The Chairman of the Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abdullateef Lanre Ahmed has called for the reward of diligent Police officers.
Mr Ahmed made the call at a get-together in honour of the acting Inspector General of Police, Adeolu Olukayode Egbetokun.
The event was at the instance of the Spokesperson of the state police command, Ajayi Okasanmi, a Superintendent of Police, held at Police Officers’ Mess, GRA, Ilorin, North Central Nigeria.
Ahmed, who expressed delight in the performance of the state police command in the security of lives and property, admonished the personnel to continue to serve diligently to attain the height of the service.
“Kwara State Police Command has been very fortunate and a pace-setting for that matter. If you are lucky to pass through the Kwara command, it is as if you have gotten the ticket to rise to the pinnacle of your career in the service.
“We have living witnesses to this testimony. You have a former Inspector General of Police, M.D. Abubakar, immediate-past IGP also served in Kwara as Area Commander. That is an attestation to the quality of the Kwara Command of the Police.
“I’m also glad that the acting Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, also served diligently while in Kwara State. We can count so many people that have had that opportunity and rose to that zenith of their career before they eventually retired from service,“ the NUJ Chairman said.
He applauded the spokesman of the state police command for his dedication and selfless service to the state since his appointment.
“We are glad that the PPRO has been doing a fantastic job and I wish to recommend him even though I do not have the power. As much as we don’t want him to leave us in Kwara Command, it is high time that the Police authority looks inward to pick him as the next spokesperson of the force headquarters in Abuja.
“This is because in the last couple of years that he has been serving in Kwara, we have a lot of testimonies to say about him. He has been very supportive and helpful not just to journalists. He has been a friend of everyone in Kwara State.
“Any point in time, just call him. If you are in distress, just put a call to him. Surely, you will be glad at the responses you will get from him and that tells you about the quality of his person and character.
“We are not just celebrating the acting Inspector General of Police. We are also celebrating ourselves. I want to thank you most sincerely, particularly the PPRO for deeming it fit to host our colleagues to this delectable get-together,” he said.
The acting Commissioner of Police in the state, DCP Adekimi Ojo, commended Journalists for a good working relationship, adding, “Without you, we cannot achieve anything. We are part of you”.
It would be recalled that Egbetokun served in Kwara State as Commissioner of Police before his redeployment to Lagos.
Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi is the female Commissioner of Police since the creation of Kwara State in 1967.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police Force, Kwara State Command, SP Ajayi Okasanmi has lauded the appointment of the state’s first female Commissioner of Police, OluwaRotimi Adelesi, describing her as a hardworking officer and a disciplinarian.
According to the PPRO, Adelesi who is from Shagamu in Ogun State, is coming to a familiar turf because she had previously served as a former deputy commissioner of Police in charge of administration.
He said: “The new Commissioner of Police, OluwaRotimi Adelesi is not a new person in Kwara, she was a former deputy commissioner of Police in charge of administration during the tenure of Kayode Egbetokun’s time in Kwara as a CP, she knows the terrain very well, she was fully on the ground.
“While she was here in Kwara as a Deputy Commissioner of Police, she was promoted to the Rank of Commissioner of Police, and we went to felicitate with the Governor of Kwara State, Mallam Abdul Rahman AbdulRazaq thereafter she was posted out of the State, as God would have it, she has been posted back to the State as our Commissioner.
“She is a very hardworking woman, she is a woman that takes no nonsense, a well-known disciplinarian, and upon the announcement of her deployment here, the men are already falling into line and we are happy and we are waiting for her to come and it is a general knowledge that the best is always brought to Kwara before anyone is posted here, that person must have been tested, tried and seen to be worthy of the position.”
He also revealed that the increase in the number of female commissioners is a result of the implementation of the policy by the Police Service Commission (PSC) of making sure at least 15% of all posting are women.
“During the assumption of office of the Chairman of Police Service Commission, he made a case for Women to be taking at least 15% of the posting in the Force and that was what the IG implemented.”
