The police reform report submitted recently by the chairman of the Presidential Committee on police reforms, Mr Parry Osayande to President Goodluck Jonathan made salient recommendations in their findings.
A part of the recommendations made by committee was the total scrapping of the Ministry Of Police Affairs, alleging it to be an ivory tower of corruption built over the years which has also permeated into the Nigerian Police Force, whereby the rank and file are not performing to their duty as expected by Nigerians despite the huge funds channeled into the ministry. This has made the committee to call for its total scrapping.
Part of its recommendation reads, “The budgeted fund of the police is unjustifiably domiciled with the Ministry Of Police Affairs. The result is that some of the projects being executed are not priorities to the police. This is an aberration which has led to abuse, misapplication and haemorrhage of the limited resources made available to the police.
“The ministry determines police project and award contracts, including organising and running training programmes involving billions of naira with no input from the police who are the end users.”
The recommendation by the committee on the Ministry Of Police Affairs to be totally scrapped is not in the interest of Nigerians in general. It is quite understanding that corruption reigns supreme in the ministry as far as funding and equipping the police is concerned. However, calling for its total scrapping is not a panacea to the corruption that has corroded the ministry and the police, because all ministries, departments and agencies in Nigeria are deep-rooted in corruption, and why should the Ministry Of Police Affairs be the scapegoat as recommended by Osayande and his committee members?
It is pertinent to state that the reasons given by the committee in their recommendation to scrap the ministry is not convincing enough, rather it triggers questions and suspicions other than solutions as the committee thought that their recommendation would come to the rescue of the comatose police force.
The recommendation also fails to consider that throwing away the baby and the bath water is doing more harm than good. Critically examining the case the committee is making for its scrapping, the implication that would follow will worsen the remedy the committee is trying to proffer. This is because, many employees will be thrown into the labour market and the affected families will be frustrated with hardship.
Other aftereffects of the dissolution of the police affairs ministry are the sudden unemployment of its staff will cause many of their families to live in poverty and this might cause their children to drop out of school. The health implications that the recommendation will cause could be fatal; many employees could develop high blood pressure, stroke, mental disorder and illnesses caused by poor nutrition.
The social implication is that many employees will not be able to pay their house rent and other bills, thereby they will be thrown of their homes. While others would not be able to pay their loans owed the banks, of which failure to pay will lead to confiscation of their property. Many dependants will be affected.
Scrapping the ministry of police affairs will not succour the police; rather there should be recommendations for the repositioning of the ministry and investigating and dealing decisively with those involved in the corruption, whether serving or retired officers. The role of the ministry should be critically examined to revaluate its purpose, performance and productivity. And also funds should be given directly to the police, but it should be accountable to the ministry of police affairs.
The committee set by President Jonathan to look into the report of the Osayande committee should make its recommendation holistic and rational especially on the issue of scrapping the ministry of police affairs.
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