This is the third part of the five-part series on Military Intervention in Governance: Nigeria and the Continent of Africa. In this section, we examine the impact of prolonged military rule on the Nigerian Police Force, once a symbol of professionalism and regional leadership in law enforcement.

We explore how years of systemic neglect, political manipulation, and deliberate suppression by successive military regimes eroded the institution’s capacity, morale, and public trust, transforming it from a respected force into one struggling with credibility and competence.

In many ways, the destruction of these institutions has also contributed to the rise of authoritarianism. With traditional leaders neutralized, governments’ especially military regimes faced fewer checks on their power. They centralized control, sidelined dissent, and governed without accountability, deepening poverty and weakening the social bonds that once held communities together.

Nigeria’s crisis is not just one of wealth or development; it is also a crisis of identity, leadership, and structure. The disappearance of the traditional institutions that once anchored society has left behind a hollowed-out political and cultural landscape. Rebuilding Nigeria must involve more than modern development strategies; it must also include the respectful revival and integration of traditional systems that once provided stability, dignity, and hope for millions.

As Nigeria’s political environment became increasingly unstable marked by military coups, authoritarian rule, and widespread corruption; the police force became one of the biggest victims of the nation’s internal decay. The very institution that was supposed to safeguard civil order and justice became deliberately weakened, underfunded, and manipulated. It is often easy to criticize the Nigerian Police Force and in many ways, public frustration is understandable. Yet, beneath the surface of the dysfunction, abuse, and inefficiency lies a deeper truth: Nigeria once had and still has the potential to maintain one of the finest police forces in the world.

In the years following independence, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) was highly respected across Africa and beyond. Its training institutions, such as the Nigeria Police Academy and other specialized facilities, attracted officers from neighboring countries. Nations across West Africa and even beyond routinely sent their police personnel to Nigeria for professional training and development, a clear testament to the level of trust and regard Nigeria once commanded in the field of law enforcement. The Nigerian police officer was known to be tough, smart, resourceful, and deeply familiar with complex, dynamic environments from bustling urban centers to volatile rural zones. With proper training and clear directives, they could operate with discipline, tact, and efficiency. Nigerian police contingents deployed for United Nations peacekeeping missions earned accolades for their competence, courage, and professionalism. In controlled environments with proper structure, they performed brilliantly.

One critical moment in this decline was during the long years of military rule. The military, seeing itself as the ultimate authority in governance, often regarded the police force as a potential threat; a parallel institution with the power to challenge its control over internal affairs. The police, unlike the military, were close to the people, embedded in communities, and rooted in local knowledge. They were responsible for civil law and internal security, which in any functioning democracy, would give them considerable influence over the balance of power.

This proximity to the civilian population and their constitutional responsibility for internal order made the police a perceived rival in the eyes of the military. As a result, successive military regimes systematically undermined the police, cutting their funding, limiting their autonomy, and stripping them of their confidence and capability. The goal was to ensure that the military remained the dominant force in both defense and internal control.

Over time, this institutional weakening turned a once-proud police force into a shell of what it could be. Officers were no longer properly trained or equipped. Promotions were based not on merit but on favoritism and bribery. Morale sank, and corruption became a survival mechanism. Many police officers, poorly paid and neglected, began to extort the very citizens they were meant to protect not because they were inherently bad, but because the system gave them no other means to survive or rise.

Today, the Nigerian Police Force is widely mistrusted, the bond between police and citizens is severely fractured. Yet we often fail to ask: how did we allow this to happen to an institution once respected across borders?

We must understand that the rot in the Nigerian Police Force is not simply a matter of individual misconduct. It is the result of decades of structural neglect, political manipulation, and systemic abuse. The same force that trains foreign officers cannot even equip its own personnel with working radios, functional vehicles, or safe barracks. This is not a reflection of incompetence but of a nation that has failed its own protectors.

The story of the Nigerian Police Force is symbolic of Nigeria itself; a nation full of capable people, betrayed by a system designed to suppress potential. If we are ever to rebuild Nigeria, we must start by restoring the dignity, professionalism, and autonomy of our law enforcement institutions. The police should be partners in peace, not pawns in power struggles. They should be guardians of justice, not tools of oppression. And they should be trained, equipped, and empowered to serve the people not feared by them. The greatness of the Nigerian Police Force is not lost, it is buried beneath decades of interference, neglect, and political sabotage. It can rise again, but for that to happen, Nigeria must make a choice: to invest in justice, in order, and in truth and to stop being afraid of strong institutions that serve the people rather than the powerful.

Let us revisit my earlier article titled ‘The Pitiful Nigerian Police,’ which reads as follows: Over the years, writing this weekly column has brought with it the privilege of building a wide and diverse readership, both within Nigeria and beyond. Many of my readers have responded with thoughtful and constructive criticism, often encouraging me to speak more directly to those in power especially as Nigeria continues to recycle the same costly mistakes that have diminished its global standing and turned it, in the eyes of many, into a fragile state and even a source of mockery, particularly across the African continent.

In my travels across Africa, I have been confronted sometimes painfully by the fact that Nigeria no longer enjoys the admiration and leadership status it once commanded among its peers. A major contributor to this decline is the persistent and worsening state of insecurity in Nigeria, It has become so pronounced that major insurance firms abroad now hesitate or outright refuse to underwrite business operations linked to Nigeria. Foreign investors think twice or walk away entirely simply because the Nigerian Police Force, once a pillar of national pride, can no longer guarantee the safety of lives and property.

To be continued.