Task Before New IGP

Even before January 3, 2019 when the immediate past Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Kpotun Idris, attained the mandatory 35 years service and was, therefore, due for retirement (going by service years), not a few Nigerians had feared that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government planned to extend his tenure.
Their apprehension had been predicated mainly on President Muhammadu Buhari’s deadpan body language and the rumour that, having been overtly pliant in the hands of the ruling party all through his tenure, Idris would most likely be retained to do his principal’s bidding during the forthcoming general elections in the country.
Led by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and some notable civil society organisations, a lot of disenchanted Nigerians had threatened to begin a nationwide protest at the various state police headquarters if at the ex-IGP’s 60th birthday and compulsory retirement age on January 15, he was sighted in his service uniform at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
It, therefore, must have come as a big relief to these groups and, indeed, all well-meaning Nigerians when the news broke last Tuesday confirming Idris’ eventual pull-out from service and his replacement by an Acting IGP in the person of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Mohammed Abubakar Adamu.
Adamu is reported to hail from Lafia in Nasarawa State. He was born on November 9, 1961 and holds a B.Sc degree in Geography from ABU, Zaria. He enlisted in the Nigerian Police in 1986 and served as a Director of Peacekeeping Operations; Interpol President for five years; Deputy Police Commissioner in Ekiti State; police commissioner in Enugu State. He later rose to become AIG Zone 5, Benin City after completing a course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos.
The Tide wishes to congratulate the Acting IGP on his well-merited elevation. The fact that Mr. President reached below many Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs) and longer-serving AIGs to pick him suggests a rare observance of due diligence. We are equally encouraged by his assurances at a handover ceremony, including the promise to instill professionalism and to improve the current welfare and reward regimes in the Force.
Indeed, Adamu’s reported immediate reversal of the redeployment of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and the appointment of a seasoned police image maker, Mr. Frank Mba, as the new Force PPRO appear to have been popular while also signalling a new beginning. However, and just as the main opposition political party in the country, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has already pointed out, we believe that there is still much to be done to regain the people’s trust in a severely bastardised police system.
Like almost every other thing about this country, the Nigerian Police was recently classed among the worst in the world, especially on account of its poor capacity to address internal security challenges. The nation’s new security chief should immediately rise to the occasion. He should begin by ensuring that the outfit protects and serves everyone resident in the country rather than the current situation where it functions mainly for politicians and corporate chiefs in whose retinues are found hordes of uniformed security men.
Adamu should endeavour to avoid his immediate predecessor’s main pitfalls particularly that of brazenly defying a presidential directive to quickly relocate to Benue State, a major flashpoint at the peak of the seemingly unending herders/farmers’ clash in the North Central state. He should immediately initiate steps to secure areas troubled by such crisis, including boundary disputes, cattle rustling, cult-related disturbances and other protracted security issues across the land. In fact, a review of the selective approval of state neighbourhood safety outfits by the Federal Government would do him some good here.
The role of the Police in past elections, particularly the recent ones in Ekiti and Osun States, obviously left much to be desired. It, therefore, points to the need to re-orientate officers and men of the Force in order to insulate them from partisan politics. Also important is the need to undertake a review of recent promotions in the entire establishment so as to correct any injustices, especially those arising from undue political patronages.
The nation’s new sheriff should always be guided by his own pledge during handover: ‘Well, we are professionals. We are going to stick by the rules. We are going to do the right thing. We will not go outside the ethics of our job to do things that are untoward; everybody will be given level playing ground to play his or her politics.’
Above all, Adamu must understand that the whole world is closely monitoring happenings in Nigeria; more so as her citizens get ready to elect a new set of their leaders. How the Police perform before, during and immediately after this all-important national event may well be his first and only litmus test. We wish him well.