Don’t Expect Good Policing Where They Can’t Afford to Fuel Police Cars – Retired UK Policeman

A United Kingdom-based institute, Pointman Leadership, has identified insufficient resources and infrastructure as the main factors militating against adequate functioning in the Nigerian police force, thereby promoting corruption.

The Team director of the institute and retired superintendent, Metropolitan Police, Mr Michael Askew, identified this during a training workshop for senior police officers in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, saying that the problem of corruption was not peculiar to Nigeria.
Speaking on the theme, “Creating Inspirational Trustworthy Leaders,” Askew said inadequate resources and infrastructure have made the police less effective, and are responsible for the corruption experienced within the force globally. He pointed out that for the Nigerian police to be effective in fighting crime, the government must rise to the responsibility of providing it with the necessary resources for efficient service delivery.
Stating that the institute had provided training for 64 countries across America, Africa, Eastern Europe, South America and Russia, Askew explained that the workshop would equip the police with ethical leadership and good governance skills. He words: “Inadequate funding can hamper police efforts in Nigeria. If they do not have the necessary tools to work; you will be providing room for what will aid corruption in the sector… The police officers in the UK and Nigeria do the same job. They want to save the community, deal with crime, terrorism, but the difference is that there is great infrastructure in the UK. Every officer has a radio, has access to vehicles, petrol, but here, a police officer does not even have enough money to put petrol in the police cars. The basic job is the same, but Nigeria has less resources that are needed on the ground,” Askew said.