrolled by the
12:53federal i don't they don't have enough
12:55uh
12:56manpower to do that i will leave the
12:58entire world no cases of emergency they
13:00were
13:01you know child of circumstance i mean
13:03i'm talking about
13:04all these other ones you've mentioned
13:07they became imperative
13:08when the federal policing system failed
13:12they had to resort to this ad hoc
13:14arrangement in order to secure lives and
13:15property within their jurisdiction
13:17now that we are going to formalize the
13:19state policing system it will be
13:22imperative that those other emergency
13:25circumstances that we have actually
13:26utilized to solve a problem which is a
13:28stock gap we can now recruit them into
13:30the formal you know policing system that
13:32would be the person and then train them
13:34recruit them train them properly and
13:36then fund the policing system right
13:38because the fear of everyone is that
13:40these governors will become overlooked
13:42and they will use their police in order
13:44to oppress their political opponents and
13:46begin to you know violate the rights of
13:48citizens especially for those that are
13:50clearly adverse to criticism they won't
13:52want anyone to criticize them
13:54so it's important
13:56we agree that there must be a strong
13:58institution like the judiciary how about
14:00funding
14:01and recruitment
14:04i call them
14:05the big five there are five major
14:08issues with the national security sector
14:11which if addressed you have addressed
14:13nearly 70 to 65 percent
14:16of the problem
14:20paramount
14:22in that five is funding
14:26manpower
14:28logistics and equipment
14:31training
14:33welfare motivation funding has always
14:35been a major problem with us
14:38until we really sit down and look at how
14:40we can address that
14:43they will now
14:46try to
14:48micro the issue or the problem of
14:50funding down to
14:52funding of the security sector be it at
14:54the subnational level
14:58we find out that we still have to
15:00tinker a great deal with what to do why
15:02am i saying this for instance
15:05funding of the
15:07defense security or security and defense
15:09issues at the federal level can never
15:14be adequate if we rely only on budgetary
15:18allocation
15:20never don't be deceived
15:22why am i saying that
15:24because when you talk of defense or
15:26national security my brother
15:30you just keep pumping in money
15:32you are not even seeing what the money
15:33is in
15:36that is expenditure for defense for you
15:41find all the sub heads to be there but
15:43you keep it the point i'm making is that
15:45it's a sector where
15:48you don't expect to see profits coming
15:50out oh we have popped in this how much
15:52did you make in first quarter second
15:54quarter the way you guys calculate all
15:56you no no no no no no no
16:00your entire national budget is not up to
16:02what the us military spends on r and d
16:06hello
16:07i'm talking of just r and d
16:12that will give you some
16:14sense of how much or how intensive
16:18how capital intensive you could be when
16:20you're talking of defense and security
16:21expenses or expenditures
16:24bringing it back home
16:26how would the state manage
16:28to fund their state policing
16:31every state will look within its
16:33resources
16:34it's only unfortunate we live in a time
16:36when every state looks up to the federal
16:38government for money and so and that's
16:39why i keep saying look
16:41let's practice true federalism and let
16:43people run their face
16:47in the absence of true federalism every
16:49governor has become a beggar
16:51every governor can decide to be very
16:53idle at the end of the month
16:55what is there for me
16:57after all will sold away now what is
17:00there for me
17:01yes because you know some billions will
17:03come from somewhere
17:05if he knows luka boy if you joke you
17:07cannot pay even your driver
17:09you bloody well work
17:11when you want to be a governor you will
17:12think twice
17:13am i ready for this headache or i better
17:15remain in my house but it's big luxury
17:18today i mean if i go in there and at the
17:21end pick how much you need pocket it and
17:23go home
17:24the easiest way of making money today in
17:25nigeria you should be a politician or go
17:27into public service simple you come out
17:29a billionaire and nobody's asking
17:32whether you call them efcc or whatever i
17:34said nobody is asking you
17:36so states have to look inwards
17:39states have got to look inwards
17:41and seeing how they finance their their
17:44their idea their security structure on
17:45ground especially when you talk about
17:47the police
17:48to a greater extent legal state is
17:50getting it right
17:51one state i am so much in love with
17:53looking at it relatively with the other
17:55states where governors are just ugly
17:57never
17:59find there is one fine gentleman in
18:02bruno
18:03professor zulu oh another fantastic
18:06child
18:07oh my god i wish some of these guys
18:09could emerge as president someday
18:12we know we are blessed
18:13you just see them dotted like that very
18:15few the remaining are all just idling
18:18away and making money for themselves
18:20and there's nothing the rest of us can
18:22well there's just nothing we can do
18:24the truth is most states are not
18:27utilizing the full potentials that they
18:28have
18:29igr
18:31they are states that are just not
18:33driving
18:34revenue from the states
18:36because they come to to the center to
18:38take one at the end of the month and
18:39they think that it's okay
18:40but they have potential to
18:42get far more than they get from the
18:45federal
18:46from the fact
18:47if they drive the idea
18:50but they don't do anything about it
18:52so that's what we're saying if you allow
18:53power to go to the states
18:56and then we discard this feeding bottle
18:58federalism
19:00once we are not getting because i said
19:02there's no free lunch not anywhere not
19:04even in free time
19:06but people are getting away with free
19:07lunches
19:08you know so if you allow people to fend
19:10for themselves
19:13they there's so much money in the states
19:14that they can raise to develop the state
19:16and take care of the security
19:18like legal government we can confirm we
19:20know how many gadget equipment
19:22that is the government have
19:24given to the police some states are five
19:26bulldog others you understand most of
19:28the five states you talk about cardinal
19:30cano lagos buttercup and very fast state
19:33they should have funding to do that some
19:36some stated state might be impacted
19:39some states they are they are
19:40financially challenged they are not
19:42financially brilliant those who might be
19:43reluctant and number of people they
19:45recruit and everything but on five
19:47states they are economic qualified
19:50they will have enough front and they're
19:52already doing that they're already doing
19:53that and most of these states already
19:55that we even thought they are not viable
19:56they spend billions on what they call
19:58security foot they will set out their
20:00criteria for recruitment you all know
20:01that
20:03of sakada maybe you are looking for
20:05officers i'm looking for what they call
20:07them graduates and so on and
20:10several other elements are coming as
20:12part of the criteria
20:14maybe experience in the sort of job i'm
20:16doing
20:17you know
20:18as a security person
20:20if you're a graduate and you've probably
20:22had some wealth of experience in
20:24security companies and so on i have a
20:25few graduates in my company who are
20:27doing real well and if such a thing is
20:30imagined and they are interested and
20:32they pick up forms and feel i think such
20:34an experience will count for them so i
20:36see
20:37people who have read now have degrees in
20:39security management and so on i hope you
20:41know that right up to phd level
20:44people who have read relevant things
20:45like that then of course lawyers
20:47sociologists the place is one place
20:50where nearly everybody is welcome
20:52given the nature of his job
20:54what does the law says
20:56does the law say that um
20:59to be part of the
21:01lagos state police structure he must be
21:04a lagos indigene
21:06if the law says that yes if the lord
21:09does not say that it's unfortunate
21:11now
21:12has the law any room for
21:15those of us that have stayed so long in
21:17lagos and have virtually become part of
21:19the lagos
21:20life
21:21those of us who visit home early on
21:23christmas
21:24spent 34 days and dance back to lagos
21:28another year you go home again three
21:29four days are you a negotiation or
21:31you're sick from aquarium
21:34that is true most of us are the
21:35questions
21:37thank god we can speak still speak our
21:39nature
21:40for our children they're already lost
21:41they're already speaking you're right
21:43here i hope you know that
21:44[Laughter]
21:47that's the truth
21:49is the creation of state police
21:51therefore the real solution to nigeria's
21:53security challenges
21:56it's just one of the avenues that what
21:59one of the huddles that we need to cross
22:01right and
22:02we cross it we still talk about
22:04coordination we talk about review we
22:06talk about assessments and we keep
22:08looking at the process it's not it's not
22:11the end rule it's part of the rule it's
22:13part of the models that we just need to
22:15cross i'm not saying that you know
22:17getting slippery will solve all our
22:19insecurity issues
22:21in addition to all of that we also need
22:23to get some of the structures are right
22:25you know like having all our names in a
22:27data in a single that where you can oh
22:30you punch mr bunny uh when you catch you
22:32burning my name with proper and all the
22:34information you require everywhere i
22:35live where i come from you know my
22:37number with which i operate my my
22:40account just like my baby and another so
22:42you can trust me so even if i commit any
22:44crime now you know and disappear to caja
22:47you can trust me unlike unlike what
22:49happens now you can commit a crime okay
22:51and you punish indication nobody know
22:53where you are for the rest of your life
22:55you can't do that in america if you like
22:57run wherever you're running because of
22:59the father you have one single number
23:01which you must use if you if you must
23:03leave they will immediately know which
23:05state you are run to and they will trace
23:06you and get you another so we must also
23:08get the issue of data of nigeria and
23:10their basic biometrics you know right so
23:13that we can begin to actually ensure
23:15that we have uh protection for lives and
23:17property so for the point the beginning
23:20point is this is your state policy so
23:22having
23:23brought such a bill
23:25before the internal assembly i think
23:26that whosoever has brought it should be
23:28able to push it to a logical conclusion
23:31the demand of nigerians from their
23:33leaders are simple
23:35secure lives and property as the
23:38constitution demands that they do that
23:40is why most of them see the payment of
23:42salaries as achievement
23:44how can you see payment of worker
23:45salaries as achievement were you paying
23:47from your pocket is it your private
23:48money
23:50you are paying people their entitlement
23:51they have worked you are saying if you
23:53have not paid i'll call you a chief
23:55i'll call your chief whether you're
23:57stealing on behalf of the state or
23:58whatever
23:59it's the master titan might you pay if
24:01nelson has worked with tvc you pay him a
24:03salary don't count payment of his salary
24:06has some achievement
24:08and ignorantly with psg which some of
24:11them carry they sit dance around and
24:13pride themselves the payment of salary
24:15was an achievement if that means
24:17amending the constitution to make
24:18provisions for the creation of state
24:20police
24:21then so
24:23be it we have the federal courts we have
24:25the state courts and we're not having
24:27challenges with that so why can't we
24:29look at it from the beginning of the
24:31criminal justice chain and see how we
24:34can have
24:36states and federal police and see how we
24:39can coordinate that effectively people
24:42most likely will move to where they
24:43think they are secured
24:45they can stick with both eyes sleep with
24:46both eyes closed they can go for their
24:48business and their businesses will be
24:49secure
24:51so maybe at the end of it that will
24:52determine if you're a small state and
24:54you think you don't have too much
24:55mineral resources but just from
24:58taxation and giving people services this
25:00is peaceful there's every likelihood
25:02that investors will go there
25:04at the end of the day
25:06there will be order
25:08security and stability in the land
25:11everyone will go about his or her daily
25:13affairs without the fear of either been
25:15killed or kidnapped
25:18nigeria will have increased foreign
25:20investment
25:21the economy will grow
25:23both government and citizens will sleep
25:25at night with both eyes closed there
25:28will be peace
25:29and joy in the land again
25:32[Music]
25:48[Music]
25:52you

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