Since its establishment over a century ago, there has not been any institution like the Nigeria Poloce Force in capacity, organisation and presence across the country. Although the actual number of its personnel is yet to be determined like other security agencies, different figures are often released as its total workforce. That notwithstanding, the police institution has been on the table of balkanization by various governments. Like the elephant it uses as its logo, the butcher has continued to derive pleasure and satisfaction each time he places his long knife to cut off a sizeable chunck out of the large animal.
The police is constitutionally mandated to provide security of the life and property of citizens. Its job is also to investigate and prosecute criminals, enforce law and order and ensure smooth traffic flow on the roads and highways across the country.
In a more simplified definition, “Police typically are responsible for maintaining public order and safety, enforcing the law and preventing, detecting and investigating criminal activities. These functions are known as policing.”
When the military staged a coup in 1963, among their administrative activities was the first balkanization of the police, with the creation of the National Security Organization (NSO). Record says: “The National Security Organization (NSO) of Nigeria, or Nigerian Security Organization, was created under Decree number 27 of 1976 by the military regime of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, after the failed Dimka coup, which claimed the life of former Head of State, Gen. Murtala Muhammed. The NSO was given a mandate of co-ordinating internal security, foreign intelligence and counterintelligence activities. It was charged with the detection and prevention of any crime against the security of the state, with the protection of classified materials, and with carrying out any other security missions assigned by the President.”
Before the establishment of the NSO, the police was stripped of certain calibres of firearms, armored vehicles and other security equipment. The NSO later metamorphosed over the years to be named Department of State Security (DSS).
In the early days of the NSO, the agency was staffed by a mix of Military Intelligence officers, officers of the RD and former police Special Branch . The new agency was administered along a directorate structure; directorates included operations, external intelligence (research/department), protective security (cabinet security office), internal security, finance and administration and legal services. The primary objective during this period was the protection of the Head of State and the junta from internal and external threats.
Many police officers were drafted into the new organisation. While the police were still bleeding from the balkanization, the Federal Road Safety Corps was created to assume responsibility for highway traffic, thereby removing the role of policing the highways from the Nigeria Police. This was created by another coup-plotter, General Ibrahim Babangida, who invited Professor Wole Soyinka to head the new traffic organisation.
Notable among the efforts to institute a formidable road safety programme was the effort of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) between 1960 and 1965. The effort of the Nigerian Army in the training of its officers and men on road safety in the early 1970s also contributed to road safety ideas and consciousness in Nigeria. The Nigerian Army started the first public road safety campaign in 1972 when it initiated an annual Road Safety Week.
As if there was an unwritten law in military circles to gradually balkanize the Nigeria Police, again, after 46 years after, Obasanjo, as a democratically elected President but like a leopard that cannot change its spots, did not waste time a short while after assuming office in whittling down the police.
When a report landed on his presidential table alleging that Nigeria was not cooperating with international bodies in their joint efforts to fight money laundering, with pressure from the International Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, which named Nigeria as one of 23 countries not cooperating in the international community’s efforts to fight money laundering, instead of strengthening the department of the Nigeria Police established specifically to handle and investigate the crime of fraud and graft, Obasanjo brought out the long knife of bulkanization to further sive off another large chuck of the police elephant.
This time, it was the anti-fraud section of the Nigeria Police, which was under the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) that later transformed into what is known today as the Special Fraud Unit (SFU). It was a unique investigation unit once headed by crack investigators like Tunde Ogunshakin, Mrs. Farida Waziri and Olayinka Balogun. These officers and many others had cracked down on many criminal cases across the country. A large number of police officers were drafted to establish the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC was established in 2003 by Obasanjo, who appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police Nuhu Ribadu as its founding chairman. Surprisingly, the same long knife in the drawer President Obasanjo was once again brought out as he infringed on part of the constitutional mandates of the Nigeria Police when he appointed Dr. Ade Abolurin as the head of the newly transformed Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which used to be known as Civil Defence Corps.
Record shows that the organisation was established in May 1967 in Lagos during the Nigerian civil war for the purpose of sensitization and protection of the civil populace. It was then known as Lagos Civil Defence Committee. However, in 1970, the corps had the objective of carrying out some educational and enlightenment campaigns in and around Lagos to sensitize residents in and around Lagos territory that had little or no knowledge about war on how to guard themselves during air raids, bomb attacks, identify bombs and how to dive into trenches during bomb blasts.
In 1984, the corps was transformed into a national security outfit and, in 1988, there was a major re-structuring of the corps that led to the establishment of commands throughout the federation, including Abuja, and the addition of special functions by the Federal Government.
On June 28, 2003, Obasanjo signed an Act to give statutory backing to the NSCDC passed by the National Assembly into law. The question is: did the police step on the big toes of Obasanjo to warrant this balkanization? Today, the military has virtually taken over the internal security mandate of the police, sequel to the rising insecurity around the country.
Experts are, therefore, backing the call for the further balkanization of the Nigeria Police by decentralizing the police to accommodate the state police system for the country. After all, the balkanization started with a military leader with a vengeful posture, so there’s nothing wrong if the final balkanization of the Nigeria Police is carried out now that another military leader that has transformed into a democrat is on the throne. By so doing, the unwritten law would have been fulfilled. Maybe the call for state police would eventually be a benison in disguise.
Congratulations!
SECURITY FILE wishes to congratulate Ambassador Tukur Buratai as he gets turbaned as the new Garkuwan Keffi.