Poor pay and weak welfare still stand in the way of Nigeria’s policing reforms, despite President Tinubu’s push for technology-driven law enforcement.
Security analyst Kabiru Adamu says hungry officers cannot deliver digital policing.
Security expert Kabiru Adamu has warned that inadequate salaries, pensions, and welfare packages for police personnel remain a stumbling block to the Federal Government’s plan to modernize policing through technology.
Speaking on Friday during a Channels Television program, Adamu applauded President Bola Tinubu for making technology central to his Renewed Hope Agenda on police reforms. He noted that the administration’s performance review system measures, among other things, how effectively the police adopt digital tools for law enforcement.
While commending this focus, he cautioned that officers struggling with poor pay, housing, and retirement benefits are unlikely to prioritize technology. “The reality is that the security sector is full of funding leakages. When you have a force battling issues like low wages, delayed pensions and inadequate welfare, the introduction of new systems and technology naturally suffers,” he explained.
Adamu cited recent demonstrations by retired officers under the contributory pension scheme, stressing that many serving policemen quietly supported the protest, admitting that their conditions of service were deplorable. He credited the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, for paying attention to housing and welfare, but warned that decades of neglect would take years to reverse.
The analyst acknowledged some gains in the use of technology for investigations and prosecution but emphasized the need for deeper collaboration with the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy. “Instead of each agency trying to build its own digital structure with limited funds, they should partner with the ministry. Artificial intelligence, for example, can play a huge role in modern policing if properly harnessed,” he advised.
