This is another season of playing lip service to reforming the Nigerian Police and it is quite blurry to see any glimmer of hope on imminent change.
In 2007, Inspector General Sunday Ehindero announced that more than 10,000 officers would be sacked in an attempt to root out "bad eggs".
The sacked officers wormed their way into the system and survived the purge after an investigation by the National Assembly revealed they were often not the "bad eggs".
After the BBC made a 5-part series investigation in 2009 which revealed first-hand how the police struggle against incompetence, poor training and equipment, the many attempts by the government to curtail the bad eggs amongst the police force were futile.
The government went as far as producing a White Paper with 79 recommendations for improving the police force, which is due to be considered by the National Assembly and turned into a Police Reform Bill.
Even though chances of a true reform are slim, that is the very reason young Nigerian youths are still protesting undeterred.
The reforms will not work because of a committee or white paper, it will work because it is what the people will take, wanting isn't enough, taking might be sufficient and grabbing is much profitable.
The Police Reform Bill was re-proposed in 2018, on 30th May 2018 and was passed by the Senate on 17th April 2019. It is expected to be deliberated on in the House of Representatives before the end of the 8th National Assembly. You guessed right, it wasn't.
After re-election, it was just signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari less than a month ago.
This is not the usual trade fair display after which the government "close shop" and keeps slumbering.
Grabbing the desired change
Fatigued, eyes dropping uncontrollable tears, limping and sometimes scaling fences and obstacles with agility, one thing is common -fear of the unknown. The trauma of being beaten, maimed, shot at while at a peaceful protest is enough intimidation for these pronounced “keypad warriors”.
Making demands without any political affiliation or undertone is like seeing a President Buhari empathetic message to a distressed nation, of course seeing it have some effects.
It would be key to highlight the arguments of those who feel disbanding the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) will increase robbery cases. Even though the Inspector General of Police announced that the tactical unit has been disbanded, the political will of the government to enforce the directive has been held with high scepticism by protesting youths.
It is taken that this is another audio disbanding.
Nigerian youths are calling for a speech from the president, and an executive order and most importantly an end to police brutality. SARS is not the only unit that engages in these brutalities on Nigerian, with the Nigerian police spraying hot water, throwing canisters of tear gas, beating and ramming the cars young protesters hours after the IGP announcement of the disbandment of SARS.
The police shot sporadically at protesters and a stray bullet fell a 55-year old mechanic named ikechukwu ilohamauzo on October 12 in Surulere.
It became clear that a clear deterrent and real care for the life of the average Nigerian is the only way out.
What works
One of the most important things is to build trust. If anyone is going to enforce the law in a democracy it must be done in a manner that builds trust between the officers and the community they serve.
Even during the fight against COVID-19, most of the government's actions were viewed with scepticism. For this disbanding to be effective it must not be a repetition of a trend of broken promises since forever.
According to Amnesty International, the government's Anti-torture law has not convicted any SARS official of torture despite numerous allegation, codified in a report titled, Time to end impunity: Torture and other human rights violations by Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)’, released just 5 months ago.
"The police will continue to see their job as carrying out the will of the political powers," said Innocent Chukwuma of the Cleen Foundation in 2009 and this is so much relevant today.
The government must show and not tell, open and real-life dishing out of justice. Actions are what will appease Nigerian youths. It is evident this is what they want, they are not yielding to the fleeting promises of government officials.
Governor Sanwo-Olu advised protesters to take a break from protesting yesterday with a promise to discuss with the president, they refused and marched in large numbers to the Governor's office and other parts of the state.
Even though the IG said prospective members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), a new unit set up to fill the gaps arising from the dissolution of the SARS will undergo psychological & medical examination to ascertain their fitness and eligibility for the assignment, the new body is met with another bout of scepticism.
A new hashtag has emerged #EndSWAT .
And it is this pressure that works!
These young protesters won't be fooled anymore and this is the bane of these protests successes.