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Vanguard - Apapa,Lagos,Nigeria
02 December 2007

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Nigeria Police Chief blasts th

THOUGH he plays squash and not football, he is a die-hard Arsenal fan and is never tired of saying this. To many people, Felix Ogbaudu, the commissioner of Police, Rivers State, is not only a simple man but also one commissioner that is determined to fight crime to a stand still in the state. In this interview, the top cop tells the story of what growing was like. He also urges youths to learn to take one step at a time as enduring success only comes through hard work. Excerpts: GROWING UP: It was very interesting for me. I come from a very humble background. I will say I come from a middle class family. My parents could not be said to have been very rich but they were not poor either. As the first child I got virtually everything I needed in my home. My late grand father brought Christianity to my village, Otovwe in Isoko north, Delta State. So we grew up under strict Christian culture.

How I joined the police: After my graduation in 1975 at Ahmadu Bello University where I read science education and majored in botany and zoology, I was posted to Kano State for my youth service. At the end of this programme, I showed interest in joining the force. I had wanted to go to the army education unit to teach. But I had a cousin that advised against it. I finally opted for the Police. I joined the police Force in 1976.

Greatest challenge: I have served in many places. So, have had several challenges. I was in the CID for several years. And I handled very sensitive cases, those that had political colourations. For instance, I handled the late Abiola�s case to a large extent. I supervised where he was being kept before he died, may his soul rest in peace. Since I became commissioner of police, I have had to command turbulent states in the country. I was moved to Gombe State in 2003, that was a flash point in the northeast zone at the time. After that, I moved to Ibadan. I got to Ibadan at a time robberies were rampant. Before I got to Ibadan there was a time robbers killed nine policemen in one day. From Ibadan I moved to Anambra. I faced a lot of challenges in Anambra.

Would you say the Okija issue was a major challenge?
I won�t see the Okija thing as a challenge. Like I told you, I come from a purely Christian background. And my faith in God is absolute.
After the Okija thing, you had an accident and the rumour mill went to work alleging that the incident had a link with the Okija shrine?
(Cuts in with laughter). My Okija encounter was in 2004. This accident was in 2006, November. I had left Anambra; three other commissioners had succeeded me. The accident had no relationship with Okija at all. Those saying it are of little minds. If the Okija thing was part of it I would have died. Absolutely it had nothing to do with it.

Pranks played as a child: I remember something that happened about forty years ago, in 1964. Though it is not a prank, it is worth recalling. We did not have electricity then in our ancestral home. My father used to insist I read. There was this particular night I was reading with a lantern, and I was dozing off. My father saw it and told me I was sleeping. I said, �no daddy, I am not sleeping�. He told me again, I still denied. When he saw that I had dozed off, he just came to where I was, removed the lamp, and then tapped me to say I was sleeping. As I was saying I was not, I opened my eyes only to see that the whole place was darkness. And quickly he ordered me to go and sleep. Besides, I can�t really recall anything that earned me the stroke of cane from dad and mum.

Given your background one would have thought you would have joined another security organisation other than the police because, to some extent, the police is not seen as a force for those with humble background?

(Cuts in) It is a very misplaced impression on the force. What you just said is what will continue to haunt us in this country. That is what will make security elude us in this country. If you ask me, the police force is the first job on the line. You are talking of a man trained and deployed on solo basis often times.

Uniformed services

What I mean is that you see a policeman goes to perform his duty, he has no time to consult. All decisions he takes he does on his own. There are so many uniformed services but others don�t operate solo, they go in groups. Of course, you know the advantage in this. The policeman needs to be properly trained. As long as we hold on tenaciously to that view, so long will security elude us in this country.

For instance, if you talk of other services assisting the police, you are begging the question. Because these are adhoc measures. The bottom line is that it is police worldwide that tackles crime. There are countries in this world that never had armies until lately. But there is no society that never had a police force equivalent even in traditional societies. Gambia is just having its army. The current trend is that war is out of fashion. They are now fought on negotiation tables.

People say you are handsome. What was it like with women in your growing days?
Not just growing days. Even till now. Saying that I am attractive is saying the obvious. But I am not a womanizer. They come (laughs).

Who makes the first move? May be because of your looks it could be the other way round?
(Laughs). Well both ways! (Laughs again). I will give you an example. When I was in Enugu State as a young officer, about two years old in service then, precisely 1978, I used to present a television programme for the Police Command. I came out of my office in uniform one day to pick something from my car. I saw this young girl who ran to me, greeted me, good morning. I replied. And she said, �I hate the police but I like you sir.� We both laughed. And we became friends thereafter.

Tell us about your wife: I married her in 1982. God blessed me with a wonderful darling. I will forever be grateful to God for giving her to me.

Are you worried about the image of the police?
People that talk of extortion in the police are just deceiving themselves. They are hypocrites of the worst order. How much do policemen take? What I am saying has nothing to do with whether I am encouraging what they do. No, not at all. I am only saying it is being over amplified. There are things that happened recently that you and I know were in the papers that had to do with corruption. We are not talking of hundreds of millions of naira oh. Nobody is talking about that. Do you know the level of corruption that goes on behind close doors in offices? The policeman because what we have is what we can afford does what he keeps on doing. There is this beautiful advert, which says if you pay peanuts for jobs done by human being you get�

As long as you pay peanuts so long will you continue to recruit the dregs of society to do police work? The policeman�s work is the most sensitive. Security as epitomized by the police is like the foundation of a building. If there is no security no form of human endeavour takes place. So if you keep on recruiting the dregs of society because condition of service is poor so long will this practice continue? Don�t forget, we are the largest organization. I have always said the level of criticism an organization gets is a function of the level of interaction.

No matter how you live your life you must come across the police. So people must complain. Our problem is that you invest minimally and want to reap maximally. You can�t go to NICON in Abuja with three hundred naira and say you want to have a good meal. It is only here you give a policeman three hundred naira and want him to perform like the American police.

The way things are now; you see that people don�t want to join the police. So who will do the job? People talk of corruption in the police, how many police are millionaires in this country, whether retired or serving? What I have said is not that I support corruption. All I am saying is that if we want to turn things around then we must repair the police. And this will help address corruption in the society. We need a police that cannot be compromised. Once you have this, everything will fall in place.

Game: I am an Arsenal fan. I play squash. And I have been playing this for about thirty years.
You are a model to many. What advice do you have for youths in the country?

They must appreciate hard work. There is dignity in labour. Physically challenged people still work to earn decent living. The youths must work, they must persevere. Even at my level now, when my elders in the village talk I don�t reply. When elders are talking you don�t look at them eyeball to eyeball, that is the training I had. But now, you see youths beating up their parents, they participate in selecting traditional rulers. In some areas they install traditional rulers. It is never done. So the youths should eschew violence.

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Vanguard - Apapa,Lagos,Nigeria02 December 2007

Nigeria Police Chief blasts th

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Vanguard - Apapa,Lagos,Nigeria
02 December 2007