This is the best thing to come out of the Nigerian House of Representative in the last five years. Enabling the establishment of state police is an indication of taking national security seriously. The Nigerian Police Force was setup in 1820 by the British colonial administrators to enforce their will on the Nigerian people, not necessarily to enforce law and order. After independence, successive Nigerian governments retained the structure of the police force to subjugate and enforce the policies of dictatorships; it was never intended to protect the life, property and liberty of the Nigerian people. With the establishment of state police departments, Nigerian citizens can actually have a police that responds to their needs rather than the one that perpetuates the force of dictatorships. Let’s hope the Nigerian senate would give it the stamp of approval this law deserves.
