The already-sullied reputation of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) may never end unless urgent measures are taken to address the poor take-home pay and living conditions of police personnel.
The Nigerian government has been on the global spotlight in the past few days as most youths and global entertainers have all called for an end to Police brutality in Africa’s most populous nation.
The poorly funded NPF has deteriorated through the years, amid poor conditions of service and greed within the rank and file, which has resulted in poorly trained, ill-equipped personnel.
Many believe that the dismal package of Nigeria’s police force contributes directly to the alarming rate of corruption in the security organisation and rampant attack on and extortion of civilians by personnel.
“Almost all of Nigeria’s problems come back to paltry revenues,” Amaka Anku, Africa head for the consultancy, Eurasia Group, said.
“This is why you need bolder action on tax administration and enforcement. A police recruit is paid about $22/month, and handed a gun! No reform you ever institute will change anything until you raise pay,” Anku said via her twitter handle.
Other stakeholders have challenged the government on the need to put an eagle eye on the Nigerian Police Trust Fund to provide the needed funding for new people-oriented, refined and law-abiding police.
“There is a Nigerian Police Trust Fund which board is chaired by former Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba. Everybody should now put their eyes on that money and question how it is being allocated,” Tosin Ojaomo, a legal practitioner, with deep knowledge of the police, said.
The Nigerian Senate had passed the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Bill on April 9, 2019, and it was signed into law by President Buhari on July 2, 2019.
“You can imagine what would be realised if we get these funds. We don’t need any funding from anywhere if we get these funds. That money can successfully fund the police if judiciously utilised for a certain number of years,” Ojaomo said.
According to the Act, the fund would cover all personnel of the NPF, including its auxiliary staff in Nigeria and abroad. However, it would only operate for six years from the commencement of the Act and shall, at the expiration of that period, cease to exist unless it is extended for any further period by an Act of the National Assembly.
“The Tertiary Education Trust Fund established some years ago has not improved Nigeria’s education sector, rather it has been going worse. What is the guarantee that Nigeria Police will improve,” Igbuan Okaisabor, vice chairman/CEO, Construction Kaiser Group, asked.
The funds are expected “to among other things, provide funds for the training and retraining of the personnel of the NPF, provide state-of-the-art security equipment and machineries to improve the general welfare of the personnel of the force,” according to an explanatory memorandum of the Act seen by BusinessDay.
An average Nigerian police constable earns between N108,233 and N613,363 annually, depending on his length of service and accommodation plan; a corporal’s pay is around N536,586 to N613,000 annually, while a Police inspector earns at least N1 million annually, according to the 2010 salary structure of the NPF.
The above ranks in the force have become the poster boy of extra-judicial killings, police brutality and human rights abuses across the country.
When the take-home pay of the Nigerian police is compared to peers – from Ghana to South Africa, it becomes clear that the Nigerian policeman does not earn salary but ‘survival stipend.’
An average police officer with a two-year experience in Ghana typically earns around 17,880 Ghanaian cedis ($3,077) annually. An Egyptian police officer with the same ranks earns around 34,080EGP ($2,170), while a South African police officer earns around 116,520 South African rand ($6,988). When converted to dollars, the Nigerian counterpart earns less than all three peers at around $1,598 (N613,000).
For police officers with two to five years’ experience in Ghana, the take-home pay is typically around 23,880 Ghanaian cedis ($4,110) annually. The Egyptian police officer with the same ranks earns around 45,480EGP ($2,896), while South Africa’s police officer earns around 156,000 South African rand ($9,356). Their Nigerian counterpart earns around N1 million ($2,607).
The average salary for a police officer in Canada is over $100,000 a year. An entry level constable will make $50,000 at the start and after 3 years of service it will jump to $82,000 a year. A corporal makes between $86,000 and $90,000, sergeant $95,000 – $98,000, Inspector $126,000, and superintendent $140,000.
The median average salary for police and sheriff patrol officers in the United States is around $60,000. This amount varies depending on the state the police officer is employed in and level of experience. Some of the highest paying states are New York (average: $103,000 – entry level $62,000), California (average: $102,000 – entry level: $80,000), New Jersey (average: $100,000 -entry level $53,000).
Some experts in the security sector have long condemned the abysmal pay of the Nigerian police, saying for the country to get the kind of police it deserves, the Federal Government must address the issue of poor salary for police officers and men without which, the morale of officers would continue to remain at its lowest ebb.
From 2008 till date, the Parry Osayande committee on the Police and the M.D Yusuf Reform Committee, both recommended N2.8 trillion expenditure on the NPF, stretching five years, which implies a breakdown of N560 billion annually.
For Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, N560 billion annually is a far cry from the current amount required. According to Idris, the force requires N1.13 trillion annually to effectively execute its operations.
The allocations of the government to the NPF have been on the increase in the last four years.
For instance, the 2021 proposed allocation increased to N447.6 billion from N403.45 billion allocated in 2020, which is about 11 percent increase. That of 2020 also recorded an increase by about 10 percent from N366.13 billion allocated to the force in 2019. The difference between 2019 and 2018 allocations was over N42 billion, when it increased from N324.2 billion (N366.13bn in 2019).
“Considering the huge task at hand and Nigeria peculiarities, the police budget is still too shameful to boast about because many of their officers are still poorly paid,” Ojaomo said.
President Muhammadu Buhari approved an enhanced salary structure for the police force on November 26 2018, however many police officers complain they are still being paid the old salaries.
By the approval of the rank salary structure adjustment, it was expected that the salaries, allowances and pension of policemen would be increased, though the percentage of the increment was not disclosed.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police inspector serving in Nigeria’s commercial capital told BusinessDay his salary had remained unchanged in the last 10 years.
The current IGP Ibrahim Idris is overseeing staff strength of about 371,800 men and women; comprising 36 states commands, 12 Zones/7 administrative organs and 1,300 police stations across Nigeria. As massive as it appears, it still falls short of the United Nations’ stipulations of the ratio of one policeman to every 400 Nigerians.
That thin workforce has been overstretched even more by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, rampaging herdsmen in the middle belt region and the rampant kidnapping in Nigeria’s south.
