Senate Majority Leader, Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele on Monday, 01 July in Ilorin, Kwara State bemoaned the defective structure of the Nigeria Police as agitations continue to mount over inefficiencies and numerous flaws of the nation’s police system – noting that the police as presently constituted is not built to thrive in the nation.
This he posited at the 2024 Distinguished Personality Lecture Series in collaboration with the Department of Political Science and Institute of Legislative Studies at the University of Ilorin.
According to the senator who also serves as the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution any police structure that did not reflect Nigeria’s federal realities would not effectively address the roots of security challenges facing the federation.
The lecture, titled “Constitutional Amendment and the Political Dynamics of State Police in Nigeria,” was chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, who was represented by Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Oyelola Ashiru.
Bamidele at the event dissected diverse socio-economic and political forces responsible for the dysfunctionality of the Nigeria Police and reeled out antidotes to the problems of policing in the country.
He warned against the incessant deployment of the armed forces without compliance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, Bamidele faulted the undue establishment and operations of vigilante groups and security outfits at the state levels without a national legal framework.
Senator Bamidele posited that the incessant deployment of the armed forces to maintain law and order internally was at variance with their mandate under the 1999 Constitution and did not portray Nigeria as a truly democratic and internally stable democracy.
He also observed that the challenges facing the Nigeria Police were many saying:” How the police are organised, managed, governed and funded can determine its ability to deliver on its constitutional mandate of protecting the life and property of Nigerians.
“Understanding these dynamics can help in appreciating what needs to be done to improve security in the country. Nigerians do not fully appreciate the depth and scale of the challenges facing the police. I maintain that the police have not been set up properly to succeed in this nation. Effective policing in Nigeria is almost impossible unless there are fundamental changes. Indeed, the constraints faced by the police are used as excuses for various misconducts and unprofessional behaviours by many officers of the force”.
