There is a saying that for every action, there must be reaction, which the Nigeria Police, through the new Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, seem to or pretend to be oblivious of.
No one would argue that the Nigeria police has, in one way or the other, not taken sides in matters pertaining to partisan politics since the beginning of this Republic.
But, the rate at which the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) is leading his men and officers into glaring politicking, as the nation approaches 2015 elections, considered as having the potentials of dismembering the country, is uncomfortable to the right thinking people.
The posture which the police is showing, of dancing to the tune of he who provides the piper, is not good both for the image and character of the Force.
From the day Suleiman was appointed, this posture began to take root, though it has for long, as earlier acknowledged, been showing. Indeed, the right thinking Nigerians who have their heads correctly placed on top of their shoulders have been expecting that with elections at hand, Suleiman would re-direct the system to a more honourable way: of fairness and indeed, professionalism. Such people are being proved wrong.
As a matter of fact, when President Goodluck Jonathan jumped other senior Police officers (Deputy Inspectors of Police) to appoint Suleiman, an Assistant Inspector of Police (AIG) as IGP, people thought that he was the messiah the Force needed to firm up and come back to the path of honour.
But the looks on the face of Suleiman, as he was being appointed then was that of “gratitude” to the person of the President, with the body language that clearly said: “I’m here to serve you, your Excellency.”
From that point, it was clear Of course that every appointment the President made in recent times, and most of his actions, have been tailored strictly to make his election in 2015 for his supposed second term in office very easy.
Though, there are no concrete evidences to show that President Jonathan has been personally dictating to the IGP, but the body language of the Presidency (the Presidential aides all over the place) has been loud enough for anybody to understand that IGP Suleiman is not here to observe the constitutional roles of the Police.
In other words, the gradual abandonment of constitutional roles by the police in order for them to serve the narrow interests of a few people around the corridors of power, has also been gradually eroding the trust, by majority of Nigerians outside the power blocs, in the police.
It was as if the IGP Suleiman had not yet come to terms with the consequences of reducing Police into the guards for a few powerful individuals in power when he wailed over the physical attack on his men who went to block the entry of the speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, into the National Assembly’s premises a couple of weeks ago.
The reality on the ground is that the police men and women are being dragged into the murky waters of politics, taking sides with a few people and abandoning their constitutional roles, and what they are doing is dragging themselves into constant face-off with the rest of the members of the society.
Some top ranking officers would need to start cautioning themselves against the culture of boot leaking those who appoint or cause them to be appointed or promoted to high ranks, only to use such positions to humiliate the rest of the people or the political opponents.
That is the only way the Police would earn the respect, the cooperation and some measures of “fear” from Nigerians across the political divides.
Turn the other way round, the police should expect fight-back, disrespect, frustration and molestation from the people they are supposed to protect.
[myad]
