The Police
Yes the average Nigerian is known to have had one run in or the other with the police.
They are nothing but glorified bodyguards that protect only those that offer the highest buck. They the set up road blocks and harass you for the wrong reasons. Police are meant to be your friend and give you assistance. There are some good ones; don't get me wrong but the majority just wait for you to catch bait and pounce.
Its sick but one must look at if from two angles.
They are doing the opposite of what they are supposed to be doing. They are not your friend most times and what they can get from you is the primary thing on their mind. I for one make sure my house is in order so they never get to me so you have to do the same.
They are hired guns, you can win their loyalty with the obvious. More often than not, you see their their vehicles and personnel escorting wealthy people or staff of some multinational. you see them standing outside some buildings which are not government operated, posed as body guards. Is that their duty?
Walk in to the police station to make a complaint and the first thing you are slammed with; most times, s to bring some money for processing some paper document which is hand written. It is no guarantee that your complaint will be taken up and disputes that are civil once ended with the words "...the perpetrators of this dastardly act will be brought to book!", take that as a sign that case has been closed without thing done on it and relegated to the drawer of dust, waiting for the masses to forgot before throwing it out. Doubt me? Look at all the unsolved cases that have piled up in Nigerian History unsolved and you will understand what I saying.
But on the other hand...
If we must fix this problem, One must look closely at the problem and search for the root cause to find a solution. You can't treat symptoms.
The police are not well paid so they do have some excuse. Police in other parts of the world are well paid, in America for instance, salaries start from as low as $25,000 and goes as high as $50,000 or more.
This minimum if converted today in Naira is about 4,000,000.00.
Imagine earning that kind of money for an entry level... :O (Do the math for the other value)
He would live well and be happy to dispense his duties. Unfortunately this is not the case for the Nigerian police man. Theirs can start as low as 25,000 per month which is 300,000 per year.
That's an abysmal amount and just plain sad. When you earn this kind of money, think about the necessities and obligations these people have to take on; food, clothing, transportation, family, rent etc.
Its no wonder these men come down on us hard when we commit an offense ( ...and get caught on camera).
They have had no adequate training. Lets start from the top, police are meant to be smart, analytic and savvy. You cant acquire this just by moping. You should have gone to school. That brings us to the fault of our educational system but that is a discussion for another day.
The police force hire all sorts of people who do not have basic good enough training to work in the force. They also do not enhance their training on a regular basis. I believe the basic drills and the likes is all they get for the duration of their career in the police force if you can call that a career.
They do not have the facilities to dispense their jobs. The living conditions they are in and the equipment they are given i feel is not adequate. Do have proper investigative, forensic collection and analysis tools? All they have are vehicles and Guns. That is not policing, its village gardening they are doing.
They are not exposed regularly and in the right numbers. The way the world operates is changing and plans must should be made to address these changes when it comes knocking on your door step. How often do these police go for exchange programmes and the likes? That is fairly obvious.
Their uniform ...let me not go there.
All in all, Its a sad situation and the government needs to look into the welfare of these individuals that form the first line of defense against internal threats of any origin. It is a pity as well, because they have contributed to the decay of these people and claim they do not have what to take care of them.
Any government that fails to take care of its citizens is a failed state and the police are its citizens.
They are nothing but glorified bodyguards that protect only those that offer the highest buck. They the set up road blocks and harass you for the wrong reasons. Police are meant to be your friend and give you assistance. There are some good ones; don't get me wrong but the majority just wait for you to catch bait and pounce.
Its sick but one must look at if from two angles.
They are doing the opposite of what they are supposed to be doing. They are not your friend most times and what they can get from you is the primary thing on their mind. I for one make sure my house is in order so they never get to me so you have to do the same.
They are hired guns, you can win their loyalty with the obvious. More often than not, you see their their vehicles and personnel escorting wealthy people or staff of some multinational. you see them standing outside some buildings which are not government operated, posed as body guards. Is that their duty?
Walk in to the police station to make a complaint and the first thing you are slammed with; most times, s to bring some money for processing some paper document which is hand written. It is no guarantee that your complaint will be taken up and disputes that are civil once ended with the words "...the perpetrators of this dastardly act will be brought to book!", take that as a sign that case has been closed without thing done on it and relegated to the drawer of dust, waiting for the masses to forgot before throwing it out. Doubt me? Look at all the unsolved cases that have piled up in Nigerian History unsolved and you will understand what I saying.
But on the other hand...
If we must fix this problem, One must look closely at the problem and search for the root cause to find a solution. You can't treat symptoms.
The police are not well paid so they do have some excuse. Police in other parts of the world are well paid, in America for instance, salaries start from as low as $25,000 and goes as high as $50,000 or more.
This minimum if converted today in Naira is about 4,000,000.00.
Imagine earning that kind of money for an entry level... :O (Do the math for the other value)
He would live well and be happy to dispense his duties. Unfortunately this is not the case for the Nigerian police man. Theirs can start as low as 25,000 per month which is 300,000 per year.
That's an abysmal amount and just plain sad. When you earn this kind of money, think about the necessities and obligations these people have to take on; food, clothing, transportation, family, rent etc.
Its no wonder these men come down on us hard when we commit an offense ( ...and get caught on camera).
They have had no adequate training. Lets start from the top, police are meant to be smart, analytic and savvy. You cant acquire this just by moping. You should have gone to school. That brings us to the fault of our educational system but that is a discussion for another day.
The police force hire all sorts of people who do not have basic good enough training to work in the force. They also do not enhance their training on a regular basis. I believe the basic drills and the likes is all they get for the duration of their career in the police force if you can call that a career.
They do not have the facilities to dispense their jobs. The living conditions they are in and the equipment they are given i feel is not adequate. Do have proper investigative, forensic collection and analysis tools? All they have are vehicles and Guns. That is not policing, its village gardening they are doing.
They are not exposed regularly and in the right numbers. The way the world operates is changing and plans must should be made to address these changes when it comes knocking on your door step. How often do these police go for exchange programmes and the likes? That is fairly obvious.
Their uniform ...let me not go there.
All in all, Its a sad situation and the government needs to look into the welfare of these individuals that form the first line of defense against internal threats of any origin. It is a pity as well, because they have contributed to the decay of these people and claim they do not have what to take care of them.
Any government that fails to take care of its citizens is a failed state and the police are its citizens.
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