The hierarchy of
Nigeria Police was recently thrown into confusion following the 2nd
Reading of the Traffic Warden Service Bill taken by the Senate in the National
Assembly, December 14th 2015. The Bill seek to repeal sections 59 –
69 of Police Act CAP 359 LFN 1990, to re-enact Traffic Warden Service Act,
which shall provide for the appointment, promotion and discipline of Traffic
Wardens, issuance of Certificate of appointment and discharge and other related
matters.
The Bill took the Police by surprise. According to information made
available to our Correspondent, the Police have on two occasions influenced
Committees’ Reports that favoured the enforcement of the Court of Appeal ruling
on the Traffic Warden Service and her freedom from being implemented. The
Police according to our source are noted for such penchant act by
contemptuously flouting, rebelling and truncating government reform policies
particularly on the road traffic control subsector and the Traffic Warden
Service emancipation.
It will be recalled
that, the Court of Appeal, Kaduna in the year 2000 granted autonomy to the Traffic
Warden Service, on the grounds that, Traffic Wardens are not Members of Nigeria
Police, that, Traffic Wardens are products of a separate legal Establishment
from that of Nigeria Police. That, the Traffic Warden Service is supposed to
function independently and not as a parasitic or as a dependent Organization
under an existing Organization. Since that epoch judgment, there had been
efforts made by government to enforce the ruling of the Court of Appeal but the
Nigeria Police have remained a nightmare frustrating such effort by influencing
government officials not to implement the ruling or Committee Reports, because
the Police are not willing to either vacate the road traffic control function
or ready to allow the Traffic Warden Service to gain her deserving autonomy,
more so as the Police are skeptical of losing the lucrative traffic department
where the Police is said to garner and make Billions of income on daily basis
into their private pockets, fraudulently robbing the Federal Government of such
huge accruable revenue.
The Police were said
to have rather unilaterally subjected Traffic Wardens to suffer untold official
humiliations neglect, marginalization, internal neo-colonial apartheid and
stagnation, debased and relegated to the background, without any form of
development. The Police, according to our source unjustly trampled and
completely eroded the rights of Traffic Wardens, treat Wardens as errand boys
and as Casual Workers, blocked and refused to allow Traffic Wardens the
opportunity to enhance their potentials and caused Traffic Wardens to suffer
irretrievable losses and irredeemable damages in the Police institution
particularly and the Public Service generally, for 42 consecutive years. This is
done without recourse to the Traffic Wardens’ Establishment. However, on realizing the 2nd
Reading of the Bill, the Police were shocked, as the Bill took them unaware.
The IGP hurriedly arranged for caricature promotion of some Traffic Wardens whose
files were Kept in View (KIV) and who have been languishing and stagnated on
one rank for more than 15 years and are closed to retirement.
The promotion
mostly favoured those who have retired 6 years ago from Service or died long
ago, to the detriment of serving Traffic Wardens whose names were perfidiously
omitted from that emergency promotion exercise. Under that state of confusion,
the IGP on Wednesday 13th January, 2016 detailed a DIG and 2
Commissioners to meet with the Lead Debaters of the Bill in the National
Assembly, with the mind to negotiate as usual the dumping of the Bill. The
Police team was unable to get the Honourable Member in the House of Reps but
the DIG already has the contact of the Senator who handled the Bill in the
Senate.
The DIG called the Senator for a meeting. The Police team asked the
Senator if he realized that,Traffic Wardens are under the Nigeria Police? The
team further requested for the Bill, they were provided. The Police then
requested to be given another chance after 42 years, to continue the laxity and
the shoddy manner the Police stage-manages the road traffic control subsector
and/or be allowed another chance to continue treating fellow Nigerians as
slaves, as errand boys; another chance to continue promoting inequality and
continue subjecting Traffic Warden Personnel as casual workers; to be allowed
to continue the act of stealing, continue the corrupt practices and the
fraudulent manner they have been robbing and depriving the government from
having access to the huge revenue the Police illegally and unlawfully generates
from the road into their private pockets.
However, the
Distinguished Senator told the Police point blank to go and face their primary
function of internal security of lives and properties and forget the road
traffic control function. The uncompromising Distinguished Senator told the
Police that, the spontaneous support the Bill received from Members of the
National Assembly speaks the minds of Nigerians. He told the Police team that,
the Traffic Warden Service is an autonomous Establishment set up to handle the
intra-city road traffic control function as her primary function and of course,
the government cannot allow the Police to unilaterally continue subjecting
fellow Nigerians to such discovered debasement, casualization and apartheid
condition. That, the Senate and indeed the National Assembly has a duty to
protect Nigerian citizens from such insensitive and impropriety of the Police.
The Police again
came calling on Wednesday 20th January, 2016 to ask if it were
Traffic Wardens that are sponsoring the Bill.
The Senator told them that, the Bill is his initiative.
Of course, in the
era of change mantra and anti-corruption crusade, there is no other better
answer the Police deserve. The Distinguished Senator and indeed the National
Assembly have demonstrated honesty, patriotism and nationalism by given mass
support to the Traffic Warden Service Bill more so, as the passage of the Bill
as an Act will salvage the nation’s economy and create mass employment in the
country and reduce the suffering of Nigerian citizens.
SOURCE: TRAFFIC WARDEN SERVICE.