Patriotism Sake: Why State Police cannot be done with this National Assembly
By Bashir Adefaka
“Imagine what could have happened to the last Saturday June 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State if Fayose that used Ekiti State Broadcasting Corporation to mislead people had got the power of the state police! A governor, who as early as 10 am when election was just commencing, had announced and released the results of the election had tendency to overrun the entire process if he had a state police to himself; yet many leaders, governors, members and sympathisers of PDP, who saw how the PDP’s Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government used Federal Police and soldiers to kill, maim and rig the 2014 election that brought this same Fayose to Government House, believed him.”
It is no longer strange that whenever the now not-clearly All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate President Bukola Saraki vacates his seat for his deputy and People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s Ike Ekweremadu, something negative is fishing. It is therefore not uncommon to note that sitting on that highest seat by the Deputy Senate President on behalf of the former governor of Kwara State on the day a bill seeking to establish a state police in the country was heading to something.
Earlier, there was an apparent plot to destabilize the recent National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by Allah-knows-all of those politicians of selfness who bore that plot. But the plot failed as APC emerged with a more veritable National Working Committee (NWC) now headed by former Governor of Edo State and one time Antankoro President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) when NLC was in its prime, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
The Convention held at a very hugely secured Eagle Square Abuja had security men drawn from some nearby states to provide adequate protection for the participants. Knowing that they had failed, the next thing they could think of was to make another of their strike force happen in Barkin Laden Local Government Area of Plateau where the apparently sponsored unknown gunmen killed over 100 innocent Nigerians on the very day it became clear that the APC convention had become a success.
On ground already was the “Religion Department” of the desperate politicians headed by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) now joined by National Christian Elders’ Forum (NCEF) who went straight to town to say the Islamisation of Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari was at it again and they claimed the President’s Fulani had attacked Barkin Ladi killing Christians. This was readily hyped by their “Media and Communications Department” headed some hitherto respected member-organisation in the Nigerian media community and the next thing, Christian Beron of Jos began to waylay Muslims whether in the bush path or traveling on the high way, stopping vehicles, searching out for Muslim occupants and killing them. They did this claiming that they were revenging the killing of Christians in Barkin Ladi and it was caused by no other people than CAN, NCEF and their media partners working for the desperate politicians.
It will be recalled that the Governor of Plateau State, Barrister Simon Lalong, hearing about the sad event moved swiftly from Abuja back home to take his position as Chief Security Officer of the state and, truly so, Governor Lalong declared curfew in the affected area. That was a clear departure from what happened in Taraba and Benue where the governors, who are now exposed by security sources are main sponsors of the killings in their respective states, would only shed crocodile tears crying that the Federal Government of Fulani Muhammadu Buhari is killing their people and their CAN/NCEF and media partners helped them carry the cry abroad. They however shot themselves in the foot as they could not fault the same “Fulani” Muhammadu Buhari of failing to make them access the security votes due to them to tackle security situation.
Having realized again that even the Barkin Ladi attempt to further weaken the will of the President to forge ahead in his anti-corruption, anti-insurgency and anti-economic terrorism wars which is the main reason the #CorruptionFightBack has been so high and heated that taking of human souls mean nothing to the operators and sponsors of the conflicts, suddenly a Bill on State Police surfaced at the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on a day PDP’s Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu was seated on the not-too-clear APC’s Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and the Senators, who have persistently failed to let see the light of the day the two Anti-Corruption Bills sent to them by President Buhari since December 2015, strangely quickly picked the Bill on State Police and in a jiffy it passed first reading.
That is how they exploit Nigeria’s period of sadness and sorrow to smuggle their unpatriotic, personal wishes into our collective national lawmaking. Their intention was that, if they have failed to destroy the doing-well APC’s National Convention, they could as well seize the period of sorrow of the well publicized, correctly or incorrectly even as it became apparent that fake news reportage was rampant in the Barkin Ladi’s killings by the traditional media, people of Plateau to achieve state police for themselves. What they wanted to do was that, if after they have passed the Bill to amend the Constitution and slot in the state police and President Buhari refused to sign it into law, they would again rise to overrule him.
But the activities of the now clearly defeated Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State over the just concluded governorship election in the South West state and the supporting misleading efforts being remotely provided by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State have exposed the proponent of the Bill on State Police.
Imagine what could have happened to the last Saturday June 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State if Fayose that used Ekiti State Broadcasting Corporation to mislead people had got the power of the state police! A governor, who as early as 10 am when election was just commencing, had announced and released the results of the election had tendency to overrun the entire process if he had a state police to himself; yet many leaders, governors, members and sympathisers of PDP, who saw how the PDP’s Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government used Federal Police and soldiers to kill, maim and rig the 2014 election that brought this same Fayose to Government House, believed him.
And they are even asking him and his godson, Olusola Eleka (a professor?) to go ahead to court claiming that the election, certified by all global and local observers including PDP agents and even wife of APC/Buhari’s arch-enemy Yinka Odumakin of PDP/Afenifere who came to the election monitory as President of Women Arise, Joe Odumakin, was marred widespread of violence and massive rigging.
From the standpoint of the fact that the sponsor of the Bill is not trustworthy, the Bill on State Police should not be allowed by the veritable members of APC in the Senate to pass. If the leadership uses its influence to get it passed, President Buhari must not sign it into law and if they attempt to overrule him, they will have the Nigerian people to contend with.
This is imperative because, people, who at their respective have no independent police but have made laws which caused insecurity in the land and have faked news about police attacks, police slapping and government house blocking by a sitting governor, would drift Nigeria into the worst of Rwanda if they have State Police. This is key!
No governor not even any citizen can say the Federal Police currently in existence does not favour him except he that has ulterior motive. This is so because there is no police officer, be he commissioner, DPO or even any personnel that should act against crime but fails on excuse not order from above that is not being sanctioned. Lagos in opposition and now as of ruling Party has been handling its security perfectly with Federal Police without itches. Yes, State Police is success in United States of America and Britain but Nigerian politicians themselves are responsible for why Nigeria is not ripe for it. God bless Nigeria!
*Bashir Adefaka is Lagos-based Media Practitioner. Send your reactions to him via Whatsapp: 08163323906. Email: omope72@gmail.com
