Few days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari decorated a Nasarawa State-born Adamu Abubakar Mohammed as the acting Inspector General of Police. As it is usually the case, the police chief has marshaled out his policy direction.

The is that the police under him shall carry out its duties diligently.

As plausible as the dream look, however, given our perennially notorious policing styles in over fifty years and if the saying that, ‘old behaviors die hard’, is to be considered, then realists can as well say that this aspiration is difficult but not impossible to achieve.

On the other hand, one of the most important things Nigerians would want the new Police Chief to do is to restore DISCIPLINE among the ranks and file of the Nigerian Police.

No doubt, the demon that has led to the generational degeneration of the Nigeria Police Force is gross indiscipline. Bribery, corruption and inefficiency are the inevitable offspring of INDISCIPLINE.

This general cankerworm, which has eaten deep into the force, is responsible for the growth of impunity, corruption, inefficiency, tribalism, nepotism, and other societal ills. From the simple to the complex, it is apparent that indiscipline steers one in the face whenever a citizen encounters some police operatives in almost all cases.

Moreover, the level of sanitation at some police stations and barracks leaves much to be desired.

The next is the alleged lobbying for appointment, promotions and posting to juicy positions.

Thus, indiscipline has overshadowed the operations of the Nigeria Police Force. Let the police chief embark on training and re-orientation that will produce a specific character or pattern of behavior that will produce moral or mental improvement of men and officers of the Force.

He should introduce measures to check the different levels of indiscipline in the organisation such as financial indiscipline, strict compliance to constitutional provisions regarding law enforcement and ethical discipline. These basic tenets are lacking in the current Nigeria Police Force and this is the reason why some police operatives seem to be public enemies.

The seeming lack of trust and confidence in the police is the reason why the intelligence gathering efficiency of the operatives has declined significantly. One cannot possibly fight and/or prevent crime if there is no intelligence and one cannot build actionable intelligence too without the inputs of members of the public.

In places like the USA, it is even a punishable offence for citizens to conceal vital information that can assist law enforcement in cases of breaches of the laws.

The Acting Inspector-General of Police must clean up both the professional image of the Police and must, as a matter of urgency, restore environmental sanitation across the police formations.

The new police boss must deliver clean, quality and durable housing facilities for the police. Virtually all the police stations and barracks across Nigeria are in varying degrees of deterioration.

There is no way we expect a person who operates in a dirty and dilapidated environment to
render clean services to the public.

The new police chief should also enforce strict adherence to prompt response time to distress calls and abolish the alleged extortion of complainants who are said to be taxed to even fuel their vehicles to operate.

Police must abolish this attitude of going cap -in- hand to beg for assistance from rich people and companies and must clearly abide by ethical codes of conduct that would not make them consistently demand for funding assistance from questionable people because, ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’.

Again, Police orderly should be restricted to those legally entitled to it. Another cankerworm Adamu Abubakar must fight head on is extortion. It is rather a case of alarm on how the police is almost synonymous with words like “roger” or “how far” slangs used to collect money from motorists at various check points, some illegal, on the high way.

The police response to emergency situation is rather abysmal too. It is a recurring joke among the civil populace that the Nigeria police tend to arrive at the scene of an armed robbery attack well after the robbers had departed the scene of the robbery.

The new IGP should imbibe in his men to have passion for service above anything else. It should be a thing of pride to wear the uniform of the Nigerian Police Force. He should ensure that the Nigeria Police Force will henceforth be guided by the international core values of policing with integrity, ensuring that the rule of law prevails.

Above all, there are many honest officers and men in the Nigerian Police, who fear God and make the country proud. Such people should be encouraged. As the 2019 general election approaches, such men and officers of impeccable character should be drafted to police the process to ensure credible poll, different from what were obtained at Osun and Ekiti elections.

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