The Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, on Monday, lamented the dysfunctionality of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), pointing out that as currently constituted, it was not properly established to succeed.
Bamidele, also vice chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, further observed that any police structure that did not reflect Nigeria’s federal realities would not effectively address the roots of security challenges facing the federation.
He made the remarks at the 2024 Distinguished Personality Lecture Series jointly organised by the Department of Political Science and the Institute of Legislative Studies, University of Ilorin, Kwara State.
The lecture, titled: “Constitutional Amendment and the Political Dynamics of State Police in Nigeria”, was chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau I. Jibrin, who was represented by the Deputy Leader of the Senate, Oyelola Ashiru.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Saliu Mustapha; Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Sadiq Umar; Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Akintunde Yunus; Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Prof Wahab Egbewole (SAN); and Director General, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, Prof Abubakar Suleiman were in attendance.
Speaking at the session, Bamidele dissected diverse socio-economic and political forces responsible for the dysfunctionality of the police and reeled out antidotes to the problems of policing in Nigeria.
While warning 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 level without national legal frameworks.
Bamidele explained that the incessant deployment of the armed forces for the purpose of maintaining 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 further argued that the regular deployment of the armed forces across the federation was, no doubt, an indication that the present police structure could no longer address the present security challenges of the nation.
To correct the anomalies, the senate leader canvassed the adoption of a decentralised police model to address the myriad of security challenges currently undermining the country’s internal cohesion and disincentivising investors from coming to the country.
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