BRIEF REMARKS BY AG. IGP MOHAMMED A. ADAMU, NPM, mni, THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE AT THE RECEPTION HELD IN HIS HONOUR BY THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF POLICY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES, KURU-JOS ON 10TH FEBRUARY, 2019 AT NAF CONFERENCE CENTRE, ABUJA
Protocols
It is with humility but exceedingly high elation that I stand before you at this special reception organised in my honour by you, my colleagues and friends in the Alumni Association of the prestigious National Institute of Police and Strategic Studies, Kuru-Jos, following my appointment as the 20th indigenous Inspector General of Police.
2. Today’s event is one I will treasure for the rest of my career. This is not only because of the quality of personalities here seated, but mainly because today, I am being recognised and honoured by an institution that is not only respected for its track record as a credible and strategic policy and leadership establishment, but one through which tutelage most of the exceptional policy makers in Nigeria across several endeavours today have passed through.
3. As a product of this great institution, I am gratified to say that my experience both as a student and a directing staff exposed me to what Crawford A. refers to in his incisive essay on ‘The Pattern of Policing in the UK’ as ‘a new way of looking at things’ and ‘a new set of things to look at’ [1] in the sphere of internal security management, policy formulation and strategic leadership. This exposure, my dear respected colleagues and intellectual soul mates, has significantly re-moulded my leadership vision, sharpened my analytical mind, strengthened my critical reasoning ability, and enhanced my overall leadership competence.
4. Beyond this, I can delightfully assert that the honour of being an alumnus of NIPSS was a timely life-time experience that has prepared me fully for the national task of commanding the largest Police Force in Africa. It has also equipped me not only with the requisite knowledge needed to authoritatively dissect the complex and dynamic profile of crimes in Nigeria, but also with the understanding needed to evolve new thoughts in addressing such policing challenges.
5. As the Inspector General of Police and alumnus of NIPSS, I am conscious that I am not only flying the flag of the Nigeria Police. I am also marching on with the honour of holding the flag of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies. In this professional journey, be assured that I will not let you down. I shall continually uphold, manifest, and advance those values that our great institution stand for just as I will utilise the platform of police leadership which destiny has bestowed on me, to deploy the intellectual assets gained from the Institute to positively alter the narratives of the Nigeria Police in a manner that all of you will be proud of.
6. Ladies and gentlemen, my overriding mandate is clear. It is simply to restore police primacy, which has been systematically eroded over the years.As the Inspector General of Police, I cannot single-handedly achieve this. I need the people to support me. It is in cognisance of this that my strategic vision is to return the Police to the citizens. The strategic pathway to attaining this is to implement a Community Policing Policy that is guided by the contents of the document – “Strengthening Internal Security Framework and Community Policing In Nigeria : Policy Options and Strategies which is the product of a study by members of the Senior Executive Course 40, 2018 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Plateau State.
7. The document represents an intellectual masterpiece that could be utilised towards the formulation of a Community Policing Policy as an Internal Security Management Strategy. I am firmly committed to giving meaningful and sustainable effect to it. Consequently, in the coming days, I shall be inaugurating a ‘Community Policing Implementation Standing Committee’ to drive this process within a time frame. Some of you will be invited to be part of this noble process. Like other policies that I might emplace in furtherance to the attainment of my mandate, I call on you to be part of this wind of positive change and I trust that you shall walk the path with me, hand-in-hand, as true and dependable alumni with a commonly shared vision of a greater Nigeria.
8. In drawing this address to a close, permit me to again re-assure the nation of the full readiness of the Nigeria Police for the peaceful and secure conduct of the 2019 general elections. The implementation of the Strategic Election Security Framework developed by the Force under my watch to guide the peaceful conduct and success of the exercise has commenced and I am confident that police service delivery in the electoral process shall not only be optimal, it will be unprecedentedly professional and rule of law – guided.
9. Finally, I relish this special honour and I thank you all and pray for God’s perfection of your individual dreams.
10. Thank you and may God continue to bless and honour you
all.
[1] Crawford, A. (2006) ‘The Pattern of Policing in the UK: Policing Beyond the Police’ in T. Newburn (ed), Handbook of Policing, Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
