By Okechukwu Nwanguma
In the same Nigeria where lawmakers — some of whom are barely literate, politically irrelevant to the masses, and morally bankrupt — walk away with hundreds of millions of naira annually in salaries, allowances, and perks, a retired Superintendent of Police who served this country for 35 years is offered 2 million naira as his total retirement benefit.
Yes, you read that right. ₦2,000,000. Not per month. Not per year. Total. For a man who risked his life daily, waded through Nigeria’s crumbling criminal justice system, served in some of the most dangerous conditions, and stood as a frontline defense for a nation that today spits in his face.
He speaks with justifiable pain and visible rage:
> “Since I retired on October 1, 2023, I have not been paid anything until just two weeks ago when I was told I’d receive ₦3 million — ₦1 million for arrears and ₦2 million as full retirement benefit. I was a Superintendent of Police. I served wholeheartedly. But today, this is my reward? I will not take that money. It is an insult. Let the whole world hear this.”
This retired officer’s emotional outburst is not a random tantrum. It is the cry of a man who gave his youth, strength, and loyalty to a country that has broken its covenant with him. It is also symbolic of a deeper, systemic rot in Nigeria’s policing and governance.
How Poor Welfare Breeds Poor Policing
In a sane country, police officers are treated with dignity — both in service and in retirement — because the security of the nation depends on their professionalism, morale, and loyalty. In Nigeria, the police are routinely underpaid, overworked, poorly equipped, disrespected, and abandoned after service. This directly translates to:
Low morale: Officers see no future in the job, so they perform the bare minimum to survive.
Corruption: Self-help becomes survival. From illegal checkpoints to extortion, it’s not always about greed; often, it’s about desperation.
Lack of professionalism: No training, no support, no accountability. How do you expect order from chaos?
Absentee policing: Like in Okigwe Zone, Imo State — where five LGAs have had zero police presence for three years. Not even one officer in any of the stations. Because who will risk their life where they are neither armed, insured, nor assured?
The brutal irony is that while these officers risk their lives without support, the real security vote in Nigeria goes to political leaders who do absolutely nothing with it except protect themselves from the very insecurity they’ve allowed to fester.
The Hypocrisy of Legislative Excess
Compare the ₦2 million retirement “benefit” of a career police officer to the take-home pay of a Nigerian senator or House member:
Over ₦30 million in monthly allowances (yes, monthly)
Luxury vehicles, estacodes, wardrobe allowance
Security votes, immunity, pensions, and even severance packages
These are individuals who often do not even attend plenary sessions, many of whom never sponsored a single bill, and whose contribution to Nigeria’s development is, at best, negligible and, at worst, harmful.
It is a national disgrace that a lawmaker can earn in one month what a police officer may not earn in 30 years, yet these same lawmakers will make speeches about patriotism, sacrifice, and nation-building.
Okigwe Zone as a Case Study
The total absence of police in Ehime Mbano, Onuimo, Isiala Mbano, Ihitte Uboma, and Okigwe LGAs is not just about crime. It is about the breakdown of trust and capacity in our national policing system. People are being murdered in their homes, abducted at will — traditional rulers, APC chieftains, respected community elders — and nothing is being done.
What do we expect from a police force whose officers, even when alive, cannot afford their children’s education, cannot rent decent housing, and have no hope in retirement?
If a former DPO, now a traditional ruler, can be abducted on Christmas Day and disappear into thin air without even a public statement from the police hierarchy, what should the common man expect?
A Nation That Eats Its Heroes
We like to call our police officers “our gallant men.” But gallantry in Nigeria means dying for a system that will never remember your name. The Nigerian Police Force is not just underfunded — it is betrayed by the country it serves. Until the welfare of police officers is prioritized, we will never fix our broken security architecture.
We need a total rethink:
Police reform is not just about new uniforms or renaming SARS. It is about decent pay, safe working conditions, post-retirement dignity, and a system that does not abandon its own.
Government must drastically reduce the cost of governance — beginning with legislative and executive perks — and channel that waste into revitalizing public institutions like the police.
The Police Pension Board must be audited, and officers must be paid what they deserve. Anything less is criminal.
Until we begin to treat our police officers with dignity, we will continue to breed a demoralized, compromised, and absentee force. And as we see in places like Okigwe, the vacuum will always be filled — by bandits, killers, and chaos.
When those who protect the people are unprotected, and those who endanger the people are rewarded, then the entire nation is already on fire.
Okechukwu Nwanguma is a human rights advocate and security sector reform campaigner.
