By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

The congregation of local and international guests that gathered at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State last Friday for the public lecture was the unusual lot. Seated in the university hall were distinguished men and women from varied professions, arguably the most urbane congregation the university had received in recent years.

It of course had to do with the personality and position of the lecturer, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy president of the senate and chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, SCCR.

The lecture titled “Policing and national security in Nigeria: The choices before us” was understandably selected in the light of the ongoing security challenges in the country that have brought renewed focus on the nation’s security architecture.

To discuss Senator Ekweremadu’s paper were some distinguished Nigerians drawn from the professions, among whom were Mr. Simon Kolawole, former editor, Thisday Newspaper and presently a member of the paper’s Editorial Board; Mr. Brian Browne former Consular, US Embassy, Nigeria; Prof. Cyprian Okonkwo, Commissioner, Nigeria Law Reforms Commission, Abuja; Prof. Nuhu Yakubu, former Vice Chancellor, University of Abuja and presently vice chancellor, Sokoto State University, Sokoto and Prof. OBC Nwoliseh, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ibadan.

The governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi was present as the chief host of the event. Ekweremadu, remarkably, is not new to the advocacy for the restructuring of the country’s federalism, which last year, he dubbed as feeding bottle federalism arising from the skewed operation of the structures of the federation.

Structures of the federation
From the onset, Senator Ekweremadu made it clear that the presentation was essentially his personal opinion and not reflective of the senate or the Senate Committee on Constitution Review which he heads. The DSP commenced the lecture with the classic definition of the role of the state in the lives of the populace. He said: “It was the Greek philosopher, Aristotle who said that the state exists for the sake of life, and continues for the sake of the best life. Along the same line, the Constitution of the United States of America succinctly captures the essence of government. It reads:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

It was significant that the classic definition of the role of the state as enumerated by Ekweremadu has also found bearing in the much touted constitutional provision that is much quoted by some Nigerian parliamentarians, to wit, that “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

He then proceeded to trace the evolution of the Nigeria Police from its first days in the 19th century.

“The Nigeria Police emerged from various constabularies at various stages of colonialism and were primarily aimed at ministering to the imperial interests of the British overlords. The history of the Nigeria police can be traced back to the year 1861, when the British Consul in Lagos established a 30-man strong Consular Guard. This was to later become the “Hausa Guard” in 1863 which was regularised by an Ordinance in 1879 to become the Constabulary for the Colony of Lagos or more popularly as the “Hausa Constabulary” commanded by an Inspector-General of Police.”

“The Lagos Police Force was created on January 1, 1896. Following the creation of the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1891 which had its headquarters in Calabar, another constabulary was formed for the protectorate. The area was further declared the Niger Coast in 1893 with a Niger Coast Constabulary. The Royal Niger Constabulary was created in 1888 by the Royal Niger Company after the company was granted the Royal Charter by Britain in 1886. The Royal Niger Constabulary had its headquarters in Lokoja where the Royal Niger Company had important installations and business interests along the River Niger.”

“The Constabulary was later divided into the Northern Nigeria Police Force and the Northern Nigeria Regiment following the proclamation of the Northern Protectorate and Southern Protectorate at the expiration of Royal Niger Company’s Charter. Part of the Niger Coast Constabulary and the Lagos Police Force formed the Southern Nigeria Police Force in 1906, whereas the major remnant of what was the Niger Coast Constabulary formed the Southern Nigeria Regiment.”

In context, Ekweremadu’s assertion was to prove that the Nigeria Police from the colonial era to the demise of the first republic was decentralized to the various regions. The organization of the police into a federal hierarchy commenced after the military intervention and has progressed until now.

Enumerating the advantages of state policing, he cited among others, the competition that would arise in various states seeking to establish better police forces, better training, job creation, the fact that policemen would better police environments they are familiar with. “The current situation where a policeman born and bred in Bayelsa, for instance, is posted to Sokoto or Yobe already puts such police officer in a disadvantageous position by reason of language barrier, cultural differences and limited knowledge of the environment. So, the police officer is rendered ineffective ab initio,” he said.

Senator Ekweremadu also marshalled points adduced by opponents of state police, notably, the possibility of secession and political abuse by governors.

While appreciating the concern of sceptics he, nevertheless, pointed out that the disadvantage arising from abuse of state police by governors did not as much as outweigh the advantages he enumerated. Besides, he said that operational guidelines could be made that would limit the role of governors in the operations of state police.

He enumerated a number of other federations operating multi level policing from where Nigeria could learn from even as he powerfully asserted that Nigeria’s continued policing system was archaic, dysfunctional and out of tune with the nation’s federalism.

National security
In the discussion that followed, Professor Onyeka Nwolisa of the University of Ibadan, noted his concern that the concept of national security in Nigeria had been narrowed to the provision of logistics such as vehicles and arms without consideration of the environmental concerns. He particularly cited the provision of jobs and infrastructure as a complement to the security architecture towards reducing breaches in the security network.

Nwolisa was to also proffer consideration of what was called as Strategic Spiritual Intelligence, SSI in the resolution of unresolved crimes. He wondered why babalawos and other native means were not being used to resolve difficult crimes.

Governor Obi the chief host in his own remarks called for the full implementation of federalism. The public lecture which was organised by the university through its department of public administration was indeed a bold intervention into an issue of topical debate. It was as such not surprising that Ekweremadu paid glowing tributes to the university vice-chancellor, Prof. Boniface Egboka for the initiative.

The only scar to the lecture was the loss of Mr. John Abba-Ogbodo, a journalist with The Guardian who died in an accident on his way to attend the lecture.