By CHIEDU UCHE OKOYE

Is Nigeria not gripped by a wave of criminal acts, what with bandits rustling herders’ cattle; kidnappers seizing school children for ransom; and terrorists and insurgents killing people, needlessly? In the face of all this, the Nigerian police officers have failed to rise to the occasion. They are always caught napping. The fact is that the Nigeria Police Force cannot guarantee the safety of life and property for which it is created. This situation has given rise to the strident calls for the promulgation of law for the sub-national governments’ establishment of their own state police forces.

But then, the Nigeria Police Force, as it is constituted, does not have the numerical strength to police Nigeria given our country’s humongous population and large landmass. That more boots are needed on the ground to combat crimes in our country is an indisputable fact. A country which is as big as Nigeria cannot be policed, centrally.

Again, as the Nigerian police officers are corrupt and demoralized, they cannot carry out their duties, effectively and conscientiously. The corollary is that criminal acts are perpetrated in all parts of Nigeria with frequent rapidity. As a result, we have returned to the Hobbesian state of nature where life is short, brutish, and nasty.

Consequently, the prevailing egregious and unacceptable security challenges in Nigeria, which have hobbled our country, causing some industries to relocate to other countries, have given rise to the demand for the establishment of state police in Nigeria. Not a few Nigerians see state police as the magic wand for solving our niggling and seemingly security problems. They opine that the advantages of having a state police far outweigh its disadvantages.

One of the chief advantages of establishing a state police is that a police officer will work in a geographical setting into which he has been socialized. A state police officer of Igbo origin, who works in Anambra state, will understand the psychology and sociology of the people of his host community. As he speaks Igbo language, he will be able to gather intelligence reports, easily, which will be used in combating crimes in the area. And the people will not only vouchsafe information to him, readily, but, also, they will not view him with suspicion and hatred, neither will they impute bad motives to his actions.

More so, the bureaucratic bottle-necks and official red-tapism that constitute encumbrances to federally controlled top police officers will be reduced in a sub-national Police Force. During crisis situation in a part of the country, a top police officer will receive order directly from the state governor instead of waiting for directives from the centre.

It can be seen that the establishment of state police forces across the country will complement the efforts of federally controlled Police Force in checkmating criminal activities in Nigeria. But efforts should be made to ensure that the functions of both state police forces and the centrally controlled one do not overlap. Their duties and functions should be clearly spelt out and differentiated.

However, establishing state police forces in Nigeria has its downsides. It is not every state in the country that has the financial wherewithal to float a Police Force. Most states in Nigeria are not fulfilling their financial obligations to their workers. So, should a state whose governor is unable to implement the minimum wage agreement establish a state police force? We should not forget that police officers whose welfare conditions are neglected will be ill-motivated to perform their duties.

More so, some people fear that if states are permitted to establish police forces, some state governors will deploy them to fight vendetta wars. They will use it to settle political scores, which they have with their political opponents. They, also, opine that desperate politicians, who are keen on retaining their governorship seats will deploy the state police officers to rig elections in their favour. The argument that state police force is prone to abuse and manipulation by state governors is not out of place, however.

But as the promulgation of law for the establishment of state police has become a desideratum, the laws establishing it should contain clauses that will protect state police officers from the tyranny and manipulation of state governors. A state police force that can act Independently and fairly in a crisis situation without succumbing to the coercion and persuasion of a state governor is an incentive for national stability, cohesion, and unity.

At this critical juncture in our national life, when we have returned to the Hobbesian state of nature that is marked by brevity of life, brutishness, and nastiness, only the creation of state police forces across the country can arrest our country’s drift into an anarchic state.

•Chiedu Uche Okoye, a poet, writes from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.