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Policemen prestige bought with 50 Naira

In the past, policemen being bribed on the highway was a thing of secrecy. Such things were kept away from the publics eye. But these days, the reverse is the case.

Blatant Corruption.

Their loyalty has been bought for just a token of #50. Ensuring good security conditions on the highway has been replaced by bribery. Bribery is now a trade they transact. This initiated the question: What exactly is the work of policemen on the highway?

I mused over this, considering the fact that the Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC)  exists but could get none. They have no way of saving or aiding accidental victims. They have no way of saving people from highway robbery and all other forms of danger often experienced on the highway. So why do we still have them on the highway? A chain is no stronger than its weakest point. The police body is made up of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Their strongest link lies at their weakest point.

Too many Institutions.

One of the problems of this country is the presence of too many security personnel and institutions riddled with bribery. The force (Army, Air Force, Navy), Mopol, Police, FRSC, Sars, Civil Defence, and even V.I.O. With all this, it is very demeaning of our dear nation to still be battling with security issues. This country would have been a safe place for all If the  loyalty  of our policemen had not been bought with an amount that is so ridiculous. How great would it have been to have security personnel that are ready to uphold the pledge they uttered with their very own mouths?  But the only department that is functional in their thinking faculty is that of bribery.

Also Read: FRSC has reduced accidents by89% since inception.

I was travelling some months back, when the tyre of the bus I boarded busted. The bus stopped and we came down from the bus expecting the driver to go fix the spare tyre only for him to inform us that he has got no spare tyre. How the hell would someone embark on a long journey with no extra tyre? Before this happened, we had already encountered FRSC on the way but they could not do their job as a result of the bribery business they had to attend to.

The driver already bought their primary assignment on the road with a token of #100 and with that, their sense of vision had been blocked from seeing things right and correcting them.  They could not check for fire extinguisher, spare tyre, and other relevant papers. The booming rate of this ugly attitude of our policemen is alarming. Most times, while travelling on Osogobo-Akure route, for every interval of 2km, you will reach a checkpoint and the driver is compelled to settle the black man putting on a black beret in a black uniform with a red badge in his hand a token of #50.

Orientation.

Lastly, it is quite obvious that our policemen lack the right orientation from the onset. You see a policeman who cannot identify an expired vehicle papers and a policeman who can not differentiate a commercial number plate from a private number plate. I doubt if these policemen have the full knowledge of what the police code of conduct entails. The alarming rate at which all these atrocities going on under police umbrella occurs poses danger to the Nigerian community.  The security personnel we have on the roads are a disgrace to the police body, the government and the whole nation.

Written by Blessing Omolayajo.

Blessing Omolayajo (OBz). A 500L student of Federal University of Technology, Akure department of Mining Engineering. Hails from Osun state. If I’m not in the classroom receiving lectures, then I am either in my room putting my ink on paper as a drop of ink might make a million cry or in the kitchen making cake for customers IG:@o.blezin

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