A policeman who craved for anonymity has revealed how the Police Service Commission, politicians and the Inspector General of Police are stagnating the career progression of some rank and file policemen who are seeking to rise to the position of officers.
The policeman, in an email to The Eagle Online, said the power play over those to be promoted from the rank and file to officers has stalled the approved promotion since 2014.
The rank and file are policemen from the rank of Constable to Sergeant, while officers are from Inspector and above.
In the email, the policeman said there is always a power struggle over those to benefit from such promotion exercise, the 2014 one inclusive.
He said since the Force does not lack enough qualified rank and file to rise to the position of officers, the challenge has always been those to benefit as each of the centre of power wants to dominate.
The email, unedited, reads in full:
The Nigeria Police Force, without mincing words, is the largest government security agency in Africa. Its work, force comprising a large chunk of the rank and file, work assiduously in both fair and inclement season of the year, yet are at the receiving end of everything, yet against all odd, they struggled to earn a higher academic qualification with the belief that it will give them a hope of brighter tomorrow.
The Force has three (3) entry points viz: enlistment into the Constable, Cadet Inspectors, Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) cadres respectively. The Force has never been in short supply of those to fill the Constable cadres, obviously because of its low level educational requirements, unlike the ASPs that entails higher academic degrees. Suffice to say, that was when it became imperative for the Police Acts and Regulation to state in Section 39 of Part IV (Appointments) that:
“when vacancies in the establishment of Assistant
Superintendents of Police cannot, by reason of UNAVAILABILITY
of SUITABLE candidates, be filled by promotions from within the
Force, the Inspector General shall so inform the Police Council, and
may request it to arrange for the post to be filled by direct entry”.
From the above, one could clearly see that two key words “unavailability” and “suitability” in time past, justified the action of the Police Service Commission to source for ASP from civilians, through direct entry. But that cannot be said of the present crop of well-groomed and educated rank and file, some who are already holders of Masters degree; and who auspiciously thought that the journey of career progression for them as begun by two out-gone Inspectors-General of Police in 2014-2015 when they where told to file out for documentation exercise, would end up abruptly in 2016.
Ordinarily, the Police cannot absorb the 13,386 rank and file (as at 2014) who took part in the exercise, so they put up measures to prune the numbers, but the exercise was jettisoned, owing to interplay of powers between the Chairman of Police Service Commission, the IGP and off course Politicians who are always interested in hijacking every process for their wards and cronies. Though the present IGP tried to marshal out a credible filtering process using WAEC psychometric test to select only the very best, “the baby with the bath water” was again thrown away because it wont favor the powers that be.
One would not be wrong to indict the present Police Service Commission Chairman behind the ill-fated plan to upgrade rank and file who are eminently qualified, and in superfluous supply to fill what Section 39 of Police Regulation requires as per appointments into cadet ASP.
While this piece became necessary is for the international media to help drum it into the consciousness of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, PSC Chairman and the IGP, that though the rank and file may not have a legal backing to become dissidents overnight, or possess the strike action to engage in demonstrations, they will however do everything possible to peacefully resist the present subjugation, by enlisting the support of international media organizations, to halt the proposed present direct entry enlistment into cadet ASP which commenced on 01/04/2016. Their backings rest on the provision of Section 39 (i) (ii) the 1999 Constitution which guarantees Freedom of expression and the Press.
It will interest them to note that if members of the rank and file (who have done basic training) are given this opportunity to fill this vacancies of cadet ASP, less money would be spent re-training them, against the backdrop of pure civilians whose mentality would needed to be “re-configured’ to think policeman-like.
Finally, help alert the powers that be, that it is not an offence to have chosen to serve Nigeria as a Policeman, therefore the present rank and file have done nothing deserving of the life of servitude they are currently been subjected to. If this trend is allowed to continue, the multiplier effects of this would be indiscipline, lost of moral among the rank and file lack of motivation which would lead to breakdown of internal security and those of our colleagues who took out time pursuing wealth whilst we struggled to get further academic qualification to be a better police officers, will laugh us to scorn, that with all the education/qualifications, what is the difference between us and them. A nation struggling to build up intellectually, must reward those who paid the price for education, this is only what will motivate others to strive, because ‘education is power’.