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Police Reforms: IG Recall May Rob FG of Int’l Assistance
- By Williams Ekanem
- Published July 4th, 2011
- Washington File
- Unrated
A last minute recall of Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim from the United States denied Ringim the opportunity of not only delivering a keynote address at the conference on “The Challenge of Police Reform in Africa,’’ organised by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), but also of giving firsthand information of growing insecurity in the country to the international community.
The CSIS however continued with the event as scheduled on Thursday last week, featuring Charles Snyder Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs U.S. Department of State, Sarah Margon Associate Director of Sustainable Security Center for American Progress and Richard Greene Vice President for Strategy,PAE.
The event, which was moderated by Richard Downie, Deputy Director, CSIS Africa Program was the latest in a series of U.S. strategic approach to Police reforms in Africa.
BusinessWorld findings show that CSIS convened a working group of experts from the U.S. Congress, government, universities, and the nonprofit sector to discuss the challenge of police reform in Africa and come up with recommendations for the U.S. administration to tackle it more effectively.
The sudden absence of the Nigerian Inspector General, who would have given firsthand account of the growing challenge of insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation may have rob the country whatever immediate assistance that the conference facilitators would have recommended to the administration.
This is more so, as according to Downie, U.S. strategic stakes in Africa have expanded in the last 15 years, with growing awareness among policymakers and the American public that developments in Africa can have direct and significant impact on U.S. economic, political, and security interests.
“Overseas police support is a component of both Security Sector Reform and democratic institution building, yet the U.S. security agenda has largely focused on bolstering militaries while democracy strengthening efforts have tended to favor nonsecurity institutions. Civilian policing has tended to fall through the cracks, Downie indicated.
On 29 June, the Inspector-General of Police, cut short his scheduled five-day working visit to the United States, in order to return home and honour a Senate invitation to testify on the security situation in the country.
Ringim, who arrived Washington DC on 26 June, had held some talks with US government officials, and was scheduled to deliver a keynote address on 30 June at a conference on “The Challenge of Police Reform in Africa’’ but decided to return home after the Senate, rising from its 28 June deliberations on the security incidents in the country, summoned security chiefs to brief it on the situation.
A spokesperson of the CSIS reportedly said: “He (Ringim) called this morning (Wednesday) to inform us that he will be leaving Washington tonight to honour an invitation from the Senate on the security situation in the country’’.
The CSIS however continued with the event as scheduled on Thursday last week, featuring Charles Snyder Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs U.S. Department of State, Sarah Margon Associate Director of Sustainable Security Center for American Progress and Richard Greene Vice President for Strategy,PAE.
The event, which was moderated by Richard Downie, Deputy Director, CSIS Africa Program was the latest in a series of U.S. strategic approach to Police reforms in Africa.
BusinessWorld findings show that CSIS convened a working group of experts from the U.S. Congress, government, universities, and the nonprofit sector to discuss the challenge of police reform in Africa and come up with recommendations for the U.S. administration to tackle it more effectively.
The sudden absence of the Nigerian Inspector General, who would have given firsthand account of the growing challenge of insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation may have rob the country whatever immediate assistance that the conference facilitators would have recommended to the administration.
This is more so, as according to Downie, U.S. strategic stakes in Africa have expanded in the last 15 years, with growing awareness among policymakers and the American public that developments in Africa can have direct and significant impact on U.S. economic, political, and security interests.
“Overseas police support is a component of both Security Sector Reform and democratic institution building, yet the U.S. security agenda has largely focused on bolstering militaries while democracy strengthening efforts have tended to favor nonsecurity institutions. Civilian policing has tended to fall through the cracks, Downie indicated.
On 29 June, the Inspector-General of Police, cut short his scheduled five-day working visit to the United States, in order to return home and honour a Senate invitation to testify on the security situation in the country.
Ringim, who arrived Washington DC on 26 June, had held some talks with US government officials, and was scheduled to deliver a keynote address on 30 June at a conference on “The Challenge of Police Reform in Africa’’ but decided to return home after the Senate, rising from its 28 June deliberations on the security incidents in the country, summoned security chiefs to brief it on the situation.
A spokesperson of the CSIS reportedly said: “He (Ringim) called this morning (Wednesday) to inform us that he will be leaving Washington tonight to honour an invitation from the Senate on the security situation in the country’’.
