WHY NIGERIANS DON’T APPRECIATE THE POLICE EFFORT
The Nigeria police force pride itself as the mother of other security outfits in Nigeria. This is because all the other major security agencies were carved out of the police like the ARMY, DSS, EFCC etc at one time or the other.
I strongly believe the zeal at which the police do their work in Nigeria is the reasons Nigerians don’t appreciate their efforts. An average Nigeria suspects there is hidden agenda which the members of the public is not aware of, let take for instance, you will observe that in any relationship, a reluctant partners are usually more appreciated and respected than the party who is willing to make more sacrifices for the relationship to work. It is just natural. The police must work 24/7, public holidays like Christmas and Sallah inclusive, not minding rain and sunshine. No time you go to the police station you will not meet police men / women to attend to your request. It is a common saying that the day a police station is inaugurated that is the day the keys to the station is discarded because it will not be useful again. Unlike some of the nation security agencies that close from work and lock up their offices from 7pm only to resume the next day. Police men / women risk everything including the lives of their loved one to ensure safety and peace in the country. Some police men especially the mobile police men (MOPOL) can abandon their wives and children for years and be at special duties very far from his family. The CPs, DPOs, HODs and other operational officers do have camp beds in their offices. Because day and nights they are in their offices to respond quickly to distress calls. Some of them in the process develop high blood pressure as a result of sleeplessness and anxiety. I personally believe enthusiasm at which police do their work is uncalled for. Take for instance an event that is scheduled for 3pm, police authority will deploy their officers and men to the venue of the event by 6am, by their reckoning the aim is to dominate the venue before the event commences to prevent hoodlums activities. So at the time the event actually commences the men have virtually exhausted their energy. Many policemen are hardly allowed to go on annual leave. This is because some of them occupy offices that are said to be too “sensitive” to be left unmanned by experience hands. Leave are suspended during emergency and “ember” months. This affect the men psychologically and many other ways. Also since the policemen don’t have the opportunity to take his & children to his hometown, because most of the officer / men are transferred far from their home state of origin, so their children they hardly know their parents relatives, sometime don’t even know their villages. Often when an unforeseen event like the death of the policeman occurs the children usually have unpleasant encounter with their relations at their villages. Their parent communities often treat them as outcast.
The Nigeria law forbids the police to engage in any form of pressure group or association nor allow them to neither address the press nor create any form of avenue where they can express their feelings to the members of the public. So they are therefore oppressed and depressed.
So as a way out for the police to garner the respect and appreciation of the public is to mellow down on their self-delusion of working very hard to impress the public who seem not to care or bother. There are other sister security agencies who don’t stress themselves at all. Sometime you will see them in the street walk past a scene where mob gather to lynch a suspect. Sometime in an emergency situation where you see police men / women running helter scatter to assist the victims their sister security agencies will relax and watch from afar. They believe at the end of the month they collect their salary which may even, be better than the police personnel salary.
The police authority should amend their force order to make it mandatory that all cases reported at the police stations are charge to court.
And also police should dismantle all forms of road blocks on the high way. They should allow their officers / men to make use of the social media to some extent to express their selves and air their feelings so that when any issue arises the public will be able to hear their own side of the story adequately.