MD Abubakar’s Giant Strides at 60 …Transformations in Turbulent Times

Dipo Kehinde/

May 5, 2020 marks the 60^th birthday of retired Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar who is fondly called MD.

Born in Gusau, Zamfara State, MD who was Nigeria’s 16^th Indigenous IGP, was just 4 years old in 1964 when Nigerians began to run the affairs of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) that was actually established by the British in 1861. All the native IGPs starting from Louis Orok Edet left their footprints on the sands of time, but MD inscribed his name on the tablet of eternity with far-reaching reforms cutting through every aspect of the police organisation.

While he was rising through the ranks, MD was always dreaming of a highly skilled, professional, well-equipped, and technically trained police service that would protect Nigerians and treat them with dignity and respect. A police organization that would be able to take the challenges of security of the future, and tackle the present challenges.

As fate would have it, MD was AIG in charge of Zone 12, covering Bauchi, Borno, and Yobe states when he received a strange telephone call on January 25, 2012.

The caller said, “Is that the AIG?”

MD said yes. Then, the caller said, “Okay, get ready; there’s an aircraft that is coming to pick you. Mr. President wants to see you.”

MD was shocked. He didn’t know the caller.

Another minute, a second call came in: “Are you on your way to the Airport?”

“What? Who is talking to me?” MD said, as he began to say in his mind: ‘What have I done?’ He knew the President would not just call anybody except there was something serious. And again, the call didn’t come through the then IGP, Hafiz Ringim.

MD got to the Airport and saw an aircraft with Presidential seal. Then, he knew it was something more serious than what he had expected.

He had no inkling of what was in the offing until he got to the Presidential Villa where he was appointed as IGP.

From that day till he retired two years after on July 31, 2014, MD made his mark by repositioning the NPF and restoring public confidence in the organization under his watch, with the support of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the entire government machinery at the Federal and State levels.

He focused on rebranding the police institution and the provision of necessary infrastructure aimed at improving efficiency and welfare.

It was MD who advocated N50, 000 as minimum wage for a constable, and he was so passionate about other welfare packages like housing, training, mortgage policy and efficient cooperative society.

Before he became IGP, police officers in Nigeria were the least paid compared to their counterparts around the world, even in Africa.

He ensured that the Nigeria Police was on the first line charge in terms of payment of salaries. The police were the first to receive their salaries among civil servants.

They were paid on the 22^nd of every month.

“Because of the level of what I came through; I have been in many of these services. I was in the Mobile Police, where I commanded units; so, I slept in the trenches with members of the rank and file. I knew how they reacted to situation. I feel for them. I was in the Force CID, I was in the Intelligence. So, with this, and commands; when you command places, you go round to see things for yourself; you know that the lives of these officers need to change from what it is to a much better life,” he said in a 2012 interview with the Chief Detective magazine.

For over 40 years, police barracks received no serious attention, even police institutions.

He saw this as a factor contributing to the low morale of the police.

Although barracks are built by government, MD embarked on a housing scheme for the police through the cooperative society and officers, in and out of service, were able to own houses of their own.

In less than eight months as IGP, he delivered 500 housing units to policemen in Lagos. The first time in the history of Nigeria, when the Police would build their own houses, by themselves, and these houses are sold at affordable prices. Officers that bought the houses while in service and out of service, were owner occupiers of these houses.

There was the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Housing Estate in Lagos and the barracks in Lugbe, Abuja that he named after Inspector Sunday Bandang – a Sergeant who was promoted posthumously when he died while trying to save others in Kaduna. He was blown up as he tried to diffuse an IED (Improvised Explosive Device).

There were 80 housing units of 4-bedroom each. Another 700 housing units were built, also in Abuja for junior officers from the rank of Constable to DSP.

MD and his team also built 120-Housing Units along Kaduna Road, for the senior officers cadet – from the rank of CSP to CP.

When the Nigeria Police first moved to Abuja there were no offices. They got the Dei Dei Police Barracks; one of the biggest barracks. The Gwaris were there before they were ejected. It was given to the police initially; then the police authorities bought it over. Thousands of houses are there. MD inherited these barracks without water, without light, without roads.

He transformed the barracks, even when the funds were not there. They were not budgeted for. He did what he knew how to do best. He involved Nigerians that could be of assistance.

“The greatest wealth anybody can have in the world is good friends, not money,” he said at the time.

Through his connection at MTN, he built the roads in Dei Dei Barracks. He also provided water, electricity, and a superb security system.

Another friend of his committed over N100million to build a 50-bed hospital equipped with a Mercedes Benz ambulance at Dei Dei Barracks.

He also picked on a number of barracks across the country, two in every state, for renovation.

He renovated the police barracks at Maitama that had been neglected since it was built by IGP Ibrahim Aliyu Atta.

MD also renovated a police cantonment built by IGP Ahmadu Ibrahim Coomasie. It had never received any attention since Coomasie left the service in 1996.

At Area 11, there is the Force CID known as Nigeria’s own Scotland Yard. MD admired the aesthetics of the Scotland Yard in Britain, and he remodelled the Nigerian version after that.

Area 11 used to be the Force Headquarters of the Nigeria Police. Today, it’s the Force CID and the Force Intelligence Bureau. MD did not only renovate the place, he gave it the best in terms of equipment, furniture; built a lift system there; tarred the place, and made the environment conducive for investigators and operatives.  

He also installed the best in terms of tracking system there.

Pension was one issue that was very critical for the police. It was found at a time that some people embezzled over N300million of police pension fund.

He championed the course of the Nigeria Police Pension Scheme to be operated, administered, and controlled by officers and men of the Nigeria Police. That translated into increment in police pension because whatever money they put, they’ll run it effectively, efficiently, and make more money for officers. And officers were able to take their pension and gratuity as at when due. Unlike when they had to wait for five or six years, before they’re paid. And sometimes names were missing.

Police authorities under MD set up the new pension scheme with the support of President Goodluck Jonathan then.

Still on welfare, for like 25 years, the Nigeria Police Mortgage Bank had been in the cooler. Nobody could make it work, until MD stepped in. He paid N5 billion to Central Bank and bought a house at N400million for the institution. It was well equipped, well furnished. The bank also got a license like every other mortgage bank in the country.

He said that he wanted to see officers and men going to this bank, taking loan, building their houses, being farmers, doing business, and assisting, so that they won’t have to go to other people and be begging, when they have a large force that could put that in place.

Under the Nigeria Police Medical Services, there had been a lot of challenges. When he came on board, he realized that for a number of years, the Nigeria Police had no license to operate its own medical services as per requirement of the law. He took steps to make the Nigeria Police Medical Services operate fully, legally, with a license.

Within the first two years of his stewardship, he built clinics and hospitals for the Nigeria Police – a 50-bed, well equipped hospital in Oyo State; three, 25-bed hospitals also in Oyo State, which means, each Area Command has one. He built, four, 25-bed hospitals in Lagos; one, 25-bed hospital in Umuahia, one in Enugu, one in Niger, Sokoto, Minna, Ekiti, Osun, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Kebbi, and Zamfara.

MD changed the hospital at Falomo, in Lagos, from what it used to be.

He built 25-bed hospitals at each of the geo-political zones, to ensure that at every given opportunity, because of the nature of police job, officers can go to the nearest hospital and get medication within the police service.

He considered Education as part of welfare. He wanted officers and men to take their children to schools closer to them. He built 12 secondary schools in different parts of the country. He re-invigorated the education department, changed it, and gave it a better backing.

When he came on board the NPF had 500 teachers. These 500 teachers were all ad-hoc staff. He converted all of them to permanent staff of the NPF.

He said, “We have recruited 300 more. And that’s why we had 96 per cent in terms of our result in our secondary schools.

“For the first time, we have been able to collaborate and partner with the Open University. If you go to Dei Dei, we have built a structure for the Open University, to allow my officers and men to have the opportunity; those who want to go to school again, or advance their educational qualification, and at the same time do what is expected of them.”

MD’s administration was the first to have completed all the police aspect of the Dan Malami and M.D. Yusuf reform, in which the government accepted a certain number of suggestions made, including the empowerment of the Zonal AIGs and CPs to be able to promote to a certain level to allow for more administrative process, respect and loyalty on the part of those officers.

Promotion and appointment of police officers other than the Inspector General of Police is vested on the Police Service Commission.

He said, “When we came on board, I believe that the Zone AIGs had a responsibility to discharge. I was there before, and I know what I had done. We made it compulsory for Commissioners of Police to be able to attend meetings, to respect their AIGs, and to pass all processes of letters to the Zone AIGs before sending it to us. You can’t jump the gun.

“So, which means we believe in decentralization. And in my first budget; for the first time in the history of the Nigeria Police, we did a budgeting system that had never been done by anybody that came to this table; to allow the DPO, Area Commander, and Commissioners of Police, to contribute to the budgeting system of the Nigeria Police. From bottom to top; I said, now, tell us what you want to be done as a police station. What are your problems? What are your challenges? From there, to the Area Command; Area Command to the State Command, from there to the Zone Command, and then back to the Force Headquarters. Every DIG, who heads a department, was given opportunity to write what he wants to do in that department, before we sum it up and say this is the Nigeria Police budget.

“I equally belong to the School of Thought, even when I was a Commissioner of Police, that DPOs should have a budget. A DPO should be given a budget to run his office; to earn more respect; to be independent; to be able to maintain the vehicles under him; to buy fuel; to pay allowances of his officers and men; to buy ration; same with Area Commanders; same with Commissioners of Police, AIGs, and DIGs. So, you can see that this management team believes in all these things you’re talking about, for them to be able to do certain things by themselves.

“Commissioners of Police should be able to promote a constable to corporal because he walks directly under him; he knows the problem, and he sees his work on a daily basis.”

MD came on board at a time Nigeria was having the worst security challenges in the history of the country. Every day, you wake up to the news of 10, 20 houses, including police stations bombed. He reversed the trend.

MD believes that if the police institution is well funded, Nigerians will be safer and the country will see economic development and growth.

Under MD, the NPF procured 13 brand new helicopters, highly equipped with the latest gadgets in the world, and the police Air wing became the best in Nigeria. The one in Lagos was put back to use and helipads were built in Nasarawa, Enugu, Yobe, and Ekiti states.

In each of the geo-political zones, there are helipads with two police helicopters ready to fly. The police also trained 30 pilots within that spate of two years of MD’s administration.

The administration also put more than 6000 police vehicles on the roads.

He encouraged training and gave officers exposure for them to be at their best.

Officers were trained in India, in the United States, in England, in Egypt, and in Turkey.

For the first time in the history of NPF, the MD administration built the Nigeria Police Institute, a much-needed Intelligence Institute in Ishare, Kwara State. Over 1000 officers from the NPF and other agencies were trained there that year. There were also International students from Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, Niger, and Cameroun; International Students.

MD built the Nigeria Police International Peace Keeping Centre with the capacity to train the whole of Africa in Peace Keeping. The International Peace Keeping Centre has 240-sitter conference room, 180 shelter beds with air conditioners and other conveniences.

The administration also built the first Virtual Shooting Range – Automated Virtual Shooting Range with 580 slides. It was equipped with an ICT centre.

Near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, a force operation base was also established, a 280-bed air-conditioned facility, with kitchen, for force operations of the Nigeria Police.

MD reactivated the printing department of the police to print statement forms, envelopes, business cards for officers and men, among other things.

MD ensured that officers are better dressed, unlike before.

He said, “And you know the segregation that was there before in the police; when I came in, I said no, there should be no segregation in the police. If I wear blue, the constable should wear blue. Let the rank structure be the one that will segregate us. But, we are same one, same life, same functions; you’re a police officer, I’m a police officer. They should have the pride of saying: yes, I share the same thing with my boss. It doesn’t make any difference. You can see how. I’m sure you’ll feel happy, when you see him this way. Symbolically, his belt is the same belt I wear. The only thing that separates us is that I carry my rank structure on it. And he will want to wear this too; which means that he needs to work hard. That’s the symbolic thing. We have introduced the camouflage uniform for the Nigeria Police, because internationally, every police force of the world has their own camouflage uniform, except us. This belt will go round; you’ll see it with our officers, and we are buying more, to ensure that we put everybody on the same page. Because, we are a very large force of more than 300, 000; so it’s not as easy as people are looking at it, to be able to get that done very easily.”

MD also received accolades for his determination to tackle corruption in the police, especially by cancelling roadblocks nationwide.

From a young officer to the level of AIG, MD had served in virtually every police department and formations across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.

“My life in the PMF was a real good training; from the unit commander, I went to Malaysia; I did my course; I came back; we set up a training school. In 1983, I was in Ondo, during the Omoboriowo crisis. I was in Ise-Ekiti, Ikole-Ekiti and Emure-Ekiti; all those areas and Owo.

“And from there, you know; so many challenges. I was among the team that went after Anini in Benin. I was there for one year. It’s been a career of turbulence. I never believe in begging. I didn’t enter through a godfather… But along the line, I have met very good officers that have assisted me in learning. And bending down to learn was a key factor for me.”

MD is well known for taking criticism in his stride.

“The best you can do to a human being is tell him about his inadequacies,” he said.

He introduced a novel exercise, christened Scorecard, which enabled the public engage in a direct and independent assessment of the IGP.

He believed that a public officer, in position of leadership, is supposed to have an opportunity to meet the people he serves; people he has direct responsibility to, in terms of providing safety and security of their lives and properties. He allowed people to be part and parcel of his administration.

MD Abubakar is presently the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State.

On his accomplishments as IGP, he gave much credit to members of his management, the DIGs, Zonal AIGs, CPs and many senior officers. He also expressed gratitude to members of the Inspectorate, Rank and File of the Force who believed in his leadership, as well as many senior citizens, Bankers, people from the private sector, the media, friends, and family members.

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