By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr Solomon Arase, on Wednesday, said the future of the Nigeria Police is threatened by the ever-changing socio-political dynamics of the country, coupled with the exponential depletion of experienced officers and specialists through retirement.
Dr Arase said this at the maiden Retired Officers Consultative Forum, convened by the PSC to interact and interrogate issues and challenges confronting the Nigeria Police Force.
The Chairman told the Members that the responsibility of rescuing and repositioning the NPF is a collective task that demands the participation and involvement of noble senior citizens.
Dr. Arase invited the senior citizens to join him in the tortuous but great journey of commitment, sacrifice and love for the Nigeria Police Force by getting actively involved in the forum.
Head, of Press and Public Relations, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, in a statement in Abuja, said, the forum is expected to avail retired officers the needed opportunities and platform to give back to the force and ensure ” that the socio-political vagaries and contemporary societal complexities do not contain the Nigeria Police Force to a paper-tiger in the security architecture of Nigeria.
According to the Chairman, “I deemed it necessary to form a community of retired Police Officers, named Retired Officers Consultative Forum, that will act as a think tank for the Force and PSC, through dispassionate interrogation of issues, generation of ideas and proffering solutions on issues of Security Sector Reforms”.
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The Forum, Dr Arase noted, “aims at providing a veritable platform to the retired officers to critically examine contemporary issues and challenges affecting the NPF, and recommend pragmatic and actionable solutions and responses, for optimal functionality of the Force in delivering on its mandate”.
He said the forum will provide the opportunity to leverage the experiential knowledge and advise, on policies and measures that will not only ensure a harmonious working relationship between the two institutions but also reposition the NPF for greater efficiency and effectiveness in restoring its primacy in internal security in Nigeria.
Dr Arase said the Forum will further serve as a platform for eliciting interest in the possible recruitment of members who are interested in participating as resource persons in the training programmes of the Commission, for both Members of the two institutions; as well as serving as a recruitment platform for a recommendation of qualified and competent retired officers for consideration for different appointments.
The National President of the retired Police Officers Association of Nigeria, Elder Steven A. Aiyewumi, AIG rtd, said it was obvious that the Nigeria Police Force was facing myriads of challenges.
He concluded, that it will take the combined efforts of both retired officers and the force leadership to identify these problems and proffer solutions to them.
