A former Commissioner of Police, Balarabe Sule (rtd.), has warned that the newly legislated state police architecture will collapse under the weight of funding deficits and executive abuse across many states of the federation.
Sule, who was reacting to the Senate’s passage of the executive bill establishing state police, cautioning that despite its crime-reduction potential, Nigeria remains unprepared for the transition.
“I can very well tell you that many states will not have the resources to equip and pay remuneration for those to be employed to function effectively,” he said.
The retired officer identified five fundamental threats to the policy’s success: inadequate funding, corruption, abuse of power by governors, clash of interests and lack of operational uniformity across the federation.
On corruption, Sule drew a direct line between poor remuneration and professional compromise.
“When you don’t pay them well and as at when due, they will be exposed to corruption. You don’t expect an officer who is not well paid and equipped to perform optimally,” he warned.
He expressed particular concern over political interference, fearing that state chief executives would weaponise the new force against perceived opponents.
“I also fear that state police will be subject to abuse by the governors who pay them, irrespective of the checks and balances,” he said.
Sule noted that the absence of uniform operational standards across 36 constitutionally distinct states would further deepen these fractures, arguing that each state’s peculiar economic realities made a one-size-fits-all policing model unworkable.
Despite his reservations, the former commissioner acknowledged the inherent value of community-based policing, noting that officers recruited from their localities would possess invaluable local intelligence.
“In your locality, you practically know everyone and where crimes are likely to be committed.
“Recruitment will be done in such a way that only indigenous people will be posted to their area,” he said.
Vanguard
