VP Osinbajo Decorates New Acting Inspector General Of Police, Usman Akali Baba On 07/04/2021

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CHARGE BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, TO THE NEWLY APPOINTED INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, MR USMAN ALKALI BABA, PSC, FDC ON THE 7TH OF APRIL, 2021

PROTOCOLS

Let me once again offer my congratulations to you on your appointment. Your selection by Mr. President follows a rigorous selection process where all eligible deputy Inspectors General of Police and Assistant Inspectors General of Police were vetted and considered.

The President then appointed you as the most senior qualified and eligible officer. This is a departure from the past when the selection of a new Inspector General of Police often meant the immediate retirement of a cohort of senior police officers whose vast experience and training would no longer be available to the country.

This appointment largely on the basis of seniority, will ensure that you have access to professional and experienced officers to support you in your new role.

Before I continue, let me commend the outgoing IG for his service, especially his hardwork and innovation. Thank you for your service to our country.

Acting IG, you are assuming office at a very turbulent time in the life of our country, there are multiple threats to law, order and public safety. The role of law enforcement and in particular that of the Nigeria Police Force as the primary agency charged with maintaining law and order, has never been more important.

The Police is our institution of first resort, the first line of defense against crime and anarchy and the first sign of the strength of the State.

Last year, Mr. President signed the new Police Act – the first police reform legislation to be enacted in over fifty years. The Act is the centerpiece of our commitment to reinventing the police as an institution that we can all be proud of. It articulates this administration’s vision of a modern competent police force as an institution committed to the preservation of human rights and human dignity and the protection of the public against all criminal threats.

The challenges before you are indeed onerous and will test your mettle. The organization you are now leading is one that is itself, facing several challenges. Your officers work in extremely difficult conditions and some now face the threat of physical harm by terrorists and hostile non-state actors while in the line of duty.

Under your leadership, the police force must now rebuild the broken bridges of trust with the public and regain the confidence of the citizenry. One of the ways, it can do this is by implementing community policing and re-conceptualizing policing as a task carried out in partnership with local communities and by officers who are members of these localities.

Under your leadership, the force must live up to the highest standards of professional conduct and compliance with the rule of law. It must significantly improve the welfare and working conditions of its officers while rapidly scaling up its forensic, logistical and operational capacities to meet today’s challenges. You must stamp out the excesses, abuses and the culture of impunity demonstrated by some elements of the Force which provoke public outrage against the institution.

In short, your mission is nothing less than the restoration of the dignity and high repute of the policing profession. The testimony of your pedigree and your career thus far is that you are up to the task.

The administration stands ready to work with you to reposition the NPF and take it to unprecedented heights of professionalism, competence and excellence. I therefore welcome you as a key partner in this administration’s comprehensive programme of reform aimed at repositioning the NPF as a modern, responsive and citizen-centered law enforcement service.

I expect that you will justify the confidence Mr. President has reposed in you in naming you to lead the force in these trying times.

I congratulate you once more and wish you all the very best in your tenure.

Thank you.