Cry, The Beloved Police!

As I neared home on my way home yesterday, traffic slowed as a result of some obstructing danfos and a policeman crossed the road not far from the vehicle I was in. Somehow my eyes were riveted to this individual and I tracked his progress across the dividing lawn and across the other side of the dual-carriageway and on into a bank building where he seemed to have some business. A huge wave of sympathy overwhelmed me indescribably. It was a feeling so unexpected that I had to consciously stop and evaluate it.

I simply felt sorry for the policeman!

He wasn’t the most disheveled one I had ever seen, far from it. Except for a cap that sat a bit askew on his head and the slightly ill–fitting trousers, he looked averagely smart in his uniform. So there was more to this. Realization dawned slowly.

Last week, the news broke all over the news about the yet-unresolved number of policemen that were literally slaughtered in an ambush, during an attempted anti-insurgency operation in some obscure part of Nasarawa state. Exaggerated or not, the casualty figure was catastrophic. The lives of scores of husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles, nephews, cousins (I would not like to imagine there were mothers, sisters or aunties in that lot) – breadwinners all, were obliterated in an instant. Like animals! Yesterday, during a report on the incident, some pictures of the gory remains were telecast and in a newspaper publication, the number of slain men stood at 103!

My mind flashed back to a report that was aired on Channels TV some time back and that trended all over social media for several weeks, on the dilapidated state of the Police College, Ikeja. The widespread outcry and public indignation over the facts that were uncovered was justifiable but till date I do not know if anything else, positive or otherwise came out of that incident.

If we must be totally honest with ourselves, the Nigerian policeman is one of the most despised individuals in our society. His job is one of the most undesirable. Maybe was, if my facts are not up to date. But that has been the trend as far as I can remember. I haven’t had or I’ve rather tried not to have too many opportunities to interact with the police so as not to experience any of the various actions for which they are vilified. Of course, I had on several occasions, observed some unwholesome and/or questionable practices from a distance. But somehow, without personal evidence, I had subscribed howbeit mildly, to the public opinion about our Law Enforcers. I kept my distance from them and viewed all their activities and actions with suspicion, especially when they were in uniform and outside their station.

Now that I think about it, I don’t know how this situation started or how it deteriorated this far. When and how did the police service acquire so much contempt and disrepute? Officers of the law ought to be revered. Their mere presence should inspire awe and respect, or at least dread for those who break the law. The Holy Book says that rulers (those who are empowered to enforce the law) are not a terror to good works, but to the evil and that if we do that which is good, they will commend us. In another quote, it also says that rulers are sent for the punishment of evil doers and the praise of those who do well. So any upright, law-abiding citizen should have no need to fear an Officer of the Law. As a matter of fact, they should be welcomed and celebrated at every turn for the sacrifices they make on the job and the dangers they are subjected to in their attempts at maintaining a sane society. But this is not the case with the Nigerian police. 

When and how did the police service acquire so much contempt and disrepute? Officers of the law ought to be revered.

Of course, with a background knowledge of the deplorable training conditions in the Police College, portrayed in the video report I referred to earlier, it’s a small wonder the caliber of officers being produced. How can a rundown, decrepit, ill-equipped, obviously underfunded institution with a morale-dousing learning environment produce well-groomed, balanced and motivated individuals, in whose hands we can entrust the enforcement of the guiding principles of our society!, except perhaps, by divine intervention or the rare, exceptionally optimistic and determined mind that rises above these debilitating effects and succeeds despite the odds.

Officers are often criticized and labeled as being uneducated and ignorant. But these men volunteer for the service many literate others reject. So what do we expect? The system like many others in our society operates on a garbage-in, garbage-out protocol. If an effort is not made to bring these men up to date and transform them into the ideal prototype of a law enforcer, then we must live with the results.

When Police reforms are spoken of, they seem so well meaning. While I am sure that plans are being effected to actualize the reforms, I am yet to see the effects on the average policeman in my neighbourhood. On a side note and at risk of sounding ignorant, I wonder why the new police uniform scheme that was announced a while back has not been fully implemented across the outfit. I’ve only see it on television, usually worn by the higher cadre officers and very rarely have I seen one up close. The all-black ‘thingy’ has not helped the reputation of the Force. The connotations of the black colour and its supposed correlation with the disrepute in which the Police Service is held, has been the subject of many jokes in Nigeria.

As the details of what happened in Nasarawa on Tuesday, the 7th unfold, I am not so interested in the whys and wherefores, as with the human lives that were so cheaply obliterated. This is not a question of what fabrics they wore or what mission they were on but of the unfortunate numbers, so unappreciated whose only reward might be a moment of silence…

I hope there will be more than that though. Perhaps, some of the more revolutionary, well-intended reforms will be forced into implementation.

Perhaps, honour will once more be restored to the Service.

Perhaps, it will once more be a thing of pride to be a police officer.

Perhaps, as a result, we will encounter police officers on the road and wholeheartedly salute them, motivated not by dread of the trouble they can manipulate you into but by deep respect.

Maybe…

I hope.

I pray.

I believe.