[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Dec., 201 9 , 9 ]
[© 2014- 2019 Ibadan Journal of Sociology]135Secretary, Lai Mohammed, says,
the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, under Jonathan’s
administration had increasingly become a lawless
force whose allegiance is only to the president and not
to the Constitution of Nigeria. Since the onset of the
President Jonathan-inspired political logjam in Rivers
State and the implosion of his party, the PDP, the
president has been depending on the Nigeria Police to
shore up his dwindling political fortune. The
insubordination of the Rivers State Super Police
Commissioner, Mbu; the police-sponsored fracas in
the Rivers State House of Assembly; the assault on the
five visiting governors by thugs working under the
direction and protection of the State Commissioner of
Police (quoted in 0wete,2013).It would thus appear that Mr. Mbu was acting the script of those opposed
to Governor Amaechi style of governance. Mr. Mbu was just a loyal
officer doing his job. After all, he was not responsible to the governor
but to the president through the Inspector General. The issue here is
clear: Mr. Mbu might have been a victim of the Nigerian structural
problem. It thus implies that if Mr. Ogunsakin, Mr. Mbu’s successor, had
found himself in similar situation, he would not have behaved
differently. He would have probably pitched his tents in the anti-
Amaechi camp so as not to face dire consequences: redeployment,
demotion, retirement, e.t.c. He would only have taken side with
Governor Amaechi if the organisation he works for is controlled by the
Rivers State Government.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The article sought to examine the politicisation of policing and its
implication for democratic consolidation in democratic Nigeria. In
furtherance of this objective, it clarified concepts that are germane,
sketched out the theoretical framework, reviewed extant literature and
provided explanatory framework for understanding the core problematic.
From these reviews and analyses, it found that professional policing is
a sine qua non for democratic consolidation but in Nigeria and other
post-colonies the police are more political than professional. It notes and
argues that as long as extant structure which centralizes public policing
in Nigeria endures, public order management in Nigeria, through the
auspices of the Nigeria police, would continue to be politicized. Against
these backgrounds, what should be done? One, in the short run, there is
the urgent need for the decentralization of the public policing system in