With regards to the problem of lack of adequate equipment for the police to perform
efficiently their duties, the respondents noted that there are no adequate remuneration,
appropriate telecommunication, gadgets in term of logistics, sending signals from one place
to another with better equipment. When message is being brought in for transmission into the
communication office it is always difficult to get such message through. As a result of this
problem some important messages are delayed. All the participants agreed that the police
would have performed better if equipment like better communication gadgets and vehicles
are adequately provided to track down criminals.
Also, information obtained from the participants indicated that Nigeria Police Force have a
manpower problem which has hindered its effectiveness in crime prevention and control. The
respondents pointed out that a practice which continues to sap the strength of manpower
available to the Nigeria Police Force is that of the police spending too much of their time or
using too much of its personnel acting as guards for important foreign and domestic
dignitaries and in travelling to various part of the country with far greater number of public
officials, thereby rendering the number of men available to protect the citizens and as well as
reducing the concentration of police man power in the urban areas where many of the crimes
in the country take place. The participants also called for improvement in the manpower level
in the agency. According to this group of participants who believed that the training is
adequate, where the problem arises from is in the area of inadequate personnel to cope with
the population of the community that they are serving.
During the interview some respondents identified poor police training as hindrance to
effective policing in Nigeria. They pointed out that police training is grossly inadequate.
They noted that something needs to be done because the training syllabus is not adequate as
greater emphasis is placed on discipline and very little attention is paid to weapon and tactical
training. The respondents further noted that they are subjected to rigorous training that is
calculated to dehumanize them all in the name discipline. The respondents suggested that
courses such as psychology, sociology, political science, criminal law, criminal procedure
and human rights should introduced into the syllabus and emphasized. It was the submission
of the respondents that with incentives and adequate training, the police should be able to
perform up to standard according. However, some respondents also noted that the current
training curriculum is adequate for it to perform its functions effectively, but the authorities
have not allowed them to utilize the training to the maximum because of the politicization of
the agency.
In the area of promotion, most of the respondents interviewed noted that year after year, the
agency has made promotion purely a question of “ethnic patronage and a man-know- man
affair” at the expense of standards by way of seniority, records, and high performance. The
result through the years has been the full enthronement and consolidation of mediocrity
which has adversely affected the morale of personnel and as well as the agency performance
with regards to its numerous responsibilities. Most of the respondents argued that in the
agency, the way promotion are conducted ultimately does not encourage its officers to so
aspire. They added that men and officers suffer often from errors of compilation of names
and other administrative lapses of state commands and lack of thoroughness at police
Headquarters. Also, the respondents noted that promotion exercise does not take into account
sectorial or departmental requirements. It was further noted from the interviews that certain
crucial sections of the force like communication, works, and band are usually ignored in
promotion exercise even when it is clear to all and sundry that these departments are
suffering from the dearth of officers to take charge of their nation-wide operations. This