Nigeria Police has changed for better

I   had the opportunity to join the Nigeria Police Force in 1993, but I threw it away then because of the negative thoughts and creeds inscribed in my heart concerning the police. I used to detest the police. We were made to believe that they were compulsively corrupt, wicked, unfortunate, lazy, dirty, uneducated, hungry, angry, extortionate, extremely bad, unproductive, non-proactive, inefficient, cursed, poor, uninspiring, indigent and purposeless.

However, later in life, I changed my archaic views about police and policing when I met and interviewed erudite and well educated police officers. In 2008, I met and interviewed Olayinka Balogun, Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit, at Milverton. That day, my views, thoughts and mentality about the police and policing changed.

In 2012, I met a young, vibrant, mentally sound and exemplary police officer. His name is CSP James Ngei Chu. He was the DPO of Denton Police Station, Ebute-Meta, Lagos. He took over at Denton Police Station in 2012 and, within three months, he transformed the whole place. Denton is the first Police Station I have entered in Nigeria that looked like a bank or a corporate office. The floors were so neat, and there was no offensive odour anywhere in the station, even in the cells. The ambiance was superb. I opened my mouth in awe . And when I entered the office of the DPO, Mr. Chu, I almost fainted. I thought I was inside the office of the MD of a bank or an oil company. I was mesmerized. I was dazed. I was touched. I posted my experience  on Facebook.

Then, I met and interviewed a warm,  compassionate and well-educated Johnson Olatunde Ogunsakin (aka JTO), also at Milverton, on December 23, 2013, and I had great respect for the Nigeria Police Force. Ogunsakin was retired in May 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari, as  the AIG in charge of Zone 6, Bauchi, so as to pave the way for the current IG, Ibrahim Idris.

And lately when I met Ifedolapo Badmos, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Lagos State Command, I was impressed byher IQ, super-confidence, intelligence and brilliance.

Nigerian Policing hasgone beyond the old days of uneducated, uninspiring, rough, dirty and deranged police officers. Things have changed. Even all the junior officers working with Dolapo Badmos were neatly dressed, courteous, and spoke good English. Let’s give the police all the support they need to excel more.

If we don’t love our people and our national establishments, who will love them? If we don’t support our people and our national establishments, The Nigeria Police has arrived.

• David Olanrewaju,

Shomolu, Lagos.