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Study Reveals Nigerians View on Law Enforcement Agencies PR Image

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A recent snap poll conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the perception of Abuja residents on law enforcement agencies operating in the city of Abuja has revealed that ‘improvement in public relations’ (18 percent) is critical for boosting the overall public image and perception of law enforcement agencies.

Residents also suggested that the law enforcement agency personnel should be ‘Committed to work’ (16 percent), even as the agencies ensure constant re-orientation and training of personnel. These suggestions are most critical to the law enforcement agencies especially as reported cases of brutality of Nigerian citizens by some of these agencies have negatively impacted their public image.

500 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory, were interviewed.

Thus, an evaluation of the law enforcement agencies based on the rating of critical attributes including ‘Friendliness’, ‘Transparency of dealings’ and ‘Effectiveness’  revealed that overall, the “Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp” (NSCDC) is considered the friendliest agency as it received the best rating (3.7) in terms of ‘Friendliness’.

Similarly, the ‘Nigerian Army’ (3.8) and the ‘NSCDC’ (3.8) received the best rating in ‘Transparence of dealing’, thus suggesting that these agencies are more likely to be open about their activities and basic information of operation to residents of Abuja and other stakeholders.

Again, the ‘Nigerian Army’ is considered the most ‘Effective’ agency as it received the best rating (4.3) in this attribute, while being closely followed by the ‘Department of State Service (DSS)’ with an overall rating of 4.0.

In addition, the ‘Joint Task Force’ is considered the least friendly, transparent in dealings, as well as the least effective agency as it received the worst rating in all three attributes (1.7; 1.6; 2.0).

Finally, while these findings mark critical areas of focus for improvement, it is also imperative that an overall evaluation of processes be carried out.

In so doing, special attention should be given to recruitment and management of their workforce in order to address the rising cases of brutality of Nigerian citizens.

Key Findings
Respondents were asked three specific questions. Firstly, with the aim of gauging the awareness and visibility of Law enforcement agencies in Abuja, respondents were asked: Which Law Enforcement Agency do you see operate in Abuja?

While several law enforcement agencies operate in Abuja, responses revealed that their visibility to residents of Abuja vary, with some being highly visible based on their mandate for operation and frequency of interaction with the Abuja populace and others being less visible.

In line with this, findings revealed that among all law enforcement agencies operating in Abuja, the ‘Nigerian Police Force(NPF)’ (70 percent) is most visible to the residents of Abuja.

This is followed by the ‘Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)’ (61 percent) and Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) with 53 percent.

Some other agencies in operation which could be considered somewhat visible to the residents of Abuja include the ‘Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC)’ (28 percent),‘Abuja Environmental Protection Board’ (AEPB) with 19 percent and the ‘Motor Park Task Force’ (7 percent).

In addition the Nigeria Custom Service (3 percent), Joint Task Force (3 percent), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) (3 percent) and ‘Department of State Service’ (DSS) (2 percent) were the least mentioned agencies, thus indicating low visibility of the operations of these agencies.

Subsequently with the aim of rating the operations of these agencies, respondents were asked: How would you rate the agencies in terms of friendliness, transparency and effectiveness? To achieve this, respondents were asked to rate the mentioned attributes on a scale of ‘1 to 5’, where ‘1’ represented very poor and ‘5’ a very good rating.

These ratings were critical in evaluating the overall public image of these agencies. In terms of Friendliness, findings revealed that the ‘NSCDC’ (3.7) which was rated above average received the highest rating to this effect.

Similarly, the ’DSS’ (3.5), ‘FRSC’ (3.4), ‘NDLEA’ (3.3) and the ‘Nigerian Army’ (3.3) received ratings above average in ‘Friendliness’, while agencies such as the VIO (2.3) AEPB (1.9), Motor Park Task Force (1.8) and Joint Task Force (1.7) received poor ratings (all below average).

With regards to ‘Transparency of dealings’, again the ‘NSCDC’ (3.8), Nigerian Army (3.8), ‘FRSC’ (3.5), ‘NDLEA’ (3.4), ’DSS’ (3.3) and ‘Nigeria Custom service’ (3.2) received ratings above average in this attribute, with the Nigerian Army and FRSC receiving the highest rating in this attribute. On the other hand, the ‘Joint Task Force’ (1.6), ‘Motor Park Task Force’ (1.9), ‘AEPB’ (2.2) and the ‘Nigerian Police Force’ (2.2) were rated poor in terms of their ‘Transparency of dealings’.

The effectiveness of the agencies was also evaluated and findings revealed that the ‘Nigerian Army’ (4.3) and ‘DSS’ (4.0) received good ratings in this attribute and these also represented the highest ratings compared with other agencies.

In addition, ‘Joint Task Force’ (2.0) and the ‘Motor Park Task Force’ (2.3) received the lowest ratings; moreover they both received the lowest ratings in all three attributes compared with other agencies.

This therefore depicts that the residents of Abuja generally have a poor perception towards the operations of these agencies.

A critical argument which could be presented from these findings lies in the correlation between the visibility of an agency and the perception of public towards the agency.

In order words it can be argued that agencies with higher visibility due to higher frequency of interaction with the public (as shown in the first chart) are more likely to have poor public perception (just as in the case of the Nigerian Police Force and VIO as shown in the chart below).

However these arguments would be ruled out by the fact that agencies such as the FRSC which is highly visible in operation has a relatively better public perception compared with the Nigerian Police Force.

Also the Joint Task Force which appears to be less visible in terms of operation has the worst public image and perception. Thus the visibility of an agency is not likely to affect the perception of the public, among other findings.

 

 


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d.light Provides 10,000 Solar Home Systems to Refugees

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d.light, the global provider of transformational household products and affordable finance for low-income households, is providing 10,000 subsidized solar home systems to refugees who have fled conflict in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo and who are now living in refugee camps in Northern and Western Uganda.

The 10,000 units are part of a wider initiative to supply 23,000 solar home systems to Ugandan refugee communities.

The project is being funded by a USD$3.4M grant from Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), a body made up of business associations, companies and public sector agencies in Uganda: and Energising Development (EnDev), an international programme by the German, Dutch, Norwegian and Swiss governments to provide access to affordable, reliable, sustainable energy for delivering social, economic, and environmental change.

The project began in April and is scheduled to run for 12 months. Funds from the grant are subject to results based financing (RBF) and d.light will only receive funding for solar home systems that have been installed.

Each solar home system from d.light features three high-efficiency LED lights, an FM radio with MP3 playback, mobile phone charging capability, and a portable solar flashlight.

Commenting on the news, d.light’s Managing Director for Uganda Douglas Gavala said, “With this grant, we can expand the important work we’re doing to improve living conditions for underserved refugee communities from South Sudan, the DRC and elsewhere who are living in refugee camps in Uganda.

“A solar home system significantly improves the quality of life and wellbeing of a household – whether it’s providing entertainment or letting a family stay up to date on local and global news on the radio or enabling children to continue reading and studying after dark.

“As well as benefits at home, d.light products also bolster household income in Uganda’s refugee settlements by extending working hours for tradespeople and small businesses, and providing an income for residents who work as d.light salespeople in the settlements.

“By providing high-quality solar products at an affordable price, we are improving the quality of life for displaced people while simultaneously encouraging economic activity at a grassroots level.”

 


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DG NITDA Reiterates Needs for Safe and Inclusive Digital Environment

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To forge strategic partnerships and collaboration for the advancement of Nigeria’s digital transformation Agenda, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa has reiterated the need for a safe and inclusive online environment responsible for human and Artificial Intelligence (AI) practices in country.

Inuwa made the statement while playing host to a team from TikTok who visited Agency’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja to seek alliance towards bolstering the country, which aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu priority area of strengthening national security for peace and prosperity.

The DG stated that content moderation strategies will help in addressing online problems like hate speech, misinformation, and cyberbullying in relation to the protection of minors across the country.

“With the Code of practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries in place, this has helped in ensuring digital safety in accordance with global best practice and content moderation to enhance security”, he said.

He further noted that “no organisation or institution can operate in silos, we need each other for the actualisation of our goals and objectives towards services delivery and for the advancement of the Nation.”

Highlighting some critical areas, Inuwa stated that leveraging on the platform will advance the country through Digital Literacy 4 All (DL4ALL), Capacity Building, knowledge sharing, trainings, and curbing misinformation, digital safety with the aim of creating a safer cyber space and empowering online environment for Nigerian users.

He added that the platform allows for creative expression through filters, stickers, and editing tools, entertainment and comedy are dominant themes, and informational videos on various topics are gaining traction which has become a launchpad for influencers and trends that can go viral.

Inuwa also explained that NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2.0 (SRAP 2024-2027) is structured around eight pillars which include; Fostering Digital Literacy and Cultivating Talents, Building a Robust Technology Research Ecosystem, Strengthening Policy Implementation and Legal Frameworks, Promoting Inclusive Access to Digital Infrastructure and Services, Enhancing Cybersecurity and Digital Trust, Nurturing an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Forging Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations, and Cultivating a Vibrant organisational Culture with an Agile Workforce.

In her earlier remarks, the Head of Government Regulation and Public Policy TikTok Nigeria and West Africa, Mrs Tokunbo Ibrahim has revealed that NITDA is one of its biggest and critical stakeholders in Nigeria that has an outstanding strides and performance in advancing the digital economy sector.

Ibrahim commended NITDA for its various initiatives, programmes, and policies set in place and aligns with that of TikTok, providing the opportunity were Nigerians use the platform to market, sell and export their products and services as well as talents to the outside world and make a living out of it.
She pointed out that there are projects and programmes that TikTok platform has forge ties of collaboration with, like the Africa creator hub where they do campaigns for tech creator, support, empower, and educate them on how to create contents and explore other sections of the platform, changing their narrative and adding values to what they are doing.

Ibrahim also added that TikTok platform considers online safety as one of its critical areas to secure the cyber space by providing an avenue for users to thrive and be productive in their various activities.

TikTok is currently running African mall to push the narrative of Africa to the world and creators are being equipped with information that they can create contents for products and services in Nigeria, thus can be exported to other countries of the world attracting investments


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Dr. Adesina, AfDB Group President Calls for Media Transformation to Uplift Africa’s Global Narrative

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Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank Group, delivered an impassioned plea for more balanced media coverage of Africa and its development, noting it was critical for changing false narratives.

Adesina said this on Thursday in a keynote speech to the All Africa’s Media summit in Nairobi, attended by nearly 300 participants from across the continent. He praised the crucial role the media plays in strengthening democracy and advancing inclusivity.

The Bank Group president said there were many positive developments in Africa yet the continent continues to suffer misrepresentations which undermine its economic progress and investment potential.

“Despite the significant progress within our continent, the prevailing media narrative often focuses on negative stereotypes, overlooking the substantial advancements and resilience Africa demonstrates,” he added.

Adesina said there was plenty of positive news to report about and highlighted the continent’s economic resilience regional and amid global challenges. He said that in 2023, Africa’s growth rate surpassed the global average, with 11 African nations ranked among the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Adesina referenced a 2021 Africa No Filter Report, which revealed significant adherence to outdated and negative clichés in media reports about Africa. “It’s time for change,” he declared. “We must reshape the narrative about Africa to reflect its true spirit and potential.”

He emphasised the critical nature of information and its ability to have a profound negative impact on development and investor perceptions even though an in-depth investigation by Moody’s Analytics had shown the continent was much less of a risk than many other continents.

“We must promote a balanced view that highlights both the challenges and the many successes of Africa. It’s about changing perceptions and showcasing Africa as a continent rich with opportunity and innovation.”

The Bank Group President also spoke about the challenges and transformations within the media sector, highlighting the impact of digital technology.

“The media landscape has dramatically shifted with the rise of the internet and mobile technology, leading to a proliferation of digital platforms,” Adesina declared.

“While this has democratised information, it has also complicated issues, the distinction between fact and fiction can become blurred.”

To counter unfair and unbalanced narratives, Adesina urged the creation of a powerful, globally respected African media and proposed strategic collaborations among regional financial institutions to support this cause, emphasising the need for media to act as a catalyst for development.

“We need to celebrate and promote the continent’s successes, turning the tide against the longstanding stereotypes that have clouded the global view of Africa… What you call yourself, is the name others will subscribe to you.”

“For as long as we continually denigrate ourselves and play into the hands of those who control the narrative about Africa, we will be stuck with a label that does not belong to us,” he concluded.

He highlighted the African Development Bank’s own successes which included maintaining a AAA credit rating and launching groundbreaking financial initiatives that have earned it respect as an innovative and successful multilateral development bank.

“We have proven that Africa can lead with innovation and strength in the global financial landscape,” the President remarked. “Yet, these achievements receive minimal attention compared to the persistent focus on Africa’s challenges.”

Adesina added that just one month ago, the Bank launched a landmark $750 million hybrid capital instrument, again with a Triple A rating, which was oversubscribed eight times. He described this as a huge “testament to the confidence and trust in Africa’s burgeoning financial capabilities.”

He pledged that the African Development Bank remained committed to supporting initiatives that would help the media present a more balanced and progressive portrayal of Africa and support its economic development.

In a discussion with Julie Gichuru of the Mastercard Foundation after his address, Adesina said Africa was blessed with energy sources, but millions remained without electricity. “This must change,” he said.

“We cannot industrialise in the dark, we cannot develop in the dark. Our children cannot be competitive in a world of darkness,” he concluded.


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