*Says Nigeria Not Prepared For Such
By; AMOS EBUTE MATHEW, Kaduna
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Engr. Kailani Muhammad has condemned the agitation by Nigerian governors to have state police, insisting that the country is not prepared for such agitation for now.
He expressed this during a world press conference in Kaduna, insisting that some obstacles that will hinder the operations of State Police in Nigeria by drawing the attention of government on certain disposition of state governors.
” It is clear to all Nigerians that state governors mindset are yet to adjust to the true principles of democracy, where it is the government of the people, by the people and for the people.
“It is instructive to note that, most of our state governors believe they are demi-gods, and truly act as such. Once they take the oath of office, they abandon all tenets and principles of democracy, that essentially brought them to office.
“The problem is complex. Therefore, to avail the Nigerian state governor, the powers to control an entire state Police under his sole authority, could be suicidal to Nigerian democracy.
“This is because, even now when the Police structure is not under their supervision, some state governors still attempt to resort to the Police Commands in their states to coerce the electorates during elections to toe their political paths during voting.
“Presently, some state governors are finding it difficult to pay staff salaries, so where will they get the money to pay state police? when they solely rely on federal government allocation without recourse to the diverse natural resources in their states to improve their Internally Generate Revenue (IGR).
“There is a constructive argument that state governors might use state police to intimidate, blackmail and victimize Nigerians either for political, ethnic, tribal or social gains for themselves, to the detriment of the state. We cannot afford to copyright the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany or any other country on the issue of State Police, because we are not ready for it now” Engr. Kailani Muhammad stated.