Day of Honour for AIG Leye Oyebade, 17 others

Segun Atanda/

GOD, give us men! A time like this demands

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;

Men whom the lust of office does not kill;

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;

Men who possess opinions and a will;

Men who have honor; men who will not lie…

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog

In public duty, and in private thinking…

These lines from the poem of Josiah Gilbert Holland would have made the moment perfect today if recited as the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu was decorating some of his newly elevated officers, including Adeleye Olusola Oyebade mni with the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG).

It was a day when the top echelon of the police institution gathered to decorate officers with supporting underlying values that would actualize the dreams of the acting IGP.

Other AIGs decorated today are Chris Okey Ezike, former CP Abia State, Maurice A. Yusuf, Ibrahim A. Lamorde, former acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC;  Murtala Usman Mani, Wilson A. Inalegwu, a former CP, FCT; Dibal Paul Yakadi; Haruna Huzi, Mshelia; Mohammad A. Mustafa; Hyelashinda Kimo Musa, former CP, FCT, Ebonyi and Akwa Ibom Commands; Olusola Kamar Subair; Basen Dapiya Gwana; David Oyebanji Folawiyo; Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim; Nkpa N. Inakwu; Moses Ambakina Jitoboh; D.M Obembe and Wilson O. Akhiwu.

For Oyebade, wearing the new rank is not just an elevation but a badge of honour for consistently proving himself to be a gentleman of brave mettle in the war against crimes and criminalities at various police formations in different capacities over the years.

He recorded superlative achievements as command CP at several formations where he gave armed robbers, militants and kidnappers a bloody nose.

It wasn’t for nothing that he was voted as the Most Outstanding Commissioner of Police on Security Reforms and Good Leadership in Nigeria by the Senate Committee on Police Affairs.

Oyebade, a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has been an apostle of the doctrine of Policing with Fear of God which earned him an award presented by the Calvary Life Seminary and Theological School of Mission, in South Africa.

He received several awards and commendations including the Nigerian Bar Association Award of Excellence, and the Award of Excellence given by the Inspector-General of Police in Bangladesh.

Oyebade has been an advocate of Intelligence-Led Policing and Community Partnership, and exponent of Training and Re-training of the Police Personnel as a tool for capacity building and development of the workforce to face the modern challenges of Policing, especially in Nigeria’s re-nascent democracy.

He has also championed the cause of Standardized Recruitment Policy aimed at surfing the best fitted for the system, to ensure proper service delivery with emphasis on building a people-oriented police that will have respect for the rule of law and tenets of Fundamental Human Rights.

His gospel included Police Accountability/Ensuring Discipline as the bedrock of the Force; Strong Inter-Agency Synergy aimed at encouraging complementary policing of the nation; Collaboration/Cooperation with International/Local NGOs aimed at meaningful intervention in Police Reform generally, especially in personnel development, institutional restructuring and research-based policing ideologies.

He believes in the use of Alternative Dispute Resolutions technique/approach in curbing crisis between herdsmen and farmers in Oyo State.

Born on December 22, 1960, AIG Oyebade who enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on February 1, 1986, was Commissioner of Police (CP) Force Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department (FCIID) Abuja, from January 2019; the CP, National Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, from January to December, 2018; Commandant, Police College Kaduna, October to December, 2017; CP in charge of Railway Command Headquarters, Ebute-Metta, Lagos, in September, 2017; CP Abia State Command from August, 2016 to September, 2017; CP, Oyo State Command from September, 2015 to August, 2016; CP, Maritime Command, Force Headquarters (FHQ) Annex, Lagos, from April, 2014 to August, 2015.

Armed with a 1985 Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Sociology, specializing in Criminology from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and a 1983 Bachelor of Science (Sociology), specializing in Sociology also from UNILAG, buoyed with several certificates from professional courses and workshops including the Senior Executive Course 40/2018 at NIPSS, Kuru, Jos, where he participated in Leadership, Policy and Strategic Course from February 2018; took part in the Train the Trainers Workshop on “Leadership Performance Evaluation for Senior Police Officers” under the Police Reforms Programme at PSC, Jos, in 2012, a “Higher Management” course organized by The Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) at PSC, Jos, focusing on Service Delivery/Leadership and Accountability in 2009; Senior Command Course No. 31/2009 at Police Staff College, Jos, also in 2009; tutored in International Policing Strategies at the INTERPOL Conference in Lyon, France in 2005, and attended the INTERPOL Conference in Berlin, West-Germany on International Policing Cooperation/Strategies in September, 2005.

Oyebade had also participated in the Utstein (U4) Anti-Corruption Training Workshop, at the Utstein Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Abuja, and studied the Complexities of the Corruption Phenomenon; Cause and Explanations of Corruption, Strategies, Approaches and Basic Reforms and International Cooperation/Legislation in October, 2005.

He attended the “Survival Awareness in Service” workshop organized by the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Victoria Island, Lagos, addressing Policing and Personal Safety issues in February, 2002; the Intermediate Command Course No. 42/2001 at PSC, Jos/Staff College, Jaji, where he received training in Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) in July, 2001; the Management Workshop for Intermediate Command Course No. 42/2001 organized by The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) at PSC, Jos in June, 2001; a workshop on “Networking the MMIA Security Agencies – The Making of a Friendly Airport”, at Onyx Plaza, GRA Ikeja, Lagos, addressing the issue of Management of Airport Security and Safety in Synergy with other Security Agencies in November, 2000 and another workshop same year on “Airport Security – An Integral of National Security” organized by Centurion Security & Safety Consult in Association with FAAN, at MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.

Oyebade took the Cadet Officers Course 1/86, receiving Basic Officers Training (including Police Mobile Force Training at Gwoza and Citizenship and Leadership Training/Course, Shere Hills, Jos, in 1986. He came first in the Final Examination of the Cadet Officers Course 1/86, in a Class of 107, at the Police College, Ikeja in May, 1987.

His accomplishments also include the establishment of the first ICT e-Training Centre (Info-Tech Centre), to Restore Professional Excellence and High Investigative Skill on Internet Fraud Related Cases, as the Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Lagos State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti – Yaba, Lagos (2007 – 2008).

Oyebade initiated the Memo that later actualized the establishment of the Police Chaplaincy in the Nigeria Police Force, as the Principal Staff Officer II to the IGP in 2005; he served as the Secretary of the Committee under the Leadership of DIG Musa Abdulkadri (RTD) that reviewed the Government White Paper on Alhaji M. Danmadami led Presidential Committee on Nigeria Police Reform in 2006.

As Second-in-Command in Abia State, motivation of personnel, coordination and enhancement of Inter-Agency Collaboration was among his achievements that led to the reduction in High Level Crimes and zero tolerance for heinous crimes in the state, including armed robbery, kidnappings, child stealing and cultism between 2014 and 2015.

He was the Secretary to The Board of Enquiry under the Chairmanship of IGP Mike Mbama Okiro (Rtd), which was set up to unravel the killings of six suspected persons (APO Six) in questionable and controversial circumstances in June, 2005. He was also the Police Representative on the National Governing Board of the NYSC (February, 2005 – May, 2007) and Police Representative on the National Ports Decongestion/Overtime Cargo Committee that Sanitized the General Functioning of The Onne Port, in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State in 2006.

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