As children, we grew up on the streets of Kano believing that cops would go straight to hell after they handed away. We have been advised that their tongues would flip black instantly after loss of life. This was due to how they collected bribes and extorted cash from residents.
The police have been so corrupt that moms wouldn’t permit their youngsters to affix the pressure. Moms noticed it as handing their youngsters over to the satan, a direct ticket to hell. In some households, it was even shameful to have a police officer of their midst.
When the Boko Haram disaster started round 2009, and their targets have been the police, folks weren’t bothered in any respect. The police had a particularly poor relationship with most residents in Arewa, significantly in Kano, the place I grew up.
Quick-forward to current occasions; we had good commissioners of police in Kano, like the favored “Singham,” who redefined cops within the eyes of the common Nigerian within the state. Folks began to see the goodness within the police. Many Hausa folks started to proudly be a part of the pressure.
In current historical past, the Nigerian police have loved a great working relationship with the folks of Kano. They’ve acquired most help from the residents. Because of a retired CP Mohammed Wakili (Singham), a hardworking and patriotic commissioner of police, who made us perceive {that a} police officer is our good friend, not our enemy.
Sadly, the likes of Deputy President of the Senate Barau Jibrin and the Nationwide Chairman of APC Abdullahi Ganduje are allegedly colluding with cops on the pressure headquarters to reverse this great achieve. As a substitute of permitting the police to focus on chasing hooligans (yan’daba) and cellphone snatchers terrorizing the state, they’re busy chasing political opponents.
Kano State Governor Abba Kabir has publicly said that the police not work with him because the chief safety officer of the state, who has loved the help of the vast majority of Kano residents. The governor is in style and appreciated by many residents; any battle with him will solely make the residents restore their hatred for cops.
To make issues worse, the pressure headquarters are busy implementing the scripts of politicians by inviting the famend and revered Emir of Kano, HRH Alh. Muhammadu Sunusi II, over a safety breach throughout Eid prayers, which isn’t linked to the emir.
As a Kano citizen, I don’t see this as politics or take it evenly, nor do I see it as true policing. This can be a clear disrespect of our conventional Hausa establishment. Would the Inspector Common of Police (IGP), a Yoruba man, whose tenure has expired, invite a Yoruba king for questioning?
We can not stay silent as energetic Kano residents whereas a Yoruba president and a Yoruba IGP collude with unscrupulous components amongst us to degrade our revered emir. No person is above the legislation, however it is a clear case of political witch-hunting, and all little kids of Kano ought to stay united and name a spade a spade.
The police ought to stay impartial, and Abuja politicians mustn’t politicize nationwide safety or ridicule our conventional establishments. We should always all work collectively to uphold the outstanding job of some wonderful commissioners of police who actually made cops our associates.
President Bola Tinubu ought to cease putting his second-term bid above the unity, security, and progress of Nigeria.
Dr Danladi, a involved citizen of Kano, writes from the US.
