Immediate past Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, became the number one policeman in Nigeria on February 2011. He handed over the mantle of leadership, Mr. Suleiman Abba on August 1, 2014. One of the greatest achievements of Abubakar is perhaps his tenacity in attempting to transform the Nigeria Police Force. He wanted a police force, which would be respected and people friendly.
This led to his coming out with the Police Code of Conduct. A good number of people argued that slight changes were noticed in personnel of the force, but just like there would always be Judas among the 12 disciples, some policemen had continued in their corrupt ways.
Abubakar had also tackled corruption headlong. He made sure police caught in the web of corruption, were dealt with. Indeed, his tenure witnessed a high output of bribecollecting policemen and women caught on phone cameras. He instituted the dismantling of road blocks across the nation. Under his tenure, President Goodluck Jonathan visited the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos, saw its deplorable condition and refurbished it. At least about 13 helicopters were bought to boost the flying wing of the police.
He not only built several police hospitals across the nation, he also established police intelligence schools and upgraded the police intelligence departments. He moved for the renovation of the Louis Edet Building, the Force Headquarters. Achievements of police rank and files were recognized and commended in his administration. He procured about 2,000, patrol vehicles, empowered the marine police with patrol boats, introduced the camouflage uniform and established the police mortgage bank.
Under his leadership, the Nigeria Police has been adjudged one of the best by the United Nations in international peacekeeping missions. He came up with the police housing scheme, but many junior officers lampooned the scheme, insisting that the price tag for the houses were grossly out of their reaches.
Promotions were stringent in his tenure until towards the tail end of his administration. In March 2014, he promoted 1296 Police officers. There was also the promotion of 24,118 officers in the same month. The major security troubles, which dogged Abubakar’s footsteps and even now appeared unresolved, are the dreaded Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen attacks and kidnappings.
The Boko Haram sect, under Abubakar, witnessed the outrageous killing of several policemen. These same monsters are the insecurity problems, waiting behind the curtains, for Abba. Meeting with senior policemen on Tuesday, Abba avowed his commitment to strengthening inter-agency collaboration in the ongoing war against violent crimes and insurgency. Barrister Femi Falana (SAN), speaking with NT about the new IGP and revealing his belief in Abba possibly taking the Nigeria Police Force to a new height said: “I’m happy that the new IGP, Abba, is a lawyer. I have spoken with him, to congratulate him and he has assured me, he would like to collaborate, with the human right community, in ensuring, that the police take the issue of human right seriously. And for me, that’s commendable. Once you can get the entire police force to respect human right, the sky would be the limit. “However, on the part of the government, it’s not enough to change the leadership of the police. Government must fund the police.
The police must be equipped. We must train and retrain the police, so that we can have one of the best police services in the world. Right now, the government has ignored and neglected the police, to the detriment of security in the country. These same policemen and women, when they are sent outside the country, on peacekeeping missions, perform very well, which means given the resources, they’ll satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians.”
The National Coordinator of the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma said that any IGP, irrespective of tribe or religion, will not make any meaningful impact, in a corrupt system, where he dances to the whims and caprices of the ruling power and the president. His words: “Unless an IGP decides to rock the boat, get into trouble and/or make history, he can make no much difference in a perverse and rotten system! Since the news broke of the appointment of Mr. Suleiman Abba by the Nigerian Police Council as the new Inspector General of Police (IGP), I have been inundated with questions from a lot of people about what I think about him. I have been asked to assess the performance of the former IGP and to say whether I think the new IGP will perform better.
“My answer is that the performance or otherwise of any IG does not depend so much on the individual or the personality of the appointee as it is on the system and institutional structures in place, as well as the political interest and ideology of the ‘regime’ or government in power.
“Are the Nigerian police structured for efficient performance and effectiveness? What is the foundational philosophy and doctrine guiding the Nigerian police: force focus or service orientation?
Is it regime policing or democratic policing? Is ours a predatory police- a force of occupation or a ‘police force for democracy’- a people’s police? What are the leadership qualities and the procedure for the appointment of an IGP? Who determines who the IG becomes? Are there stakeholder-involvement and public input in the appointment process? “What are the criteria for determining who becomes an IGP- political or professional consideration?
Are educational qualification, leadership qualities, experience and ‘proven integrity’ considered? Does the IGP have security of tenure? Who holds policy and operational control of the police? To whom does the IGP answer or behold? “Put succinctly, where does the loyalty of the IGP lies?
To whom is the IGP accountable: is it to the people via elected representatives (parliament)? Is it to the law, to the executive or to the president who appoints and can fire him/her at will? Does the IGP have the independence and operational autonomy to discharge his duties impartially and professionally?
As long as the organizational structure, institutional culture and the legal and normative frameworks governing the Nigeria police promote partisanship, corruption and human rights abuse, it will remain difficult for any IGP- even if that IGP is an angel borrowed from heavento perform professionally and effectively.
Under this prevailing circumstance, there can be no qualitative difference between one IGP and another except in terms of the individual’s scruples, sensitivity to public opinion and concern about history.”
This led to his coming out with the Police Code of Conduct. A good number of people argued that slight changes were noticed in personnel of the force, but just like there would always be Judas among the 12 disciples, some policemen had continued in their corrupt ways.
Abubakar had also tackled corruption headlong. He made sure police caught in the web of corruption, were dealt with. Indeed, his tenure witnessed a high output of bribecollecting policemen and women caught on phone cameras. He instituted the dismantling of road blocks across the nation. Under his tenure, President Goodluck Jonathan visited the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos, saw its deplorable condition and refurbished it. At least about 13 helicopters were bought to boost the flying wing of the police.
He not only built several police hospitals across the nation, he also established police intelligence schools and upgraded the police intelligence departments. He moved for the renovation of the Louis Edet Building, the Force Headquarters. Achievements of police rank and files were recognized and commended in his administration. He procured about 2,000, patrol vehicles, empowered the marine police with patrol boats, introduced the camouflage uniform and established the police mortgage bank.
Under his leadership, the Nigeria Police has been adjudged one of the best by the United Nations in international peacekeeping missions. He came up with the police housing scheme, but many junior officers lampooned the scheme, insisting that the price tag for the houses were grossly out of their reaches.
Promotions were stringent in his tenure until towards the tail end of his administration. In March 2014, he promoted 1296 Police officers. There was also the promotion of 24,118 officers in the same month. The major security troubles, which dogged Abubakar’s footsteps and even now appeared unresolved, are the dreaded Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen attacks and kidnappings.
The Boko Haram sect, under Abubakar, witnessed the outrageous killing of several policemen. These same monsters are the insecurity problems, waiting behind the curtains, for Abba. Meeting with senior policemen on Tuesday, Abba avowed his commitment to strengthening inter-agency collaboration in the ongoing war against violent crimes and insurgency. Barrister Femi Falana (SAN), speaking with NT about the new IGP and revealing his belief in Abba possibly taking the Nigeria Police Force to a new height said: “I’m happy that the new IGP, Abba, is a lawyer. I have spoken with him, to congratulate him and he has assured me, he would like to collaborate, with the human right community, in ensuring, that the police take the issue of human right seriously. And for me, that’s commendable. Once you can get the entire police force to respect human right, the sky would be the limit. “However, on the part of the government, it’s not enough to change the leadership of the police. Government must fund the police.
The police must be equipped. We must train and retrain the police, so that we can have one of the best police services in the world. Right now, the government has ignored and neglected the police, to the detriment of security in the country. These same policemen and women, when they are sent outside the country, on peacekeeping missions, perform very well, which means given the resources, they’ll satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians.”
The National Coordinator of the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma said that any IGP, irrespective of tribe or religion, will not make any meaningful impact, in a corrupt system, where he dances to the whims and caprices of the ruling power and the president. His words: “Unless an IGP decides to rock the boat, get into trouble and/or make history, he can make no much difference in a perverse and rotten system! Since the news broke of the appointment of Mr. Suleiman Abba by the Nigerian Police Council as the new Inspector General of Police (IGP), I have been inundated with questions from a lot of people about what I think about him. I have been asked to assess the performance of the former IGP and to say whether I think the new IGP will perform better.
“My answer is that the performance or otherwise of any IG does not depend so much on the individual or the personality of the appointee as it is on the system and institutional structures in place, as well as the political interest and ideology of the ‘regime’ or government in power.
“Are the Nigerian police structured for efficient performance and effectiveness? What is the foundational philosophy and doctrine guiding the Nigerian police: force focus or service orientation?
Is it regime policing or democratic policing? Is ours a predatory police- a force of occupation or a ‘police force for democracy’- a people’s police? What are the leadership qualities and the procedure for the appointment of an IGP? Who determines who the IG becomes? Are there stakeholder-involvement and public input in the appointment process? “What are the criteria for determining who becomes an IGP- political or professional consideration?
Are educational qualification, leadership qualities, experience and ‘proven integrity’ considered? Does the IGP have security of tenure? Who holds policy and operational control of the police? To whom does the IGP answer or behold? “Put succinctly, where does the loyalty of the IGP lies?
To whom is the IGP accountable: is it to the people via elected representatives (parliament)? Is it to the law, to the executive or to the president who appoints and can fire him/her at will? Does the IGP have the independence and operational autonomy to discharge his duties impartially and professionally?
As long as the organizational structure, institutional culture and the legal and normative frameworks governing the Nigeria police promote partisanship, corruption and human rights abuse, it will remain difficult for any IGP- even if that IGP is an angel borrowed from heavento perform professionally and effectively.
Under this prevailing circumstance, there can be no qualitative difference between one IGP and another except in terms of the individual’s scruples, sensitivity to public opinion and concern about history.”
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