I love the Nigerian Police. They are the best in my perception of the security force. Although they don’t look as smart as other police force in other countries, they still command my respect. I only blame this to the long-time negligence of the government. In other countries, the police personnel are always looking smart and charismatic, not that they are better than our police force but because their government value their security. They have outstanding staff welfare, they are given enough attention, conducive working environment and adequate working equipment. While in Nigeria the reverse is the case.
In Nigeria, security is very poor, the Nigerian police don’t know who they are fighting, from armed robbers, Boko Haram to Herdsmen, militants, kidnappers and the likes. None of these groups carries any logo or any means of identification. None of them can be easily identified or traced, but then police use their own experience and skills to fetch out bad people from the good ones. Whenever I hear of any bad news against the police, I don’t blame them, because the way the Nigerian government treat the police, is the same way the police will treat the public.
It saddens me anytime I think of the way the Nigerian government not taking good care of the police the way they should because their job is risky. I believe that they should be treated fairly and justly by the government. Their salary is very poor. It is just like a stipend compared to what other workers in government parastatals earn. The government does not motivate them, so tell me why they won’t beg.
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These people give their lives for the safety of the nation. They give hope in despair, they fall for us to stand and change the course of history. No traditional titles, no government recognition, no chieftaincy awards, but they fight with the last drop of their blood to ensure the safety of the nation. Oh! Yes, it’s what they sign for. They took an oath for that, but they also deserve some accolades, they deserve some credit.
Hail the Nigeria Police. I wonder why we don’t appreciate them. It’s so sad that we don’t respect them and see the sacrifices they do. Gunmen kill them every other day but yet we don’t see their effort and recognize them in the society. They’re human beings like us. They have families that care for them too.
We say they beg and they are bad people in the society but do you for once ask yourself why they do what they do? NO! I don’t think so, but there is a reason why they do what they do and it’s all the fault of the government.
The Nigerian police personnel were said to have protested over non-payment of their monthly salaries and allowances. They did that because they were angry over the non-payment of their dues in the last six months, which is very unfair and can lead to their nonchalant behaviour. Police die every other day in this country, from the Boko Haram, to the herdsmen, to Shiites, to militants, unknown gunmen, kidnappers, armed robbers and many more. Just of recent, 7 policemen were reported killed by some unknown gunmen at Galadimawa junction in Abuja. This is tragic, killed at the line of duty. How many of us want to die at the line of our duties? No matter the pay, talk less when the pay is not worth it. So please the Nigerian police deserve a credit no matter what.
However, sometimes the police behave in an unfriendly way because they are frustrated. The government don’t pay their allowances. It is not only in the police force, but it should be applied in all organizations. Employees need to be motivated. If you want to get a good result in the growth of the organization, as an employer, staff welfare is a key. You want a good result in your organization but yet you don’t satisfy your employees and make them happy, it is not done that way. That’s the same way with the government and the police too.
The government should make the police happy by improving their salary and paying them on time with their allowances. Provide them with modern working tools. Renovate all the police stations in the country with modern facilities and also the police barracks. The government should make the police feel comfortable and with that, the Nigeria police will deliver.
Nigerians and the government should put hands together in bringing the Nigerian police back to being committed to their job with integrity, and also change their perceptions towards Nigerian police, with that it would encourage the police to change for the better because it helps someone to change from bad to good when you believe in that person.
Ms Yuguda can be reached at hadiza.yuguda@yahoo.com and @hadeezahy on Twitter.
