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| Gyang Pwajok |
The National Assembly will back the
establishment of state police as recommended by the recently-concluded National
Conference, Gyang Pwajok, a senator from Plateau State said Tuesday.
Mr. Pwajok told the News Agency of
Nigeria in Jos that one major feat the conference achieved was its acceptance
of the need for states to establish their own security outfits.
“This is in view of current threats
and realities,” he said. “Such recommendation is no doubt in tandem with what
analysts have always suggested as the best way to tackle peculiar security
challenges faced by various states.”
Mr. Pwajok said the approval of the
proposal by delegates, cutting across regional divide, had shown a dramatic
shift as regions which had initially opposed state police endorsed it.
“The general approval of state
police showed a change in perception; it has dawned on many Nigerians that
tackling grassroots crime cannot be effectively handled under a centralised
policing system.
“For us on the Plateau, the state
police formation holds a special place because of our hills and mountains,” he
said. “Attackers had always hit and run into hills, but if we have local people
that know that terrain as the security men, they could be pursued.’’
He dismissed the argument that the
state police could be abused by the governors.
The senator explained that there was
nothing to be afraid of since the policy had been tried in other federal
structures and found to be successful.
Mr. Pwajok observed that governors
that initially opposed the move had local security outfits.
He pointed out that legalising state
police could give such outfits the legal cover to protect the people while
complementing the central police force.
The senator, however, urged the
Federal Government to assist the states to provide such complementary efforts,
noting that such assistance would be crucial to neutralising the teething
problems the new bodies might face.
Mr. Pwajok, however, expressed reservation
over the creation of new states and criticised the “very sweeping manner’’ the
conference members looked at the exercise.
“Creating new states will mean
fragmenting the already fragmented smaller units which could weaken them and
make for a stronger centre which we have always feared.
“Worldwide, meagre nations are
emerging after mergers of units; we should be emulating such steps toward
stronger, bigger and united groups rather tearing into smaller units,’’ he
said.
The senator also opposed the recommendation
to delist local governments, saying that they should be left alone but placed
directly under states to be run as local units.
“My suggestion is that the Federal
Government should not fund local governments. There are some local governments
that do not merit that status because they were randomly created.
“You also remember that local and
state governments run joint accounts, which in effect means that they are one
and the same.
“So, placing the local governments
directly under the states will not be anything new.’’
On the conference’s recommendation
for the removal of immunity for state governors, he suggested that the clause
should be left as it is.
“If you leave the governors
vulnerable, they will be distracted by all manners of litigations; many
governors have always faced legal actions after office and I think that is
okay.
“The governors should be allowed to
keep their immunity while in office so that they will not use such distractions
as reasons for poor performance,’’ he said.
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