State Police, Other Untold MattersAT a House of Representatives retreat on the Review of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, made a show of having scaled the lingering issue of State Police among contending sections of the polity: the National Assembly and the state, which he heads at the all-powerful Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF).To underscore his enthusiasm, Amaechi praised the National Assembly for joining the governors in their crusade to have State Police inserted in the Constitution.'I congratulate the Senate and National Assembly for acceding to the request of Nigerians. Those states that have the capacity to maintain State Police should be allowed to do so.'But as it were, Governor Amaechi's gusto appears 'misplaced', no thanks to the knocks State Police has received from the near-monolithic Northern Governors' Forum, which has distance itself and the North from the proposal.This disavowal has reportedly caused a big stir in the Nigeria Governors' Forum. The report was unsettling because the NGF has earned for itself some credibility and respect among the citizenry, on account of how it reacted to and acted on critical national matters in the past.Without a cohesive forum of governors, it does not require too much emphasis to imagine what the polity would be, where high-wire and sometimes, volatile national issues are stepped down for constituents at the lower rung to comprehend.Agreed that the Forum does not exist in the Constitution and is not backed by any law; yet, its resolutions have had far-reaching impact, thus acquiring acquired the status of a convention.Each time the Forum meets, the entire country waits to hear what the outcome would be because the 36 States make up the country and once the governors have taken a position, it sends the message home.So, what could have gone wrong to make the governors want to dilute the essence of their bonding at a time the country prepares to embark upon another crucial political journey' In that journey, the governors, as usual, would be required to play a central role.THE question of whether states should enjoy some measure of autonomy over security matters within their jurisdiction is an old one, but each time it came up, politicians would drain life out of the debate, leaving it hollow and lifeless.However, the security challenges of the present day have shown how vulnerable and helpless governors have become; thus, reinforcing the argument that as chief security officers of their respective states, they ought to have a say in the deployment and regulation of security personnel and material in their constituencies.Already, state governments spend a lot on security because the bulk of crimes take place in the states, whereas it is the Federal Government that manages the entire security infrastructure. Every state government runs a parallel security outfit (which they carve out of the Nigeria Police, sometimes in partnership with the military), a reaction to the demand for rapid squads to which they could beckon for prompt response.There are abuses, no doubt, which is why opponents of State Police do not think governors have come of age to run their own police. But there are good efforts to learn from in some states, where state-funded squads manage to do well. Rivers and Lagos have put such efforts to very good use.Proponents are of the view that if the idea of state police becomes a constitutional matter, state governments would become accountable for any abuses. Besides, if the Federal Government that has controlled the Police for decades manages to carry on with tolerable breaches, states could also demand that same level of confidence.Since the outbreak of Boko Haram insurgency, the number of persons who want states to have their own Police Force has increased considerably, to the extent that the Governors' Forum, having weighed the options, decided to support the proposal.But the story now is that the 19 northern governors, led by Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, have decided to back out of the idea of State Police. What must have gone wrong for the Northern Governors' Forum to dump this revolutionary idea'The Forum did not only dump the idea, but also demand that the presidency be returned to the North in 2015; and reinforced their query of the continued payment of 13 percent derivation to oil-producing states. In their thinking, northern states need more money to tackle poverty, which they blame for Boko Haram.AS the 2015 polls unfold, there will be more surprises. There would be more double-speak and treachery. The northern governors have been under intense pressure of late and any move that would add to that pressure, in their reckoning, should be avoided.In the build-up to the 2011 presidential election, northern governors, who belong to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) abandoned the Northern Political Leaders' Forum (NLPF), to work for candidate Goodluck Jonathan. They underscored that preference with the resounding performance of Jonathan at the presidential primary of the PDP.However, unknown to them, they had incurred the wrath of the northern establishment, and they paid dearly for it. The post-election violence that raged across the North did not spare some of them.After that, Boko Haram spread like wild fire and northern governors became helpless. In their haste to locate the blame, the governors and other leaders of the North alleged poverty and then blamed the revenue sharing formula for their woes. According to them, they want the formula revisited because oil-producing states receive too much.Even when they were countered by voices in the South-South, the northern leaders seemed adamant and desperate. They went a step further to query continued payment of derivation to littoral states for offshore oil exploration. Apparently, they had forgotten that the Supreme Court once ruled on the matter of littoral states and their offshore borderline.THE pressure on northern governors is immense. In February, a coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen met to discuss the situation in the North. They expressed concern over the security situation as well as the poverty in the North and the entire country.Besides the governors of Niger and Jigawa states, Babangida Aliyu and Sule Lamido, respectively, the convener of that meeting was Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has been very frank with his views. He is sick and tired of the government of Jonathan and cannot wake to bid him goodbye. He monitors the government to see traces of 2015 and each time his sensors pick anything, he barks violently.In March, two meetings by another set of influential leaders in the North met to discuss the same issues of poverty and insecurity in the North, warning that something urgent should be done to rescue the North and the entire country from disaster.Those who attended include former military rulers, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar; former Finance Minister, Adamu Ciroma; Nigeria's former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Maitama Sule; former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mamman Nasir; former military administrator of old North-Eastern State, Abba Kyari; former Vice Chancellor of the ABU, Prof. Ango Abdullahi; former military administrator of Oyo State, Paul Tarfa; and former Deputy Senate President, John Wash Pam.In spite of these meetings, the situation in the North keeps deteriorating, forcing the leadership, particularly the governors, to go back to their drawing board, to review some positions they had taken. Part of that review is backing out of the State Police issue. They also insist on the constitutionally provided two terms for governors and president, instead of the five-year single term that is being proposed for amendment.THE federal Police for now appear to be the symbol of national strength among the civilian population, a sort of mythical behemoth that must not be allowed to crack. Ultra conservatives would not like anything that could whittle down the awesome powers of the Police, which they have used to hold the federation captive.State police could weaken this stranglehold and that could commence the dismemberment of the federation. That seems to be the fear of some people. Such persons are not bothered by old and emerging facts that point to a failing federation; they prefer to manage it.2015 will continue to shape and determine positions of different groups and persons. For the North, they have not made pretences about their preference. The governors supported Jonathan in 2011; now they want to support a northern president in the next presidential poll.'If the Constitution were to be amended before 2015 and states are allowed to have their Police, that could jeopardise their entire plan,' said a watcher of the scheming in the polity, adding, 'for a landslide electoral victory, State Police could be an obstacle.'As for national politics, states would continue to provide relevant base for serious national politicking because the foot soldiers reside in the states. Without the states, there would be no federation.A vibrant and cohesive Governor's Forum could be an indication of a federation that still manages to crawl. But once the governors are sincerely tired and stop pretending because of oil money, then, everybody will wake up.
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