If anything, it is good because it demonstrates for once that government can be sensitive to the yearnings of the governed. SARS dissolved, a number of issues come to mind:
The necessity of the Special Ant-Robbery Squad(SARS) cannot be debated. This is because we allowed robbery to be entrenched in our society. If there had been no robbery, there would have been no need for SARS. So, the first responsibility lies on the side of the populace. No doubt SARS achieved great feats, but then ….. Before SARS, there had been other attempts to tame the robbery menace in Nigeria.
How did SARS manage to gain and sustain so much notoriety for such a long time? Those charged with the responsibility of ensuring that SARS performed its functions within established rules of engagement failed consistently to perform their duties. What now happens to them?
Is the IGP putting together ways of ensuring that future anti-robbery squads are professionally managed in a sustainable manner? Otherwise, we would be going round in circles.
The actions of Nigerians should go beyond protest. The way to go is for society to first cleanse itself of robbery, and anti-robbery squads will die a natural death. Most Nigerians keep quiet over known robbers in their neighbourhoods, workplaces and families. We also not only worship unexplained stupendous wealth but struggle to identify with it instead of challenging it. This is not right. Third, Nigerians should learn to insist on accountability on a continuous basis, not when things have gone out of control.
On a more global scale, the NPF cannot generally perform wonderfully in a badly functioning society. All said and done, the dissolution of SARS cannot achieve much. Police excesses were there before SARS came into existence and are likely to continue unless the right things are done. This kind of out-of-control scenario had visited other sectors of our society, examples are the education sector, power sector, medical sector, and many others. Comprehensive sustainable reform is needed. So, without taking a break, demand for the end of bad governance should seamlessly take off.
