That Buhari’s Interview

It was one of those rare moments that Nigerians get to see their president personally discuss some of the issues in the country.  Often times, the citizens hear their leader through his spokesperson or “the Presidency” as they call themselves.
So, President Mohammadu Buhari’s interview with Channels Television could not be missed for anything by many people who expected a new twist to tackling the numerous challenges in the country. But as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu, put it, it was a waste of time because “From the economy, to insecurity, killing of innocent farmers by terrorists (which some erroneously term farmer-herder clashes) and other sundry issues, President Buhari honoured his calling as a president who has nothing new to offer.”
We once again saw a president who has a close-minded approach to serious national issues and is not willing to shift ground for any reason. On the issue of state policing which has been clamored for by state governors and other good spirited Nigerians as a way of addressing insecurity in the country, he opposed it, dismissing that as an option, alluding to the propensity of governors to abuse their powers.
Yes, some state governors have proven not to be able to even manage their own institutions. We all know what goes on in the states judiciary, the states electoral bodies and how they have reduced the local government councils to nothing. Today, the so-called local government elections are just a charade because the governors hand pick the local government chairmen. We are aware that many local government chairmen can hardly carry out any meaningful project in their localities because they are starved of fund by the governors. Some of them are mandated to share the council’s monthly allocation to some persons imposed on them by the states chief executives every month.
But should that be enough reason to reject the well-intended request for state policing system in the country? Having practised the federal policing system for over sixty decades which has not been able to solve the lingering insecurity problem in the country, is it not high time the state policing system is tried?  Several times we have seen some state governors lamenting that the commissioners of police in their domain do not take orders from them. Even when such orders are meant to prevent impending security problem, they have to wait for “superior orders” from Abuja before carrying out the commands of the governors and many times such approvals come very late or do not come at all.
One of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference, which incidentally remain unimplemented, was the establishment of state police to strengthen security in the states. The state police, when created by states that desire and can finance them, were to complement the efforts of the Nigerian Police Force and will help in the security of the people, especially those in the grassroots. What that implies to a large extent, is that each federating unit is independent and should be able to have their own police and some other institutions of government that can enhance the administration of justice.
The federal police has been trying but the joint effort of the state and federal police will certainly yield more positive results. As it is presently, the number of policemen in the country is too minimal to cater for the security needs of the entire country. But if states can create their own police the number will increase and that will mean better security for the states and the entire country.
Of course, whatever has advantages also has some disadvantages. The probable hijack and misuse of the state police by politicians, poor funding by the governors are some of the fears associated with state police. But as a public analyst puts it, all the abuse of powers by the governors are possible because of the flawed electoral system in the country. The power to hire and fire has been taken away from the people. Nigerians no longer have the power to elect their leaders due to imposition of candidates, rigging and other electoral malpractices, giving rise to irresponsible leaders. In his words, “electoral banditry will birth administrative banditry”. And has the president not dashed Nigerians’ hope of righting these wrongs by refusing to assent to the Electoral Bill? What has the president as the leader of the ruling party done to ensure that APC states reflect the opposite of what he talked about the governors to serve as an example for other states?
It’s just like Buhari in the said interview telling the traditional rulers and the governors to do more in bringing peace in our communities and sorting out the issue of unending farmers-herders clashes. No doubt these bodies do have roles to play in settling disputes and ensuring peace in the society but in a situation like ours where we have clear terrorism masquerading as farmers-herders clashes what can they do; more so when they are not in charge of the police, the military and other security agencies? We have a situation where killings have been going on daily basis and the federal government has been lethargic in carrying out their responsibilities of ensuring that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are brought to book and now that the situation is out of hand you expect the state governors and traditional rulers to weigh in and get communities to settle themselves? We wait to see how that happens.
It is also worrisome that in this age, the president still believes that establishment of grazing routes would solve the persistent problem of farmers-herders clashes in the country. It is clear now that this mindset that someone is encroaching on someone’s grazing route which has been displayed severally by the Presidency, the Attorney General of the Federation and which was again alluded to by the President in the media chat is responsible for the government’s inability to deal with the issue as it deserves. Nigeria is not the only country involved in the business of cattle rearing, neither is she the only country affected by climate change. Others have long passed the stage of unrelenting cow war. They handle cattle rearing as a profitable business, making sure that no other trade or citizens suffer because of the business of cattle rearing and it is high time Nigeria did the same.

By: Calista Ezeaku