It is incontrovertible that security is a sine qua non for sustainable economic and social development of any society and nation, hence governments or those at the helm of affairs must place adequate premium on it for the good of the people. Therefore, the appointment of Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar as acting Inspector-General of Police about a year ago did not come to many as a surprise, especially those who have come in contact with him in the course of his duties.

He is an amiable and disciplined crack corp whose pedigree in police operations and appreciation of dynamics of modern policing is superb.

Most Nigerians did not initially give Abubakar a chance to succeed, especially given the ignoble exit of his successors in office, particularly those who still have pending court cases of financial misdemeanours against them after many years.

At the outset, Abubakar had a big task on his hands. On the one hand he had to prove to Nigerians that something good could still come out of the police organisation( which had earned the sobriquet as one of the most hated organisation in Nigeria). On the other hand, he needed to urgently contend with the monstrous security challenges confronting the nation. Among these are the fearsome Boko Haram insurgent as well as other criminal vices like bloody armed robberies that often make the headlines on a daily basis.

The office of the IGP no doubt, requires a competent hand that could tackle crisis management and Abubakar is mindful of this fact. It is most delightful that today, Abubakar has stuck to his words of keeping the police off the road for good. It is on record that there had been similar promises and directives issued in time past by some of his predecessors that turned out as empty rhetoric.

As a fallout of the directive by the police boss that all roadblocks across the nation should be dismantled, some disgruntled elements in the force peddled the rumour that did the rounds that the roads would be outright unsafe without the men in black blocking the roads, in a situation akin to the banana republic.

Being an operations man himself, the acting IGP insisted that policing could be done without the crude or anachronistic strategy used by the force over the years, threatening to dismiss any policeman found wanting.

However, the order would on the long run enhance the prestige of the police and help the officers and men to live within their emoluments and salaries, as there is a way that ill-gotten money easily develops wings and fly away before being trapped for anything useful and enduring.

Although the security situation in Nigeria still remains worrying, particularly because of the unrelenting Boko Haram and ethnic crises in some northern parts of the country, IGP Abubakar has shown good grasp of the situation on hand with a view to tackle them. This is why his recent confirmation as a substantive IGP by President Goodluck Jonathan is quite applaudable.

It makes a good sense for he who starts a good thing to be allowed to complete it! Given this confirmation, the IGP now has ample opportunity to etch his name in gold as the number one police officer, who in the words of a popular philosopher came, saw and conquered and without soiling his post-career reputation!

Tope Adaramola,
a public affairs commentator based in Lagos.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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