From the Boko Haram insurgency to the change in leadership and the promotions that upstaged senior officers, the force has been riding the roller coaster of change.
While grappling with the Boko Haram sect, the poor operational capabilities of the force were exposed by the escape of a high level suspect, Kabir Sokoto.
The incident in turn led to the sacking of the erstwhile Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, and the dismissal of Commissioner of Police, Zakari Biu.
The dust had hardly settled when the Police Service Commission released a list of promotions, which unnerved the top echelon and put the force in a state of flux.
Five officers from the rank of commissioners of police were appointed as Deputy Inspectors General of Police above their senior officers.
The murmurs of disapproval were yet to abate when a helicopter crash claimed the newly promoted Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, Haruna John and three other policemen in Jos.
Before the sad incident, the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had been talking tough and warning his men against corrupt practices.
He had set up seven committees to reinvigorate specific areas of the force, and the committees are on anti-corruption, cooperative society, police housing, public relations, decongestion of police cells, training and foreign courses and sports development.
As part of his reform agenda, Abubakar had also convinced the Federal Government to approve a camouflage uniform for the police.
The new dress which looks like a military fatigue has become Abubakar’s official uniform for the past weeks.
Security analysts, however, said a change of uniform was the least important thing to the force.
They averred that the controversial promotions made by the Police Service Commission may be counter-productive.
The disgruntled officers, it was argued, may not support the police leadership in its drive to strengthen the force.
Currently, the reform panel set up by the Federal Government to harmonise the recommendations of past panels has started its work.
The panel chaired by the Police Service Commission Chairman, Parry Osayande, is expected to come up with recommendations that would make the police better.
The panel was asked specifically to examine the state of the police and review previous efforts, reports and Government White papers on the police, identify and recommend definitive, measurable and practical measures for the enhancement of effective police service delivery; examine and recommend measures for the complete transformation of the Nigeria Police.
Commenting on the numerous reform recommendations without implementation, a retired Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav, described the latest panel as needless, insisting that the government was not sincere about reforming the police.
A member of the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria, Innocent Chukwuma also dismissed the new panel as a waste of time, saying it should not be taken seriously.
But a member of the Police Service Commission, Otive Igbuzor, disagreed with those that felt the new panel was unnecessary, noting that the committee was born out of the desire of the government to have an efficient security agency in the country.
It remains to be seen whether the Jonathan administration would achieve what past governments failed to achieve by giving Nigeria a worthy police force that would jettison extra-judicial killings, corruption and other barbaric acts.
No comments:
Post a Comment