THE LOPSIDED PROMOTIONS OF CPs IN THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE

The issue of promotions in Nigeria, especially in the security agencies, has become a source of concern to many stakeholders in the country particularly as it relates to the Nigerian Police Force, NPF.

Keen observers who monitored the promotion of officers, particularly, that of Commissioners have revealed that the exercise has been carried out in a lopsided manner.



Giving credence to this is a "reference to the article by Martins Oloja on the Guardian Newspaper (18th June 2017) titled: A Federal Character Commission, without Federal Character".

Speaking with NAIJ NEWS ALERT in Abuja, Olukanmi Adegoke, a concerned stakeholder and public commentator noted that, "the Federal Character Commission was setup to ensure an equitable distribution of personnel across the Nigerian Federal Civil Service Organizations inclusive of the Armed Forces. It was also to guide the distribution of appointments such as ministerial to ensure that every ethnic nationality in Nigeria has a sense of belonging".

However, Adegoke says "the Federal Character Commission’s objectives has been long since buried and the result has been the skewed and lopsided ratio of appointments into sensitive government positions in favor of particular ethnic groups with Northern Nigeria being the major beneficiaries".

Tasked on evidential facts to highlight this very unfortunate scenario being stated above, Olukanmi Adegoke used the distribution of the current 47 Commissioners of Police in the Nigerian Police Force in 2017 to buttress his points.

"Across the 6 geopolitical zones in the country, the distribution is thus:

North East: 13 CPs
Borno alone has 7 all in key strategic/sensitive commands, Adamawa (3), Bauchi (1), Gombe (1), Taraba (1)

North Central: 13 CPs
Benue (3), Kaduna (1), Katsina (2), Niger (2), Plateau (1), Kogi (2), Kano (2)

North West: 3 CPs
Zamfara (2), Sokoto (1)

South East: 2 CPs
Anambra (2), none from any other South Eastern States

South West: 11CPs
Ogun (3), Ondo (2), Oyo (2), Osun (1), Lagos (3)

South South: 5 CPs
Cross River (2), Bayelsa (1), Akwa Ibom (1), Edo (1)

Olukanmi Adegoke who obviously has been monitoring the entire promotional exercise, noted in is summary that, "Northern Nigeria, as a region has a total number of 29 out of the present 47 Commissioners’ of Police in the Nigeria Police Force while the South has 18".

According to Adegoke, "it is important to note that Delta State which contributes majorly to Nigeria's Foreign Exchange from crude oil earnings does not have a single Commissioner of Police while the entire South East has just 2, the South -South has only 5. This is very unjust and cannot continue".

"No wonder the agitation for restructuring and secession growing louder as the days go by. Northern Nigeria has always monopolized everything to the detriment of other regions and restructuring is the minimum standard under which Nigeria can exist under one indivisible country.", he stated.

Speaking also on the issue of promotion in the Federal Civil Service, vis-a-vis; the NPF, especially as it borders on Commissioners of Police, Cyntha Nwokedi believes that there is the need for the status quo to change.

Nwokedi, who is also a public commentator aligned with the positions of Adegoke that such examples as earlier stated, "will definitely change soon and it is in the interest of every Nigerian irrespective of tribe, religion or creed to embrace restructuring, or face the secession of the ethnic nationalities which make up this bedeviled country called Nigeria".

It would be recalled that, former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, GCON, has also lent his voice to the issue of restructuring the country as it will provide the panacea to all the agitations in the recent past.

Olukanmi Adegoke in his prayers, called on Almighty God to help us all and allow us to co-exist in peace, love, harmony, freedom and unity as is stated in the Nigerian National Anthem and the National Pledge.