Nigeria Orders Overhaul Of Police Training, Inspection, And Modernisation Across Security Institutions – Arise News

The federal government set up National Economic Council Committee on the overhaul of security training institutions in the country, the chairman of the committee, Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, disclosed on Tuesday.

Equally, the co-chairman of the committee, and Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, clarified that the setting up of the committee preceded the recent security situation in the country.

The committee was made up seven governors, comprising the governors of Enugu, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Taraba, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Zamfara states, with former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Usman Alkali, as secretary.

It was given 30 days to report on the status of all security training institutions in the country, especially the police, and to report back to the National Executive Council.

The committee, which was divided into two one for the north and the other for the southern part of the country with Mbah as chairman, on Tuesday started their inspection from Lagos, where they visited Police College, Ikeja.

During the visit, they were faced with the stark reality at the college, where decay and dilapidated infrastructure were apparent.

They were told by the commandant of the college that most infrastructure in the college had not been updated since the college was established in 1949.

The commandant, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mrs Omolara Oloruntola, said most of the structures in the college had almost collapsed, and there was no electricity and water system in the school, a situation which made it hard for a conducive learning environment to thrive.

Speaking during the inspection, Mbah said, “What we have seen here today is just consistent with what the president has already recognised, when he came to the council chamber on the 23rd of October.

“He personally approved the inauguration of this ad hoc committee on the overhaul of all the training institutions of the police and the Nigerian security and civil defense corps.

“And so the president recognising that there is need for bold and urgent steps to be taken in order to restore the pride, the professionalism and the confidence of our men and women in the security space.

“And that’s what we have just come here to validate. This committee has a mandate to report back in 30 days.”

The governor added, “As you already know, we constituted ourselves to two teams. We have the team that is visiting all the training institutions in the north, led by the governor of Nasarawa State, His Excellency Abdullahi Sule. And we are now visiting all the training institutions in the south.

“We also have with us the consultants. These consultants are going to do a deep dive. They are going to do a deep assessment of what we need to rebuild, what we need to re-equip and what we need to sustain these training institutions.

“The president saw this as an emergency and this is an intervention. So, what we hope to do or achieve is that there is going to be an intervention fund for the rebuilding, renovation, re-equipping of these training institutions. As you know, the president has approved the recruitment of 30,000 police men and women for the force.

“And that cannot be implemented if we do not have the institutions, the facilities to train these personnel. So this is an emergency and we are treating it with the seriousness it deserves.”

Mbah also said, “And talking about developing or redeveloping, are we looking at going digital for police training institutions? We know that we cannot use the systems of the 20th century to train our modern 21st century police force.

“We know that they need to be imbued with the evolving 21st century skills. Artificial intelligence, robotics, mechatronics, all the digital skills that we need to police in the 21st century.

“So what we are doing is a comprehensive revamp. We need to ensure, and which is in the words of Mr. President, you cannot expect our men and women who are protecting our communities, who are expected to uphold law and order, to be trained in an environment that is inhumane. That’s not acceptable.”

Mbah said, “This is a national mission to restore pride, professionalism, and confidence to the men and women who protect our communities. You may already know that the president is committed to a $1 trillion economy, to grow this economy to $1 trillion in five years. As you also know, this growth is largely going to come from private sector investment.

“That private sector investment won’t happen if we do not have a safe and secure environment. And today, we stand at a security crossroad as a country. And nothing short of a bold and urgent step is required in order for us to address our security challenges.

“We recognise that Mr. President approved for a nationwide intervention, intervention across all our training institutions, knowing that there is just no way we can expect to have those who uphold law and order to be trained in an environment that is disorderly, in an environment that is inhumane.”

He disclosed, “And you may also have noticed that the president has also approved the recruitment of additional manpower to the force. The president has approved the recruitment of additional 30,000 police men and women.

“But of course, that cannot happen without training the people you have recruited. And you cannot train them in an environment that is not safe and orderly.

“And that is why we are here today, to essentially conduct a comprehensive tour of the facilities and to ensure that based on the mandate that’s given to us by the President, to report back to NEC within 30 days with the proposal on how to reset our training institutions.

“How we equip, how we train, and how we sustain these institutions is something that the President is very passionate about. And this is not a knee-jerk reaction. As you may already know, this committee was constituted about two weeks ago, right? Exactly, I think, on the 24th of October.”

The governor explained, “And so we’re here today as part of that assignment. We constituted ourselves to two teams. We have a team of the members of this committee that have gone to visit facilities in the northern states.

“And our team will be visiting facilities in the southern states. So we’re starting from the Police College, Ikeja. So we’re going to take a brief from the Commandant to get to understand the status of things at the college.

“And then we would also ask for some clarifications. And then we would conduct on-the-spot assessments. And we would validate some of the things that she would say to us.”

Abiodun said, “Let me add to this. This is something that Mr. President is so passionate about, and that is why you can see the members in this committee are largely governors.

“We have seven governors that are members of this committee. We have retired Inspector General of Police, who is a secretary, and also some serving senior officers in the police force.

“The DIG training has gone with the team in the north, and then we have the AIG, Tunji, who is here with us. So, it underscores the seriousness of this committee. And we know that the status of these training colleges and training institution is one that we have to ensure is treated as emergency.

“And that’s what we’re here to do. We’ve listened to you, and we’re going to also, as I said, conduct on-the-spot assessment of some of what you have said to us. And then you can be sure that the intervention is also going to be immediate, because this committee does not have the luxury of time.”

He said, “We’ve only been given 30 days to report back. So that means at the next NEC meeting, we’re going to be presenting a comprehensive report of the status of this training institutions, and as well as the cost estimates for getting them back.

“We know that nothing short of a complete review of this institution is required, because we must also make sure that beyond the bricks and mortar, that even the equipment are consistent with modern day reality.

“We cannot use the equipment and the facilities that was used in the 19th or 20th century to train a police force in the 21st century. So we understand that. We also understand that there would be some soft items that would need to revamp, ensure that they are in line with modern day.”

Segun James

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