By Adewole Kehinde
“Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers,” – Pat Riley.
My attention was drawn to the Sahara Reporters publication, which states, “There is discontent in some quarters in the Nigeria Police Force amid accusations that its chief has been biased towards Yoruba in appointments and posting of officers.”.
According to Sahara Reporters, the so-called source is not police personnel, because I witnessed the jubilation from ranks and files as well as very senior police officers the day IGP Kayode Egbetokun was announced as the substantive acting Inspector General of Police.
For a “source” to have told Sahara Reporters that an IGP who married from Bauchi in the North is “exhibiting nepotism and ethnic bias in appointments and postings” is a seriously wrong perspective on the person of IGP Egbetokun.
If the IGP truly exhibited nepotism and ethnic bias in appointments and postings, there is no way an Easterner in the person of CP Ben Igweh would have been the FCT Police Commissioner.
From my little research, officers from the South-East and South-South regions are holding sensitive offices under the current IGP, unlike their predecessors.
Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Abuja, has AIG Effiom Emmanuel Ekot; Investment FHQ Abuja, has CP Kronda D. Danjuma; Safer Highways FHQ, has CP Mohammed Barde; PPP DLS FHQ, has CP Polycarp Nwonyi Emeka; Anti-Human Trafficking, has CP Shehu Kabir Abubakar; Maritime Lagos, has CP Emmanuel Agene; and Admin Airwing, has CP Iliyasu Kwarbai. Info-Tech ICT FHQ Abuja has CP Miller Gajere Dantawaiye, Director NPF-NCCC is CP Henry Ifeanyi Uche, and FDOPS FHQ Abuja has CP Vungmoh S.M. Kwaimo, among others.
I was shocked to read that “the IGP has also been accused of ignoring advice from the former Inspector General of Police and Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Solomon Arase, and carrying himself as “President’s boy.”
I recalled that on August 3, 2023, IGP Egbetokun met the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase, and both agreed to establish PSC-NPF joint resolution committees.
The meeting also agreed on setting up a recruitment board that will include all the strategic stakeholders in future recruitment exercises. The commission and the police also pledged that the welfare of police officers will be paramount henceforth.
Both police chiefs also agreed on working together to ensure that issues of discipline are handled expeditiously so that those found wanting are adequately punished and others not found wanting are freed to continue with their career progression.
They also agreed to ensure that the promotion of police officers is prompt and based on merit, seniority, and the availability of vacancies.
Dr. Arase promised the IGP that the commission would continue to collaborate with the acting Inspector-General of Police to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the Nigeria Police.
Also on February 6, 2024, the Police Service Commission Chairman, Dr. Solomon Arase, visited IGP Egbetokun, where both discussed an improved welfare package for police personnel.
The meeting with the IGP focused on the plans of the Police Veterans’ Foundation to assist in facilitating improved welfare for both serving and retired police officers.
It is also aimed at partnering with the police on reviewing training manuals and curricula across the board, supporting the police by volunteering as instructors in various colleges and training schools, etc.
IGP Egbetokun is too preoccupied with transforming the Nigeria Police Force with creative leadership and forward-thinking tactics to focus on the unfounded accusations made public by Sahara Reporters.
His main goals are to reorganise police techniques, give officers more authority, develop community relationships, and advance transparency.
He is well-positioned to establish a police force that would not only deal with security issues but also serve as a pillar of stability and confidence for the people of Nigeria.
Adewole Kehinde is the publisher of Swift Reporters and can be reached at 08166240846. E-mail: kennyadewole@gmail.com