Policing Nigeria In The Twenty First Century

Political stability and peaceful coexistence among Nigeria's diverse nationalities are imperative for development and democratic consolidation and could serve as a model for the region and Africa as a whole. This volume, put together by leading Nigerian scholars, addresses strategies for taming' the military to avoid future coups; solving the ethnic diversity question through national reconciliation; de-marginalising women in politics and society; reducing human rights violations through the law and many other issues.

This wide-ranging text provides an overview of policing across different societies, and considers the issues facing the US and British police in a wider international context. The book is designed as a coherent introduction to the police.

Since 1982, Nigeria has experienced more than ten large scale ethnic or religious riots in its major cities. These violent clashes have wreaked economic, political, and social havoc; caused an enormous number of deaths and injuries; and posed serious obstacles to Nigeria's sociopolitical development as well as retarded efforts at nation-building. The papers collected in this book serve as a critical part of an overall objective to develop and promote mechanisms for the understanding and resolution of ethnic and religious conflicts in Nigeria. Both academic and community leaders address various aspects of these conflicts, and Uwazie offers several thoughtful options for their successful resolution. Inter-Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution in Nigeria will interest students of African history and current affairs, scholars of anthropology and ethnicity studies, and those involved in international relations and peace studies.

The author is a lecturer in history at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. While there has been much scholarly study of the Nigeria Police Force controlled by the Federal Government, this is the first comprehensive study of the origins, development, organisation, role and demise of the Native Authority/Local Government Police Forces in Nigeria. It clarifies many of the grey areas about their history and essence, and informs the current debate about who should own and control the police in a federal state. From early in colonial times the armed Nigeria Police Force operated nationally; whilst the Native Authority/Local Government Police Forces also operated in the Northern and Western Regions. They were abolished on the advent of military rule in 1966. The author believes that the principle of federalism should govern the owning and control of the police in a democratic, federal nation. But crucially he illustrates how ignorance of the true history of the local police forces has clouded the debate about the desirability, or otherwise, of liberalising the control of the police in a democratic, federal state like Nigeria in the 21st century.

This book offers an historical and contemporary analysis of policing and police-citizen relations in Nigeria, to understand why people co-operate (or don’t) with the police. It examines police legitimacy and the validity of procedural justice theory in a post-colonial African context where corruption, brutality and lack of accountability are not uncommon, to find more refined and alternative answers to the question of why people co-operate (or don’t) with the police. The history of policing in Nigeria is explored first and then procedural justice theory is tested through an extensive, cross-sectional survey of the public. One of the core findings is that citizens’ co-operation with the police is driven less by legitimacy but more by effectiveness considerations and “dull compulsion”, a concept akin to legal cynicism. This study represents one of the first attempts to test and understand “dull compulsion” and its relevance in this context. Overall, it develops the field by illustrating that that there are significant variations between contexts when addressing the influence of perceived procedural justice policing on perceptions of police legitimacy, and it explains the implications for policy makers.

This book argues that strengthening policing, and the rule of law is pivotal to promoting human rights, equity, access to justice and accountability in sub-Saharan Africa. Through a multidisciplinary approach, this book considers the principles of accountability, just laws, open government, and accessible and impartial dispute resolution, in relation to key institutions that deliver and promote the rule of law in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Chapters examine a range of topics including police abuse of power and the use of force, police-citizen relations, judicial corruption, human rights abuse, brutality in the hands of armed forces, and combating arms proliferation. Drawing upon key institutions that deliver and promote the rule of law in sub-Saharan African countries including, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa, the contributors argue that strengthening policing, security and the rule of law is pivotal to promoting human rights, equity, access to justice and accountability. As scholars from this geographical region, the contributing authors present current realities and first-hand accounts of the challenges in this context. This book will be of interest to scholars of African studies, criminology and criminal justice, police studies, international law practice, transitional justice, international development, and political science.