Gov Mbah: Tinubu on a mission to restore the dignity, excellence of police, security agents

Governor of Enugu State and Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC) Committee on the Revamp of Police and Other Security Training Institutions, Dr. Peter Mbah, says the initiative represents President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to urgently restore the dignity and excellence of the men and women of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies.

Governor Mbah equally stressed that the nation could not, in good conscience, demand integrity and excellence from the security agents without first modeling those values in their training facilities.

The governor stated these when members of the committee toured the Police Training School, Nonwa in Tai LGA of Rivers State, and the Police Training School, Oji River, Enugu State, on Thursday.

He maintained that “this initiative re-echoes the president’s passion for getting things done and getting them done fast.”

This was even as the Commandant of the Police Training School, Nonwa, ACP Daniel Okere, explained that the institution, which was apparently in a very poor state, trained men and women of the police force in 2022.

Mbah, who was accompanied by a member of the committee, Prince Dapo Abiodun; Secretary of the committee and former IGP Baba Usman; as well as the host governor, Siminalayi Fubara, however, assured that the committee would not only ensure the proper capture of all that is needed to turn the institutions around, but equally oversee their reconstruction and re-equipping to meet 21st-century standards.

“This committee was born out of the president’s recognition that we are at a security crossroads and nothing short of a complete and urgent overhaul is needed to ensure that we secure our future. The president recognises that security is paramount, and it is the primary responsibility of any government.

“You may have been aware that the president has approved the recruitment of 30,000 new personnel for the police, and there is no way this recruitment will happen effectively if we do not have a training plan for these men and women.

“So, we have come here for an on-the-spot assessment. We already have reports of the state of all the training institutions, both for the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, across the country.”

Lamenting that the training institutions had suffered consistent neglect and resultant decay over the decades, Mbah lauded the president for recognising the need and urgency of fixing them to boost national security.

“It is important that we underscore the point that this is being treated as an emergency; hence, everything about it, including the intervention fund for it, is being treated as such.

“It is like a national mission to restore the integrity, the confidence, and the professionalism of the men and women who protect our communities. And that is what we have been charged with, and we must work to get it accomplished.

“The first phase will be one month. This committee will also supervise the period of the renovation, reconstruction, and re-equipping to bring up to 21st-century standards. It is not going to be patch work. No. There will be a restoration of the dignity of these men and women,” he concluded.

Corroborating Mbah’s statement, Governor Abiodun said that the initiative underscored President Tinubu’s “political will as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to support the law enforcement architecture.”

“So, our team of consultants are also looking at all the training facilities across the country, and we will come up at the end of the day with a bill of quantity that truly reflects the budgetary requirements to turn these institutions around.

“As the Chairman stated, we cannot incubate policemen in this kind of environment and expect them to behave like human beings. Whatever it is we expect of them, we must instill it in them while they are being trained,” he said.

Governor Fubara, on his part, assured the nation would get it right now.

“I am sure we are going to get it right. At the end of the day, the police will be motivated to act professionally like any other police in the world,” he said.