Fresh calls that were made recently for the establishment of state police, no doubt, unsettled the polity for a while. Stephen Gbadamosi reports the submissions made by prominent Nigerians on this new agitation and its implication for the polity.THE calls made by some prominentNigerians recently for the creationof state police were seen by many as not only very instructive, but also with certain political undertones. Of particular interest was the voice of former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, which was added to the discourse.While addressing journalists recently as part of activities marking his 71st birthday, Babangida said it was time for the nation to forget the fears associated with the activities of the proscribed native police of the pre-independence era. According to him, the fears by some Nigerians about activities of the native police during the 1959 elections when the government in power used the police to intimidate their opponents to win the elections were unfounded in the present dispensation, noting that 'we have passed that stage now.''The former president was reported to have said that if a sitting governor employed the services of the state police to commit electoral fraud, the people would troop out to protect their votes, adding that constitutional guarantee would be put in place to curb electoral abuse. He was also quoted to have explained that state police would administer state laws within the provisions establishing them, while the federal police would administer all federal legislations.Earlier in the year, Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), had also made a similar call during a public hearing on police reform held in the state. Fashola, who spoke on the topic; 'Options and Strategies for Restructuring the Nigeria Police Force,' said 'the opposition to the establishment of state police structures in Nigeria has largely been driven by an exaggerated, misleading and unfounded precedent focusing on the abuse of state police through political interference and manipulation.Upgrading the existing police system as the central law enforcement institution in the country cannot occur in isolation. It must be part of an overarching restructuring of the total law enforcement infrastructure, including a reform of the criminal-justice system insulated from politics.''Former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Joseph Daodu, SAN, also lent his voice to the call for state police. Daodu, who spoke at the International Conference Centre, Abuja venue of the last annual conference of the NBA, disagreed with the position of President Goodluck Jonathan that state police was not desirable for now. While President Jonathan had argued that state governors would abuse their respective state police as they had abused their respective state independent electoral body, Daudu was reported to have argued that such fear was misplaced. Also, Imo State governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, was also in support of the creation of state police. Indeed, it is instructive how strident the call had been from the entire South-West, particularly Lagos State. The state chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Henry Ajomale, while lending his voice to the call, said the establishment of state police was long overdue, warning the people against politicising it, as its advantages outweighed the disadvantages.'The advantages outweigh the disadvantages; not in the narrow sense they are looking at it. A man living among the people understands theie language and culture. Everything is turned into politics in this country. It is unfortunate,' he had said.Not a few Nigerians, however, believe that there is underlying politics informing the positions of those speaking for and against institutionalisation of state police. For instance, while Ajomale of the ACN in Lagos keyed into the demand of the ACN governors of the South-West who have been craving for state police, the main opposition party in Lagos, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), appears not to be favourably disposed to it. The Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr Taofik Gani, said the proponents of state police were more from the South-West of the country 'and are always quick to mention the United States of America's (USA) true federalism as if federalism itself has got a perfect model. I dare say even the American system can only be perfect to the extent that they can meet their exigencies.'As much as I do believe in the repositioning of policing in the country, I do not subscribe to state police, especially at this period that there is intolerance, chauvinism and mutual distrust in the country. Nigeria has several ethnic groups and political interests and these interests have shown that they may not be fair to manage state police, especially for the general good. The examples of state electoral commissions, state civil service, state-controlled security outfits have shown that the governors are just being selfish to call for state police as they, indeed, have an overbearing influence on the state-controlled agencies so much so that in some states like Lagos State, the governor has virtually put Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA) over the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in traffic management, just for the sake of solely controlling the revenues from the offences. Similarly, the manner of operation of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) establishment, which has its security outfit, is not encouraging. The KAI officials have carried out their operations in Gestapo-like manners.'The argument that the indigenes should be allowed to police their areas is not convincing because even the present policing has community policing strategy which allows the residents and indigenes to cooperate with the police to uncover crimes,' he said.Other Nigerians have given other reasons the country should not toy with the idea of state police for now. Former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, told the Nigerian Tribune that it was wrong for people to lump the issue of state police with true federalism that the majority of Nigerians were canvassing for. 'Why should state governors want state police which will give them increased expenditure' At the moment, they are crying that they need more money. If they are in need of money, how can they cope with state police who will add to their expenditure''Secondly, we have had the native authority police before and it was misused for political reasons. Thirdly, the situation in Nigeria is that we have high level of insecurity. Therefore, the security of the nation should be in the hands of a federal police. Fourthly, we already have secessionist tendencies in the country. If you now give them state police, you give the states canvassing secessionist moves the opportunity to use state police to achieve their ends. Fifthly, the state governors have not been good at maintaining security in their states. So, they have security problems and with state police, they are likely to suppress some people. So, when you think about it in total, it is not in the interest of Nigeria to have state police,'' he said.The immediate past governor of Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, also joined the fray, last Thursday, as he declared that governors would abuse state police. Speaking at a lecture organised by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ibadan National Station, to mark the nation's 52nd Independence Anniversary, Alao-Akala said the growing agitation for state police, which was uncalled for, was capable of aggravating the volatile security challenges, facing the Nigerian nation.Akala, who delivered a lecture titled 'Governance and National Security Challenges'The Way Out', declared, 'I wish to state with all responsibility that we as a nation are not ripe for each state to have its own police force. We are all aware of the abuse of local government police during the First Republic. The government then used the local government police force as instruments of oppression, coercion, molestation, harassment and intimidation of their political opponents.
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