Open Letter To IGP

Dear Inspector-General of Police, this letter is coming to you from an ex-police officer, well acquainted with the working of the Nigeria Police Force. You are not the first IGP to face some storms while in office, but you probably know how best to keep your head above troubled waters. There is no doubt that the image of the Nigeria Police has been on the decline, but there is a need to remind you about some of the wrong steps that brought us to where we are today.
Senator Isah Misau was not the first person to point out the rot in the Nigeria Police, so his revelations and complaints were not against you personally.
After the Nigerian Civil War, over 500 officers and men of the Police of Eastern States’ origin were not re-absorbed into the police. The vacuum created by these highly professional officers was hastily filled without proper transition or grooming between what came to be and what was there prior to 1970. A panel on the re-organisation and reform of the Nigeria Police Force did the best it could do to reposition the police. Much of the problems and perplexities of today are the effects of wrong actions of yester years.
Items (c ) and (e) on the terms of reference of the panel on the re-organisation and reform of the police are of relevance with respect to this letter, namely:
“To determine the general and specific causes of the collapse of public confidence in the police and suggest ways of restoring public trust in the institution”.
The other item was: “To determine the causes of low morale in the police and suggest bold ameliorative measures”.
My suggestion then was that members of that panel (in 1994) would hardly have the courage and will to face up to the fierce challenges that would come from interested parties if the stark truth be told.
It was better to let a sleeping dog lie, because, there was a fear that the result of the panel may not change things drastically. In a country where bitter realities are often swept under the carpet and where no public institution can stand being rattled seriously, discretion is usually a safer line of action.
Before the Nigerian Civil War, the level of discipline and morale in the police were quite high, unlike what the situation is now. One of the complaints against the police high command is that promotions rarely go to those who deserve them. This is also followed by the fact that many of those who obtained university degrees while in service are being frustrated, rather than elevated to reflect their academic status.
It was particularly pleasing to find that several of your officers have post graduate degrees, including PhD, but what they always say is that they are discriminated against, called names and posted to undignifying beats.
It would interest you to know that many of the officers thrown out of the police with ignominy are doing quite better today, not only as senators, lawyers and lecturers, but also as successful business tycoons. Some of such dehumanized officers who would have given some help to build up a new police would rather stay away than come forward to give such help.
Therefore, one task which you should embark on, despite your present ordeal, is to improve relationship with your officers and men, both serving and retired. This should be followed by a more cordial relationship with the public.
Unless we want to go for cosmetic reforms, it is obvious that what Nigeria requires is a holistic reform of all establishments, not just the police alone. The fear is that the political will and sincerity to embark upon such reform may not be there. Such reform must start with exemplary leadership in all sectors and establishments.
The Nigeria Police Force under your command would do well to revive and strengthen the spirit of collegiality or esprit de corps which had been the hallmark of your establishment. The practice of tearing colleagues apart creates animosity and division in any establishment. It is a major problem in the police.
Lastly, there was the issue of payment of gratuity to officers who served in “Biafra” during the civil war and who could not be re-absorbed into the Nigeria Police. To say the least, that move would create room for fraudulent practices, because there can hardly be an authentic and comprehensive list of such benefactors. Among those still alive, many will not come up to receive whatever peanuts that such gratuity would amount to, considering the humiliation they had suffered already.
Besides, such largesse will be seen as a bribe and medicine after death. Please try to woo ex-officers to the mess.
Amirize, a retired lecturer, Rivers State University Port Harcourt, is also an ex-police officer.

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