President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been applauded for his innovative approval of the first week of April as police week and the last day of the week April 7 as National Police Day in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Comrade Issa AREMU, Director General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), gave this commendation in Ilorin on Monday at the Institute’s activity marking the celebration of the police Day attended by police men and security officials and staff of the Institute.
The Director General said with just over 350,000 police men and women securing 250 million Nigerians in 950, 000 square land mass, Nigeria Police Force is “understaffed”. AREMU hailed the commitment of President Tinubu to increase the force to 650,000 adding that the police deserved the solidarity of the citizens for effective salary delivery.
“The point cannot be understated that policemen and women are workers in uniforms employed to protect all under the constitution, it was time to motivate them with improved salaries and equipments to ensure security as envisaged by 1999 constitution” Aremu said. The Director General said “ the modest globally acknowledged achievements in repositioning MINILS in the last four years” was made possible with the support of the management and staff as well as Kwara state police who he said had commendably secured lives and properties at the Institute.
The Director-General congratulated the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun on the celebration of the maiden edition of National Police Day adding that in a democracy, “ Police is the true face of internal security without which there will not be growth and democracy”.
Comrade AREMU assured the IGP of the institute’s readiness to collaborate with the NPF in line with MINILS’ mandate of promoting labour education by mainstreaming security consciousness and community policing in its regular programmes adding that “Community policing is a practical way of democratizing policing in a democratic system”.