Giving Credit When It's Due

I’ve always been one of the people who never saw anything good about the Nigerian Police. You know what they say about not judging or condemning anyone until you’ve been in their shoes or privy to what rocks their boat? I looked at them from a whole new angle recently and that's how my song about the Police changed “a bit”.

My close friend lost her brand new official car to someone who was supposed to be her staff, this was barely 2 weeks after her company assigned the car to her so you can imagine how devastated she was. For me, the circumstance surrounding the theft was surreal, almost like I was watching a movie and to top it up, I was suddenly denied my “scrub” position in the car, and that’s how our frequent trips to the police stations started, from Panti  CID to Bariga Police station which was the nearest station to the location of the theft.

First time I entered the station, I couldn’t believe my eyes, not only was it unkept, it lacked all the paraphernalia you’d expect to see in a crime investigative facility, not one single electronic gadget was in sight except an ancient radio pelting out local music. Statements taken from complainants were all written in a thick cover notebook with the aid of a pen and wooden ruler. In this our jet age?!

It was so bad i had to summon  courage to ask one of the officers why the station was in such deplorable condition and why they couldn’t boast of one single computer to at least document investigations and conduct some level of research. The response I got was of course what we’ve all heard before, “the government isn’t providing these prerequisites”.

And in all these, the Nigerian Police has been applauded for their success rate at solving car theft incidences, even cars without any form of security and tracking devices. How were they able to achieve these in the face of lack? Maybe it’s time to give credit where it’s due without dwelling so much on their negative aspects.

As for my friend’s car, ofcourse it was recovered in Suleja, Niger State, quite a distance from Lagos where it was stolen. Insert is a picture of the car thief in stripped shirt with his accomplice who are at the moment awaiting trial in Kirikiri maximum prison.

When next you see a police officer on your way, be kind enough to greet them properly, maybe that’s all the incentive they need to work harder.