Just recently Okey Ndibe in “Murder Incorporated” lambasted the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) for “needless highhandedness and unjustified bloodlust” in the fight against crime while the police responded by calling Okey an “arm-chair critic”, who never offered a single suggestion on the way forward, forgetting Okey’s suggestion of “Instead of persisting with a suspect policy of mowing down “suspects,” it is time the police embarked on internal house cleaning. It should then devise a rigorous method for gathering intelligence on true crime suspects and update its manual for solving crimes”.

Instead of admitting the obvious – that NPF is ill equipped to fight rising wave of crime in the nation- Haz Iwendi, Police PRO response was that “the laws of the land are very clear on the use of firearms and the Nigeria Police is mindful of its statutory roles.” Statutory role to kill at sight? What happens to tracking and cracking down the criminal gang before they strike? The truth is that so many things are going out of hand in Nigeria simultaneously that the more things change negatively as they are now, the more they will never be the same again.

A man who does not lick his lips, can he blame the harmattan for drying them? Is the harmattan now licking our lips for us? A nation that fails to justly provide for the masses from the abundance of God’s given resources should not turn around to kill and blame the renegades when they start roasting over fire.  "A man who lives on the banks of the Niger is like that man at the banks of the Niger River that has not taken a closer look at himself to realize that its time to clean up himself. (river) should not wash his hands in spittle."

Talking of internal house cleaning, how do you clean a house when its occupants are wallowing in corruption, arrogance and ignorance to even notice how dirty and rotten their house is? How do you gather intelligence that will help a NPF that lacks modern communication gadgets in a country that prides itself as the fastest telecommunication growing country in the world?

A country where close to 50% of the populace now have access to phone but yet cannot make an emergency call to police or hospital services? How can the police department gather intelligence and information without a central database of cases, suspects and reports? A police department that still manually records statements in dusty files, which cannot be recalled? A police force without access to the internet, no computers and full of illiterates that cannot make a simple correct sentence not to talk of how to use a computer?

In a country where citizens have no form of identification and where no record is kept of vehicle registration, ownership and drivers license, how can you trace ownership and moment of vehicles used in criminal activities?

In a country where you don’t have to take or pass exams to go to school; where you don’t have to win elections to assume public offices; where you don’t have to obey the laws and still go unpunished; where arsonists and killers are the kingmakers, gubernatorial candidates and ambassadorial nominees; where the rate of unemployment has astronomically increased to the level that nobody is keeping count; what do you expect?

I agree with Okey on the need for internal house cleaning. Cleaning of the NPF, the Nigerian electoral commission INEC, the NNPC, the Nigerian educational System, the … if fact the Nigerian system as a whole needs serious cleaning. The admittance of this inherent rottenness in our modus operandi is the first step towards this cleanliness and the willingness to start taking steps towards getting all government agencies and administration rid of all elements of flirt is a must for us to be seen to be moving forward.

This present administration has to start by setting and living on good examples. The “election” that brought them to office is floored by massive irregularities and rigging and naturally, the first action towards self cleansing should be the overhauling of INEC by sacking Iwu and his state commissioners who until today still saw nothing wrong in the charade of April 2007in the name of election, and are gearing up to conduct fresh pools.

Secondly, NOBODY is and should be above the laws of the land this present administration can right the wrongs by bringing to book all past and present “lager than life and above the law” Nigerians that have acted or are still acting with impunity to the detriment of democracy and rule of law.

The classical case of the failure of the Nigerian Police Force to rise above board when the supervised the arson attack of 2004 in Anambra state in broad daylight must be revisited and those responsible be brought to book. Similarly, the racialism and use of touts to burn properties and maim innocent citizens in any part of the nation in the past, be it Ibadan , Jos, Kano … and any other form of injustice in the past should be investigated with the aim of ensuring justice and fairness.

Until we start taking the momentous and quantum steps forward, we will still look like the sluggish tortoise carrying a house bugged down by sycophant-like shelf and held back by force of inertia, while the masses look as thin as an orphan fed grudgingly by a cruel masters in the land of plenty.

Sheila Graham said that, “You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough. You must want it with the exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world.” We want a New Nigeria, a New NPF, but, do we want to achieve this desperately enough? Have we shown enough exuberance that we are known for? Vision, according to Vaclav Havel, is not enough but has to be combined with venture. You can’t win any game unless you are committed to winning. We have to be committed to this project called Nigeria and the internal house cleaning.

Nothing limits achievement like small thinking. Nothing equals possibilities like unleashed thinking. Join the wining team by thinking and acting the “New Nigerian”. Internal house cleaning is the answer.

Robot  # 1 | 28.11.2007 19:48

Just recently Okey Ndibe in ...Read the full article.

Baba Ijesa  # 2 | 28.11.2007 23:45

It is quite unfortunate that we have these set of people at the helms of affairs in Nigeria. Men that like to make so much noise but score low on performance. I was expecting the NPF to keep quite and look inwards. That would have been very honourable. This set of leaders may not be the originator of problems, as observed by all but raised by ON, but common sense should tell them that when such problems are identified by a concerned citizen, machinery should be set in place to find a solution and not comparing France with Nigeria. This is totally unacceptable and abyssmal. French government makes life so comfortable for the citizens and even plan for yet unborn children. I read the other day how the Lagos CP sacked some officers in Lagos for ''assaulting'' some guys that came to bail their brother at a station in Lagos. This is a common scenario everyday in Nigeria. If we can have such men, like this commisioner at the HQ, may be he would have advised Nad against this rejoinder. Guys, lets look inwards and stop making ourselves a laughing stock among Nations. God bless Nigeria.

tanibaba  # 3 | 30.11.2007 04:31

Mazi Rudolf Ogoo, I want to thank you for this beautiful piece. Just as your Dispatches from Okigbo Conference, you have displayed a very high level of scholarship and impartiality. We all know the problems of the police, the citizenry and our institutions and just as you have mentioned we need to look at all of these in our bid to have a nation that will be working effectively. I am also happy that you are honest and sincere in your presentations - that is the hallmark of a great patriot and change agent. As Gandhi said " you must be the change that you want to see in others"' In our bid to change our nation we must be conscious of the methodologies and arsenal that are being deployed. Are we going to effect the change through deceptive propaganda, lies, murder, hate messages etc. If we choose this path then the new nation will be worse than the old one. We must be guided in our efforts at changing our country by upholding honesty, sincerity, impartiality, etc. That you have given us this piece in a decent manner is something i find commendable. Even the police cannot write a rejoinder to your article. They know their and our problems just as we know too. But to sacrifice truth and decency in order to win and argument is something else And whoever adopts such a strategy is definitely not my hero I have great respect for you just as i have for Ozodi and other great minds in this village taslim

tonsoyo  # 4 | 30.11.2007 09:56

=tanibaba;4294968152>Mazi Rudolf Ogoo, I want to thank you for this beautiful piece. Just as your Dispatches from Okigbo Conference, you have displayed a very high level of scholarship and impartiality. We all know the problems of the police, the citizenry and our institutions and just as you have mentioned we need to look at all of these in our bid to have a nation that will be working effectively. I am also happy that you are honest and sincere in your presentations - that is the hallmark of a great patriot and change agent. As Gandhi said " you must be the change that you want to see in others"' In our bid to change our nation we must be conscious of the methodologies and arsenal that are being deployed. Are we going to effect the change through deceptive propaganda, lies, murder, hate messages etc. If we choose this path then the new nation will be worse than the old one. We must be guided in our efforts at changing our country by upholding honesty, sincerity, impartiality, etc. That you have given us this piece in a decent manner is something i find commendable. Even the police cannot write a rejoinder to your article. They know their and our problems just as we know too. But to sacrifice truth and decency in order to win and argument is something else And whoever adopts such a strategy is definitely not my hero I have great respect for you just as i have for Ozodi and other great minds in this village taslim Tanibaba, I believe this was actually written by Rudolf's brother, Churchill.

STTOPP  # 5 | 30.11.2007 10:32

I think if NLC is really sincere about being concern about the Nigerian workers, this an issue they should send them out to protest their inability to earn a living in peace. STTOPP