When the widespread non-violent #EndSARS protests degenerated into destructive actions that overwhelmed the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the anarchy showed that the country needs revolutionary change, including the police.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) 2019 report on Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria gives an idea of the country’s revolutionary conditions. More than 83 million Nigerians are living below the national poverty line, according to figures released by NBS this year. Nigeria’s population is about 206 million.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in September, inaugurated a National Steering Committee to oversee the development of the ‘Nigeria Agenda 2050 and Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP),’ which succeeds ‘Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017 – 2020.’
Buhari said: “The main objectives of these successor plans are to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years, particularly given the World Bank projection that Nigeria will become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 with over 400 million people.”
It is useful to have a long-term plan. But it is important to have a short-term plan as well, and to ensure that it works. In other words, the Buhari administration may just be building castles in the air if there are no immediate signs to show that it is serious about its dream to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years.
Obviously, the Buhari administration will not be in power beyond 2023 when President Buhari’s second four-year term will end. How many Nigerians will his presidency lift out of poverty before then?
Buhari listed his achievements in his Democracy Day speech this year, flaunting the results of his administration’s social investment programmes aimed at reducing social and economic inequality.
President Buhari should understand that he is expected to significantly reduce the number of poor Nigerians within his remaining period in office, which is about three years. That is, to borrow the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “the fierce urgency of now.”
“No Nigerian Government in the past has methodically and seriously approached poverty-alleviation like we have done,” President Buhari boasted in his national address following the #EndSARS protests and the resulting anarchy. The large number of poor Nigerians suggests that his administration has not done enough, and needs to do much more, to tackle mass poverty.
It is easy to see the connection between widespread poverty and widespread protests against pervasive poverty. Ultimately, the protests that prompted the disbandment of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the NPF, known as SARS, were not only against police brutality but also the brutality of poverty.
It is tragic that the protests went awry to the extent that the police expected to maintain law and order became victims of lawlessness and disorder. In Lagos State, which was the hardest-hit, for instance, 16 police stations were burnt by rampaging mobs across the state, and 13 police formations were vandalised as well as police posts in four areas. Law and order broke down.
Police Service Commission (PSC) spokesman Ikechukwu Ani condemned “the killing of police officers on legitimate duties,” adding that the commission “can only plead with the officers to in the spirit of nationalism return to work while the government works out enough protective programmes for them.”
This sounds like an admission that the police lacked adequate protection, which made them vulnerable to attacks during the #EndSARS protests. The losses suffered by the police may well be due to their lack of capacity. They simply couldn’t fight back when the mobs struck. Why were they so powerless?
It is noteworthy that Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu listed the requirements of the police at a public hearing organised in February by the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs. The focus was ‘Repositioning the Nigeria Police for an Enhanced Service Delivery.’
The IGP, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Operations), Abdulmajid Ali, said the NPF needed more personnel, not less than 1,000 Armoured Personnel Carriers, and 250,000 assault rifles with corresponding ammunition, to effectively police the country.
He also said the police needed 2,000,000 tear gas canisters and smoke grenades, 200,000 riot gunners and smoke pistols, 1,000 tracking devices, and 774 operational drones, among others.
These requirements will cost money, almost N1tn, the police boss said. The police authorities had asked for N944, 856,416,800 to combat rising insecurity across the country.
Also, there is no doubt that Nigeria needs more policemen. The United Nations (UN) standard of policing is one policeman to 400 citizens, but Nigeria is said to have one policeman to 600 citizens.
An ill-equipped police force cannot be expected to effectively maintain law and order. The police are licking their wounds, and it will take some time for them to get over their humiliation during the #EndSARS protests. It is clear that the police need to be strengthened and well equipped to face the challenges of their work. Powerless police are an aberration.
Low morale, due to poor working conditions, has always been a major challenge facing the police. This worsened following the #EndSARS –related nationwide chaos that culminated in the looting and burning of police stations, and killing of police officers.
Interestingly, the #EndSARS protesters, among their five demands, asked the government to “increase police salary so that they are adequately compensated for protecting lives and property of citizens.”
The Federal Government’s move to improve the working conditions of the police in response to their humiliation is a long-overdue action. Buhari said in his address: “With regard to the welfare of police personnel, the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission has been directed to expedite action on the finalization of the new salary structure of members of the Nigeria Police Force.”
The approach to police improvement should be holistic. Improved salaries without improved equipment and improved professionalism cannot bring about improved performance.
It is unsurprising that the unresolved question of state police came up again during the #EndSARS protests. This question will not go away, and will have to be resolved at some point. It is illogical that the country’s federalism does not accommodate the logic of state police.
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