Despite alleged decades of neglect by the previous administrations, the Ministry of Police Affairs, has assured Nigerians of a better and more efficient Police Force for the country with improved service delivery.
To achieve this, the ministry on Thursday engaged its top management staff in a two-day retreat with the theme: “Re-Envisioning the Ministry of Police Affairs for Effective Internal Security; Strengthening Administration and Management Functions for Resilience and Efficiency”, to brainstorm on the challenges confronting the Force and the best ways to address them.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, according to a statement issued by the Deputy Director of Press in the ministry, Bolaji Kazeem, declared open the retreat, saying it was aimed at inspiring a collective commitment to align efforts of the ministerial mandate towards the realization of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration.
Gaidam, who was represented by the Minister of State, Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim informed that the challenges which the Force was facing today which is affecting its efficient service delivery to Nigerians was a result of decades of neglect.
According to the minister, “the Nigeria Police Force finds itself at a critical juncture, and currently struggling with the consequences of decades of neglect that have hindered its ability to fulfil its constitutional mandate”, adding that the Ministry of Police Affairs has also not been spared of this challenge.
He, however, expressed optimism that given President Tinubu’s commitment towards reforming the Force for better service delivery, the ministry is now positioned at the forefront of the Police transformation agenda, and that it must rise to the challenge.
“The ministry must bear this weighty responsibility of ensuring coordination and creating the enabling frameworks to steer the Nigeria Police Force towards improved technical and operational effectiveness,” the emphasized.
Meanwhile, the top management staff of the ministry have advocated the need for efficient deployment of modern technology, as well as Artificial Intelligence, AI in data management to support the fight against crime and criminality in the country to achieve more prevention of crimes rather than curbing them.
In a communique issued at the end of the two-day retreat, the management further called for a legislative backing and policy documents to strengthen the mandate of the ministry to enable for seamless facilitation, coordination, and effectiveness of the Force.
It pointed out that the ministry is critical to de-escalating and containing insecurity in the nation and need for the empowerment of Divisional Police Stations to enable them to provide effective service to the citizens within their jurisdiction.
The communique also reiterated the need for close monitoring and evaluation of plans and strategies to ensure optimal performance, effectiveness, and efficiency, adding that the Key Performance Indicators, KPIs must be clear and measurable for competence assessment and performance improvement plan.
Participants further reinforced the significance of local, regional, and global synergy in tackling insecurity and criminality and the need for the introduction of democratic policing with an emphasis on the rule of law, human rights, community policing, and citizens’ engagement in the process.
