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“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”
—Alexander Pope
By Cosmas Omegoh
On March 4, 2026, Olatunji Disu, 59, became Nigeria’s 23rd indigenous Inspector-General of Police (IGP), replacing erstwhile helmsman, Kayode Egbetokun.
Disu was sworn-in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with a charge to go and “make the police better than you met it.”
The president’s words were tacit acknowledgement of the myriad of challenges currently bedevilling the Nigeria Police Force.
For a fact, even the blind know that police and policing reality in Nigeria are miles apart from what they ought to be, let alone be proud of.
The new IGP rose from the ranks. So, he is understandably an establishment man who should know what the real issues really are.
And since he knows the various twists and turns, what his appointer told him should be his compass for driving reforms of the police system.
Looking at Tinubu’s charge to Disu it is easy to decipher the long-held clear wish and expectations of the people – many of whom might have been praying for real reforms in the police, just as they have no platform to ventilate their wishes and so remain reeling at their corners.
Perhaps, Disu’s highway to success might as well be found by listening to those demands falling off the lips of the common people. Maybe, part of the strategies for remapping the police may not be found in palaces but on the streets.
It is heart-warming that Disu has seemingly “hit the ground running” – as it is often said in local lingo – talking tough – perhaps as a proof that he is a man of steel.
Lately for instance, he gave assurances of combating banditry in parts of Kwara State. He also harped on discipline within the force, highlighting strategic leadership as imperative for driving reforms. Then he warned the police to maintain neutrality in the political sphere.
But some Nigerians who listened to him did not cheer and were not moved by his sermon either. Some interpreted it as grandstanding, recalling how his predecessor, Egbetokun gave Nigerians the infamous “I feel like a tiger to chase away criminals” hope which ended gaseously. Therefore, the people want Disu to simply walk his talk and let his actions speak.
Disu is being reminded that from Uyo to Oyo and Warri to Wurno, insecurity is walking on all fours, assuming an existential reality each day. He is being reminded that kidnapping for ransom is taking a great toll on the land, just as it is now wearing a mercantile badge. Banditry, armed robbery, communal clashes, insurgency, assorted crimes and criminality of horrible hues follow successively, having the country by the jugular. Indeed, Nigeria is on edge, the land reeling. Therefore the people want Disu to stand up to these challenges to be taken seriously.
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Everywhere in the world internal security is the work of the police. But sadly, the Nigeria Police has largely over the years, outsourced this constitutional duty assigned to it to the armed forces that is now thinly stretched on the ground.
Nigerians unhappy with the turn of things want the police now under Disu to arise and begin to tackle the wave of criminality in the best way they can. That way, people’s confidence in them will shore up as anything short of that amounts to cheap talk.
Out there, it must be noted, there is a growing belief that Disu needs to bend backwards to lift the confidence stakes of the average policeman and woman. Improving their welfare, their looks – especially those of lower ranks – is paramount; some of them are sometimes depressed. And often time that manifests when they turn their guns on either the citizens, their colleagues or even themselves.
In the light of the mounting challenges police operatives face, it is difficult to get their fullest commitment and dedication as their morale ebbs.
Disu might not be in a position to clean every whatever rot the public perceives in the police right now, but he might do well to employ gainful strategies that will help conscientise his personnel to abide by their rules of engagement and also foist self-belief.
Meanwhile, does Disu not know that often the public accuse some of his personnel of aiding and abetting crimes, insisting that some of them are directly involved in the malaise?
On the highways, policemen extorting people at checkpoints is a common sight. They forcefully collect illegal sums from motorists. It is heist that has been institutionalised. Failure to yield to their demand often sees unethical force meted to the unyielding. Sometimes, that ends on an unsavoury note if not fatalities – everything happening against the same citizens they are paid to protect.
Now, having worked variously as an operational commander, Disu needs to bring his experience to bear and hold his officers to account. He needs to engineer tactical operational strategies that will improve the current profile of police-public relations which some people would say is abysmal.
It would be recalled that sometime ago, the police rolled out the “Police is your friend” slogan. But regrettably, that sounded only good on paper and died with the leadership that birthed it.
As it stands, therefore, police reforms need not stand on sloganeering alone. It must be evident-based. So, Nigerians want to see a police force that is working – an entity that is there for them.
Perhaps Disu will be handing Nigerians eternal gifts if he succeeds in tweaking the manner the average policeman/woman relates with the public. Doing that might begin with enriching the curriculum of police training schools, regularly training and retraining those in service and equipping them with basic skills in human rights and relations, phycology, sociology, human behaviour among others to engender best practices. That way, Nigeria will be policed by a new crop of officers.
It might cost next to nothing to regularly remind the police that human life matters. That is a big job Disu has right in his hands – getting his people to unlearn this long-fixated idea that once with a gun, the world stops at their feet. That is already archaic, same for the obsession for tarring everyone in the street with the same brush.
At the same time, Disu needs to begin to re-examine the public accusation that sometimes the police work from accusation to investigation. He needs to re-evaluate frequent altercations between the police and members of the public, especially the youths, with the unsavoury #Endsars protest as an example. He should ensure that issues that will trigger a repeat of such ugly incident are carefully tucked into the past.
Against that background, a listening police is ideal. That alone will starve off gross abuses especially the verified activities of the police at Tiger Base in Owerri Imo State. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) relentlessly say the agency is a cesspool of torture, corruption and oppression in the hands of political actors.
Then, in case Disu does not know it, Nigerians are looking to see how he will tackle the controversial incident of withdrawal of police personnel from celebrities, politically-exposed persons, and dignitaries across the country.
Past IGPs – including the immediate past one – had vowed to do that but failed amid allegations that the police hierarchy immensely benefited from the debacle. Will Disu therefore be the first to implement the order which President Tinubu earlier gave? That remains to be seen.
And then the big one: Disu will have his names emblazoned in gold if under his command, Nigeria successfully transits to a state policing system. Already a committee to hammer out the modalities is at work, setting boundaries, considering issues of abuse, corruption and funding, while also ensuring that the system will not be a dangerous tool in the hands of drunken politicians. Disu is edging closer to midwifing this one.
