Author: Oyesoji Aremu
Reviewer: Aderemi Raji-Oyelade
Publishers: Stirling-Horden Publishers Ltd.
No of pages: 183
“…the major challenge is how to sustain and maintain democracy and development in the face of growing security threats. This is a matter of national importance that should be of concern to all stakeholders in the Nigerian state and one that requires comprehensive and committed contributions of all groups and interests that make up the country.”
Quoted from Chapter 5, “Emotional Intelligence and Policing in the 21st Century.” (66)
Some books achieve significance after their time; some define their time; some are timeless; and some command attention because of the time they arrive.
Let me note that Oyesoji Aremu’s book, Policing and Terrorism: Challenges and Issues in Intelligence has arrived timeously, in both significance and topicality. Not only would it pluck attention because of the subject of focus, but it will achieve significance because of the scope of discourse, and perhaps, its timelessness will be in its historical significance as one of the first books by a Nigerian academic on the nexus of criminology, intelligence and terrorism.
With the rising spate of violence and political unrest in Nigeria today, the subject of insecurity has become a popular notion across the length and breadth of the nation.
Policing and Terrorism: Challenges and Issues in Intelligence is segmented into ten chapters, all investigative and instructive in terms of understanding the theory and practice of policing, especially in the Nigerian context.
In the first chapter, the author provides the background to the establishment of the Nigeria Police from its colonial origin to its contemporary status as a modern constabulary in an African nation.
The discerning reader will find the basis of the time-worn distrust which exists between the police and the people; as a police scholar, the author therefore canvasses early in the book for a “people-oriented police organisation”, admitting in the same breath that policing in Nigeria can be “stressful and daunting” (12).
This idea, thoughtfully elaborated on in Chapter Two, serves a dual purposes. First, it is a cogent reminder to the Nigerian Police Force of its beginnings and set objectives, which is summarised as the protection of lives and the enforcement of law and order.
Second, it serves as a public orientation about the usefulness and integrity of the Nigeria Police as a constabulary force, with a view to increasing the productivity and effectiveness of policing.
The third chapter settles mainly on the concept and value of community policing, and in so doing, the author attempts a re-evaluation of the state police system in Nigeria.
The author deserves commendation for the commitment of research on the need to revamp the policing system in the country for the ultimate achievement of stability in the polity. That this vice was elaborately discussed in Chapter Four indicates the severity of the situation. Clearly, the chapter is an attempt to profile corruption within the police system.
Chapter Five is a close reading of the significance and value of “emotional intelligence” for a career choice in the police system. It is no doubt a piece of literature for any aspiring police officer and other military personnel.
The challenges of the Nigeria Police are well enumerated in the following chapter. These include the escalating rate of crime and terrorism, political interference, the image, integrity and structure of the Police system itself, as well as the challenge of quality assurance, among others.
In the subsequent concluding chapter of the book, the author proffers some salient issues, which would resolve the problems of brigandage and insecurity.
Chapter Eight spells out details on the profiling of the most popular homegrown terrorist group, Boko Haram, with a considerably detailed account of the patterns that emerge from its heinous crimes. The statistics recorded in this book is surely an eye-opener to the immediate need for an improvement in the security apparatus of this nation.
Chapter Nine provides an insight into the issue of terrorism. Starting with relevant concepts such as ethology, psychoanalysis, cognitive theories and so on, the author argues that terrorism is a multi-dimensional predicament that must be looked into holistically for any meaningful intervention to take place.
The last chapter therefore reveals new perspectives in policing and crime, which would go a long way in ameliorating the contending forces of crime and terrorism in the country.
This is indeed a remarkable book, recommended not only to the Nigeria Police, but to governments at all levels, including their agencies and other security and defence personnel.
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