10 things President Buhari can do today to boost police morale and make the force more professional

Ayo Akinfe

(1) Convert all the federal government’s abandoned property in Lagos into police barracks to offer better accommodation

(2) Sign a maintenance contract with Julius Berger, making the company responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all police barracks across the country

(3) Get the National Assembly to pass a reform bill making one third of all police recruits female. This will go a long way to end the macho and gun-ho culture that we currently have

(4) Hugo Boss desinged the best uniforms ever when they clothed the German Army in the 1930s. Get them to come and open a factory in Nigeria, employing around 10,000 tailors and get them to clothe all our security personnel

(5) Tie police pay to a category of politicians like say state assemblymen, so they are never paid less than them

(6) Introduce guidelines that make it compulsory for all recruits to have five O’Levels before being admitted as police constables

(7) Pass a law making it compulsory that every recruit gets at least three years training before being commissioned as a constable in the Nigeria Police Force

(8) Make it compulsory for all serving policemen to upgrade their skill levels. Every two years or so, they must return to the police academy for retraining

(9) Pass a law making it compulsory for all policemen to undergo psychiatric tests every six months. Those who score below a certain score should be banned from carrying firearms

(10) Scrap the clothing allowance paid to members of the National Assembly and pay it instead to all our uniformed personnel like members of the police, armed forces, firemen, nurses, etc