• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Mohammed Adamu, Ag. IGP, that I know – Shina Philips

IGP with Philips 1

The appointment, on 15 January 2019, of Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, as the Ag. Inspector General of Police by President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to elicit commendations from many Nigerians, especially those who know the pedigree of Adamu as a quintessential and a thorough-bred police officer. Those who know what the new IGP will be bringing on board are equally delighted at the positive changes the Force will witness in the coming months and years.

These high expectations appear to be very well placed. Mohammed Adamu has distinguished himself at every post and command where he has served since 1986 when he was commissioned as Cadet ASP in the Police Force. When eventually confirmed as the nation’s Police Chief, Adamu will be one of the most educated Inspectors General of Police in Nigeria’s history.  In 1983, he graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with a B.Sc (Hons) degree in Geography. In 2010, he again obtained a Master’s degree in International Criminal Justice Systems from the University of Portsmouth, England and in 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree in International Relations by Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu State.

Mohammed Adamu has served as the Divisional Crime Officer at the Mgbidi Police Station in Imo State; Officer-in-Charge, General Investigation, Nigeria Police Zone 6 Headquarters, Calabar and as a detective at the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos. In 2007, Ag. IGP Adamu was appointed the Director, Peacekeeping and Training, Force Headquarters, Abuja and later deployed as the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of Administration in Ekiti State Command. In 2012, he was transferred to the Kaduna Police Command as Deputy Commissioner of Police and Head of the State Criminal Investigation Department. He became the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Police Command in 2013 and was promoted Assistant Inspector General of Police in 2015 and placed in charge of Zone 5 Police Headquarters, Benin-City.

Adamu remains one of the best trained Police officers in global policing. He is the first ever African to be made a Director in the over 82 years history of INTERPOL Between 1997 and 2002, he was seconded by the Nigeria Police to the INTERPOL General Secretariat, Lyon, France as a ‘Specialised Officer’ on Economic and Financial Crimes in the Economic and Financial Crimes Sub-Directorate. He held this position until he was made Assistant Director in-charge of the African Sub-Directorate at the INTERPOL General Secretariat. In 2005, he was promoted Director, National Central Bureau and 1-24/7 Global Communication System and Development within the hierarchy of the INTERPOL Secretariat, Lyon, France.

In 2010, at its General Assembly Session in Singapore, Ag. IGP Adamu was elected Executive Member of INTERPOL in 2012; he was elected the INTERPOL’s Vice President responsible for Africa at INTERPOL’s meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.

As an International Assessor, I have had more than a brief interaction with the Ag. IGP, and I am very optimistic that his appointment would be in the overall interest of Nigeria.

First, I must join many well-meaning Nigerians to commend President Muhammadu Buhari the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for appointing Mohammed Adamu to lead the Nigeria Police Force. I say this with all sense of humility and respect that Adamu is one of the best trained, most exposed and most professional Police Officers on the African continent. His educational qualifications and experience on the job eminently qualifies him for the Police top job.

His training in International Criminal Justice Systems and other in-house Police trainings have placed him in good stead to steer the ship of the Police aright. He has served in Operations, Investigations and administration at the highest level of the Police Force; he has served in the southern and northern parts of the country and has spent quality time abroad working with the INTERPOL. He is very well respected in the international Police circle. He is very well experienced in global policing. His experience and contacts will help Nigeria regain her respect and place in the comity of nations.

Expectations from the Ag. IGP

Ag. IGP Mohammed Adamu (left) receiving award statuette from Shina Philips in Enugu, June 2017, while he was Commissioner of Police.

We must realise that policing a country like Nigeria is never an easy job. Only a Police IGP with the right of exposure, expertise and discipline and an eagled-eye focus can successfully lead the Force. The challenges are enormous and it is a task that one man alone cannot surmount. Having said that, I will also say that Mohammed Adamu I know is brave, intelligent and professional; he has the capacity to lead the gallant men and women of the Police Force. He is a passionate and focused leader. My expectations of him as the IGP are ambitious. I expect the Police Force under him to be absolutely focused on crime prevention. He did this when he was Commissioner of Police in Enugu when he encouraged the use of sports, especially football to engage the attention of youths and steer them away from criminal activities.

We will also see a Police Force that will be very disciplined and focused on her traditional responsibility of fighting crime and protecting the society. He is a silent achiever. Nigerians will experience a Police Force working stealthily but efficiently and effectively to achieve set goals. We will see a Police leadership without unnecessary controversies and negative media exposures.

Ag. IGP Mohammed Adamu will bridge the gap between the Police and the public. We will find police officers and men interact professionally with the public and treat them with tact and respect. Adamu will work assiduously to smoke out criminals and hunt them down.

Through his exposure, I am sure the Ag. IGP will work to reform the Force and make her meet international and global police standard. His exposure will help him lead the Nigeria Police along international best practices which is something the public has always desired from the Force.

 Why we honoured the Ag. IGP

‘Firstly, I want people to know that the Nigeria Pitch Awards have always supported the Nigeria Police Force. The Nigeria Police have played pivotal roles in Nigerian sports. Remember the contributions of Samuel Peters, ‘The Nightmare’, a former Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the world; Chioma Ajunwa, an Olympic medalist who is still a serving police officer, the late Sunday Bada, Sunday Adeleye, Sunday Oyarekhua, Kikelomo Ajayi a former captain of the Super Falcons and many other Police Officers who have brought sporting glories to Nigeria. So, the Police, among security agencies in the country, have taken the front role.

Secondly, we have followed the trail of success of the Police in the area of football and sports generally and have continued to identify and honour those individual police officers who have made tremendous efforts to improve the state of sports in the Police in particular and in the country generally. In 2013 in Calabar, the Nigeria Pitch Awards honoured Gideon Akinsola a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the security of the Super Eagles and the stadium during matches.  2016, in Kaduna we honoured the then Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Sir Mike Okiro with an award. At that event, we had in attendance the Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the Honourable Minister of Youths and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, top members of the NFF Board and Super Eagles players led by Coach Samson Siasia and John Obi Mikel.

Also in 2016, the Nigeria Pitch Awards honoured Solomon Arase who was the Inspector-General of Police at that time. We also honoured Ebere Amaraizu, a Superintendent of Police and Police Public Relations Officer to the Enugu Police Command for his invaluable contributions in the use of football to engage the attention of youths away from criminal activities. As a result of Amarizu’s contributions, the Police Machine FC, the Police football team made great exploits and recorded victories even over established teams like Rangers International. Incidentally, the Enugu Command football success was inspired by the Ag. IGP when he was CP in Enugu.

We honoured the Ag. IGP for his support for the use of football to drive down the crime rate in Enugu and in order to encourage him to do more to support sports in the Police Force. From his antecedents, we expect that sports will receive a very massive boost in the Force.

Finally, Matchmakers Consult International has continued to support the Nigeria Police Force. The Africa LAMPS Awards, which is scheduled to debut later in the year, represents Legends of Arts, Management, Politics, Science, Sports and Security. As organisers, we will collaborate with the Nigeria Police in order to continue to encourage our officers to do more for their fatherland.

Shina Philips

Shina Philips is the MD/CEO of Matchmakers Consult International, organizers of the Nigeria Pitch Awards and Africa LAMPS Awards.