By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Police Service Commission (PSC) yesterday said that no fewer than 200 senior police officers would soon be retiring from service, stressing that this will create manpower shortfall and capacity gaps in the service.
The Commission, however, said that it will deepen its relationship with the National Examination Council, (NECO), and the Public Service Institute of Nigeria, to leverage on their manpower and capacity developments.
Spokesperson of the Commission, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, in a statement said, the Commission will also make a case for the upgrading of junior officers who have obtained additional qualifications and will need to collaborate with the Institutions for short service training for these officers before they are upgraded to the officer cadre.
He said, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr Solomon Arase, made this disclosure when he met with delegations from the National Examination Council, NECO and the Public Service Institute of Nigeria, two rated Nigerian training and examination institutions.
Arase, the statement said, bemoaned the lack of capacity in the Commission and the Nigeria Police Force.
He, nevertheless, vowed to close the capacity gaps in the Commission and the Police and extended a hand of fellowship to the management of the two training and examination institutions to quickly fix these gaps in the interest of viable and efficient policing in Nigeria.
He said the police as the lead agency in the internal security and oversight body, should not be allowed to lack capacity, especially at this critical period of nation-building.
He also admitted that the Commission’s recruitment system has been problematic, adding that under his watch, the Commission will do what is right and complement the efforts of the police.
“This is not the age where you bring people who cannot read or write and we have to be careful with the people we give arms to”.
The Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of the Public Service Institute of Nigeria, Dr Abdul-Ganiyu Obatoyinbo, commended the PSC Chairman for his efforts so far in stabilising a very important sector of the nation’s existence.
The Administrator said the Institute as the face of the nation in capacity building will want to use the PSC Chairman as a catalyst to forge a strong relationship with the Nigerian police in terms of training since the police officers are public servants.
The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of NECO, Prof. Dantani Ibrahim told the Chairman that the examination body has come to stay and contribute to the nation’s educational career progression.
