My legacy will be to impact Officers and Men of the NPF and PSC- Arase
Oru Leonard
Former Inspector General of Police and the new Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Solomon Arase, who assumed duty on Thursday has said that the legacy he will want to leave with would be to impact the Officers and Men of the Nigerian Police Force and the Police Service Commission;
“There is going to be some paradigm shift in our relationship with oversight functions with the Nigerian Police Force. I left the Police after 35 years and I have spent seven years in retirement and the only thing that I crave for now is how I will be able to impact the Officers and Men of the Nigerian Police Force and the Police Service Commission; that is what my legacy will be.
“The police officers I have worked with in those days, I can assure you, are professionals in their own right, we will not have any issues. I can assure you that because I cannot work in a toxic environment. I can only perform when I have the ambience of a situation where I can think and that is exactly what I’m going to encourage. You will not be disappointed”, he said.
He further sought the cooperation of the media in the area of security sector reforms as well as in changing the narrative in the aspect of the negative public perception the Force has had to deal with.
“One major aspect that the Commission has not talked about is the issue of the security sector reforms and that is where I am going to seek your cooperation as the fourth estate of the realm, to see how we can jazz up our relationship in terms of what we can do with few people that will make some impact in dealing with the Nigerian Police Force.
“We are going to be open and we do not want speculative journalism. If you have issues that you need confirmation, you have access to us to confirm them”, he stated
He further noted that the Nigerian Police Force is supposed to be a Force for all Nigerians, where the citizens can critique them, noting however, that in critiquing them, there is also a need to proffer solutions to the issues bedeviling the efficiency and effectiveness of the Force.
“What sort of Police Force do we expect in the country? How can we attain such a system? I want you to please change your approach towards reporting of policing activities in the country and try to see how you can help us to proffer solutions on how we can get this thing done.
“I want to forge a good relationship with you people so that you can come up with solutions on what we can do better. I am your friend and I will remain your friend”, he concluded.
Arase, 65, who retired in 2016, was the 18th indigenous Inspector-General of Police from April 2015 to June 2016.
