Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Renowned human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has slammed state governors demanding State Police but cannot pay the minimum wage of N30,000 to workers.
Falana, spoke while at the maiden edition of the Yinka Odumakin Inter-faculty Debate and Public Lecture held by the Student Union of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The human rights lawyer warned the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government not to allow state governments that are currently struggling to pay N30,000 minimum wage to their workers to create state police.
Falana, argued that the creation of state police is not the lasting solution to the security problems in Nigeria.
The lawyer added that the “governments should acquire the vital security equipment to track kidnappers, terrorists and the so-called unknown gunmen. Nigerians should not be deceived into believing that the establishment of state police is the panacea to insecurity in the country.
“A state police that is not well equipped and adequately funded can never confront and contain insecurity. State governments that cannot pay the national minimum wage of N30,000 per month should discard the idea of setting up state police.
“We must avoid a situation whereby members of a state police service are owed salaries and allowances for several months. Therefore, the salaries and allowances of all security officials should be deducted from source and paid to them directly.”
“We must also realise that a well-equipped and well-funded police service cannot address the crisis of insecurity if mass unemployment of youths is not addressed.”
Falana equally berated the lack of political willingness of state governments in the country to improve basic education.
According to the human rights activist, “I was a member of the Alliance of Progressive Students (ALPS), a student socialist group. Yinka was also a member of the ALPS. I was the Public Relations Officer of the student union during the 1979/80 academic session.
