Decentralise Policing, Way To Check Crimes, Corruption in Nigeria – Ekweremadu

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By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan.
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has advocated decentralised policing as the only way to check crimes and corruption in Nigeria.
The Senate Deputy President made the call while delivering a lecture entitled “Federalism and The Legal Framework for Combating Corruption in Nigeria” at the 4th National Public Service Lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association.
Senator Ekweremadu said to achieve this, there is the need for Nigeria to move policing to the concurrent legislative list‎, saying, decentralised policing will make the task of preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting certain offences and small corruption easier.
He emphasized that such policing system was the norm in federal jurisdiction such as the United States, Canada, Brazil and Australia and that if Nigeria could put such in place, it will set in motion competitive policing because states with less corruption and less crime rates stand to attract more investments and quality residents that will in turn create job opportunities and raise tax revenues.
The Senate Deputy President pointed out that Nigeria can only fight corruption with a strong, independent, decentralised and impartial anti-corruption agencies, operating within rules and tradition as only a strong anti-corruption institutions that can give hope to Nigerians based on the fact that issues of corruption and the concerns were as old as Nigeria itself.
“Corruption has shown no sign of abating in Nigeria despite the various anti-corruption efforts by successive governments.
I wish to make the following suggestions: Decentralization of federal anti-corruption agencies, establishment of State anti-corruption agencies, domestication of anti-graft laws, enthronement of fiscal federalism, decentralised policing, establishment of State orientation agencies, State social intervention/security schemes, State prisons, true economic reforms and public participation in the anti-corruption war” he said.
Senator Ekweremadu added that state police will absorb unemployed youths and lessen the incidents of fraud such as the yahoo boys,saying the incident of corruption can be easily detected and tracked because people within a locality tend to know themselves the more.
Speaking further,he said
decentralised policing which check surging wealth and reduce the challenges of language barrier, cultural differences and ethnic solidarity and speedy  ‎conclusion of corruption trials.
The Deputy Senate President also advocated decentralisation of federal anti-corruption agencies, establishment of State anti-corruption agencies, and domestication of anti-graft laws to check corruption in Nigeria, saying,“only Kano state currently has a state agency to fight corruption- the Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission”.
Emphasizing that the Kano state gesture should be emulated if we must make a headway in the war against graft”he said,
“dealing with corruption is difficult and challenging, but it is not without hope either”.
“We need a far-reaching and in-depth re-orientation. Importantly, Nigeria being a federation, the war against corruption must itself be developed and generalized, not centralized as it is currently the case,”

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