So, this week, we got to see retired police officers of the Nigerian Police Force staging a protest in the country’s capital. They were protesting against the miserly pension that they are currently getting, considering the number of years they put into the Force and how much they are being paid when they retired. It is appalling.
And not just that, they were also calling for increased salaries and better benefits for serving police officers. There were quite a number of things listed on their demands, and when you look at them, they all make sense. After all, the people charged with protecting life and property should also eat and be healthy; they’d also send their kids to school and pay the bills. So, such measures are extremely necessary.
I’ve always been of the opinion that the problems we face with the police system have been nothing short of the poor pay that they get. They’re one of the least paid professions in this country, along with doctors and teachers. I believe that if officers were paid handsomely for taking care of life and property, they’d be less inclined to extort money from people and also accept bribes. It’ll be easier then to stick to principles and actually do the job the government is paying you to do.
And even better, the system will be more inclined to protect its investment by giving the officers close-marking. There will be so many policies that will prevent such atrocities from happening, because now there will be a justification to stop them.
Sadly, that’s not the case. They’re not paid well, and what happens next is natural succession. You place a gun in the hands of a broke and hungry man, then expect him not to take advantage of such power. That only happens in places like Camelot and Mystic Falls. Police try to cover up the lapses in their finances by extorting people and accepting bribes. Those who can’t afford to be extorted are thrown into jail cells, and those who resist for too long end up worse off than before. It’s never an easy sight.
So now, you see why we all need the police to get better pay? But despite all these, despite the fact that the demands of the retirees also benefit the present and future earnings of the serving officers, it didn’t stop them from being mobilized against the protesters. Yeah, serving policemen were told to keep retired policemen in check.
Of course, the serving officers are only doing their jobs to ensure that the protest is simple and doesn’t get out of hand. But is that really the case? We’ve all seen how protests go in this country and how law enforcement agencies are used to suppress the voice of the people. So, one has to wonder, are they really just keeping the retirees in check, or are they just trying to suppress their voices?
Well, I honestly don’t know at this point. I hope that the government listens to their pleas and gives them the increment they’re asking for. And I also hope that it will enact a change in the overall system. It won’t make sense that these guys start earning better but don’t change in their evil ways. I’ve been a victim of them one too many times, and I’m really supportive of anything that will even suggest a reform.
A new dawn is coming to Nigeria; little by little, we’ll get there.
