Sunday Ehindero's epilogue

WHEN Sunday Ehindero, the immediate past Police Inspector-General, speaks, the nation ought to stop and listen not necessarily because of the man's oratorical power or the wisdom of his thoughts but because of the many questions he left unanswered during the twilight days of his tenure. Even after he left the police, questions have continued to trail Ehindero. Last week, the Daily Sun succeeded in publishing extracts of an interview granted by Ehindero. The interview, although lacking in detail, provided some insights into the metaphorical epilogue that Ehindero has written for his yet-to-be-published book.

In the interview, Ehindero came out firing from all cylinders. It was his own way of getting back at his critics. He showed no remorse for the failures of the police during his tenure. He took no responsibility for any acts of professional misconduct by the police. As far as he was concerned, he gave his best to Nigeria and we should be grateful to him rather than roast him for his sacrifices. According to the Daily Sun of Saturday, February 9, 2008, Ehindero said his days as police inspector-general were "most fulfilling". It would have been an act of self-immolation if Ehindero had criticised his own performance.

One of the controversial claims made by Ehindero during the interview popped up when he said: "I did much for the Nigeria Police, and most of all, I brought the police closer to God". In his words: "When I was there, first of all I brought God closer to the policemen. I established the chaplains in the Nigerian Police and they are there for everybody to see."

Ehindero should never talk about setting up chaplains in the police force as his major achievement. It is also not a measure of the level of integrity within the force. It is a noble idea for a public servant such as Ehindero to establish a college of chaplains in the police force. But, hey, Ehindero should be reminded that setting up chaplains was never his primary responsibility as police inspector-general and it was never the core objective of the police force too. The primary role of the Nigeria Police is to protect lives and property, and to maintain peace and security across the country.

To be sure, Ehindero, as police inspector-general, was not assigned the task of converting unbelievers in the police force into believers. In fact, when did evangelical matters become a part of the mission of the Nigeria Police? That has always been the chief responsibility of religious leaders and all those who officially and unofficially have appropriated the right to promote the doctrines of the church.

Ehindero was right on my money when he said: "A nation gets the police force it can pay for. So whatever happened in my days as the IG in the Nigeria Police is what the nation paid for." That is absolutely right. A nation gets the kind of police force that it deserves. The Nigeria Police is synonymous with poor remuneration and conditions of service. Poor remuneration is a huge disincentive that directly affects the morale of the police. When anyone's morale is down, achievement motivation is harder to kick-start. So it is with men and women of the police force.

Who will rescue the police? Ehindero couldn't do so in his days but he claims he sacrificed so much for the police. The police lacks basic equipment, including ordinary vehicles that ought to be on the road to facilitate effective crime detection and prevention. Decrepit is the key word that best describes the state of police equipment and infrastructure. I am not persuaded that Ehindero made substantial improvements in these areas during his tenure. If he did, the ragged nature of police equipment, communications facilities and vehicles has not provided a good testimony.

Indeed, the situation of the Nigeria police has remained so bad for so long that the police as an institution that ought to enjoy public trust and confidence has become the butt of bad jokes by comedians and a victim of provocative humour by newspaper editorial cartoonists.

In the early days of his role as acting inspector-general of police, Ehindero went to Kano and told police men and women: "I am here to put smiles on the faces of policemen. I will never convert the penny that belongs to you to my own pocket." That was on Friday, February 11, 2005. Public opinion is heavily divided on whether or not other people's money went missing during Ehindero's tenure. So far, there have been allegations but allegations without evidence cannot be sustained in the law courts. So, he remains innocent of those allegations.

But did Ehindero put smiles on the faces of policemen and women in terms of substantial increases in salaries and allowances during his tenure? The plain answer is no. Police salaries and allowances were not increased significantly. And the number and quality of police equipment and infrastructure did not improve considerably also. Ehindero did not introduce sufficient new technologies to facilitate swift and effective crime prevention. For clarity, Ehindero did not create these problems but, as police inspector-general, he would have made a big difference with the powers invested in him.

If Ehindero made great improvements in equipping the police, the police would be in a better position to match armed robbers and other criminal groups fire for fire. Furthermore, the rapid response unit of the police would be much quicker in responding to emergency calls by members of the public than that unit did. Ehindero may have recorded some successes but he must not exaggerate his achievements.

Like a small boy in a confessional before a Catholic priest, Ehindero made a startling acknowledgement of the poor public image of the police. That was in the early days of his tenure. He said: "Our image is at its lowest ebb and it is our responsibility to improve the image. We must change the way we police people. We must stop extortion of monies on the roads." Unfortunately, the image of the police continued its downward slide in the days of Ehindero. So much for improving the image of the police!

Ehindero was still police inspector-general when leading governorship candidates in Lagos and Ekiti states were brutally murdered by miscreants. In mid-August 2006, the leading PDP governorship contender in Ekiti State, Ayodeji Daramola, was stabbed and shot to death in his home. This occurred barely 18 days after the PDP leading governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Funsho Williams, was also murdered in his home.

When Ehindero visited the Ijan-Ekiti home of Daramola, he spoke in the language of the time: he told the audience that the killers of Daramola would be caught. He said: "I want to assure you that police would get to the root of this incident, it would not be a case of undetected murder." Ehindero must be embarrassed today by that empty promise. Two years later, the killers of Daramola have not yet been arrested, tried and convicted.

In an engaging editorial entitled "The menace of armed robbers", published on Friday, 23 March 2007, The Guardian reminded the nation that: "Sunday Ehindero, the Inspector-General of Police, who upon assuming office promised to protect and serve with integrity, is not fulfilling his promise. The police appear weak, ill motivated and incompetent. Their response to distress calls is often inadequate as they often plead one incapacity or another... There is need for a fresh initiative to turn up the heat on criminals and their collaborators. Tafa Balogun, the disgraced former Inspector-General of Police was somehow able to do this during his tenure."

It must be painful for Ehindero to observe a leading newspaper of record acknowledge the successes recorded by Tafa Balogun, a discredited former Inspector-General of police and Ehindero's predecessor, in regard to a marked reduction in armed robbery and other related crimes. But we must acknowledge also that Balogun served for a much longer term as inspector-general than Ehindero did.

Before Ehindero finalises his epilogue, he should remember that history will judge him by what he promised but failed to do and the problems he failed to fix when he was police inspector-general.