By Emmanuel Obeta
To answer our earlier question on whether the Nigerian Police Force is a brand? Yes the police force is a brand because like all other institutional brands it is not just merely a physical organization or entity but an entity that lives in the mind of the citizens as a collective memory. Every member of the public at one time or the other must have had an interaction with the police the memory of which lives in his mind and will determine or influence his future interaction with the organization. Even if he has not had a personal experience with the Police, which will be rare, he would have heard so many stories or witnessed other people people’s interaction with the police, which also will influence and determine his perception about the force as well as set the pace for any future interaction with them.
Regardless of the coercive force involved in the operation of the Police force, it actually is able to operate because of the consent, license or agreement of the people of Nigeria, which is what gives it both the moral and constitutional right to operate or be in existence. If the people of Nigeria either through a constituted authority or otherwise declares their unwillingness for the Police to operate or for the structure of their operation to change there will be no option but for the will of the people to be respected.
The Police Force in recognition of this fact has always communicated the idea, which it will want the public to believe or accept about them which is that the “Police is your friend” and as part of this analysis let’s see how effective that is in line with our understanding of the brand.
As a brand the brand essence of the police is safety and security, the epitome of it. The scenario should be such that even if you are being pursued by death and destruction and you run into any police station or office you will feel secure and protected. How far that is true in our present country is still very much in doubt. Horrific stories of people who sought refuge in Police stations and ended up missing abound that not many people will readily wish to pass a night in the police station as a safety or precautionary measure.
However in its communication thrust, which is usually not very much except when parading suspects, their pay off line or tag line; Police is your friend comes very pungently as one of their major communication thrusts. So how would you define a friend? If we are honest so many issues will immediately come to mind. One is that different people have different pictures or mindsets of who a friend is and who a friend is not. So what one considers to be a friend or friendship gestures may not equally be considered likewise by some other people however the basic tenets of friendship still remains the same in all circumstances- trust, confidence, conviviality, company etc. How well the Nigerian Police Force measures on these parameters of friendship is better imagined. Can the Police Force be trusted? Can they be trusted not to change the truth when money and bigger influence shows up? Can they be trusted to prosecute a case, effect arrest etc. when money does not change hands, when it is a known fact that even before making a statement you have to pay for the paper, pen, etc.
The unequivocal truth is that the Police have a very difficult work or task (if there was ever a more difficult work) to do. People by their very nature are sometimes finicky such that what one considers to be respectful might be downright repulsive to the other person. A case in point, a Police man flags you down on the road only to tell you that “your boys are here ooo!!!” or that “your boys are loyal” one even went to the extent of saying, “oga if anyone is disturbing you let me know so I can waste them” all in a traffic stop by a policeman. Some definitely will find it exciting that the police on the road are his boys and will definitely “roger” while some other person will ask what in heaven’s name does that mean? Flagging me down in the midst of a busy day, regardless of whatever you are going through or grappling with only to spew out such garbage? One can even go further to ask “Is that what they are supposed to be doing?” Do I want a police force that is my “boys” ready to kill or waste people just like that? Some of these thoughts are cringing and one cannot but ask are there no standard operating procedures, manuals, etiquette or modus operandi for these our police men? And most especially how is all these behavior in tandem with their brand essence – a professional and efficient police force that the top command will want to project. Does this kind of behavior elicit respect and regard from the masses who are actually the customers to the police force or do they engender some disdain and lack of respect for the force?
The Police everywhere in the world do not like bold, assertive and knowledgeable individuals; they see them as an affront to their person and their authority. The police also erroneously see themselves as the law as opposed to the enforcers of the law.
To be the law they determine what is legal, lawful and what is illegal whereas to be enforcers of the law they simply implement what has been codified and gazette as the law. However due to the fact that at the point of interaction or interface with their customers the public there is no adjudicator as to who has behaved rightly or conducted himself or herself according to the stipulations of the law coupled with the fact that the police personnel has available to him or her the instrument of coercion (his uniform and other accessories like the gun, Taser, handcuffs etc.) the instrument of force weighs to his or her own advantage.
- Emmanuel Obeta is a Brands & Marketing Consultant with Directorate Level experience across FMCG, Banking and Public Service (eobeta@gmail.com; +2348139322773)
