LITTLE can be done about security without the police. All the little security appendages that have been created over the years have only weakened the police on several fronts – less funding, and less political will to reform the police to standards that will serve the country well.

How willing is the leadership to change the police? What makes government think that a change of the Inspector General of Police will result in the improvements that it wants in the police? Why is there fragmented treatment of issues of funding, training, equipment, logistics?

Are the authorities surprised that the billions of Naira that state, and federal and local governments spend on the police is not yielding the expected results?

The police are the major challenge. Governments have conveniently ignored them. Even the police are not treating themselves well. Issues as basic as training get poor attention. The consequences are obvious from the number of police officers who lose their lives to criminals who do not have better training. The number is rising, just as the number of direct attacks on the police is increasing.

Weapon handling is poorer. The purchase of more sophisticated arms for those who have not been trained to use them is a waste. The police today are a burden that government should tackle through a comprehensive reform of the force.

The critical areas to deal with must include the size of the force. A 300,000 force for a population of more than 160 million makes mockery of any expectations of performance from the police, particular    when one-third of the number is occupied with VIP protection. A ratio of one police officer to about 800 people, archaic equipment, and operational response strategies are deterrents to the force’s efficiency.

A strong police force would handle the matters of security with better assurance and gain the confidence of the people. When debates about the police begin, politicians highjack them with their base focus on state police as solution. How many States can really fund the police? What becomes the fate of States that cannot? The anticipated reform should answer those questions.

Agreed, the police have structural problem. Why must an office depend on Abuja, hundreds of kilometres from the scene of an incident to make a decision? How does Abuja determine the security needs of an area it does not know?

On its part, the police have to regain the confidence it has thrown away. Police officers are too ready to cede their responsibilities to security agencies, under the guise that they are better equipped. Over the years, private security organisations are encroaching on the duties of the police. The police do not oppose the practice; rather, its top officers try to explore the situation.

Do the police see the affront in a billboard advertising a private security that is erected within the premises of the Police College, Ikeja? What does that billboard say about the effectiveness of the police?

Government must have a security policy. Where the police and politics fit into that policy is a matter of debate, but they are important. The perceived levels of insecurity, high crime rates and the general uncertainties about the abilities of the government to protect the people, should be tackled.

Only government knows where it stands with security. Peoples’ impression is that government can do more. Sometimes the impression is that government is doing nothing about a fundamental issue that determines almost everything.