From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Dr Mike Mbama Okiro served as the 13th Inspector General of Police.
In this interview to mark his 75th birthday, he spoke on his life and time at the University of Ibadan, the daunting tasks he encountered as a police officer and life after retirement.
Okiro, who was the chairman, Police Service Commission (PCC), dissected the challenges confronting the police force and the way forward.
Also, he spoke on the controversial state police and suggested that regional or geo-political police would solve the problem of insecurity.
He also cleared the air on his state of origin. Excerpt:
How does it feel to be 75?
I feel very happy. I give honour and glory to God because one is still alive is not by any iota of qualification or goodness. It is not by wealth, deeds, it is not by achievements, it is just the way God wants it. My father used to say that people say that the wages of sin is dead. What sin did that baby that was born today and died the next day commit? It is the way God wants it. If it is your turn, it is your turn. I am very happy that God has kept me till 75 years.
Did you envisage becoming an IGP while growing up?
That I grow up to be an IGP is by God’s grace. That I equally joined the police was something out of the ordinary. Because as a young man growing up, I never had an encounter with the police. We saw the police from a distance. My father was a civil servant. When I became a student in the university, one of the people I hated the most was the police. Why because I was a student activist. I believed in taking active action in student activities. Often then we had an encounter with the police and I did not like the police at all because they were always preventing us from doing what we thought was right to do. They were always preventing us from protesting against domination and injustice. So, I did not like the police. But here I am now. I joined the police out of curiosity and adventure. I became the IG by God’s providence and blessing. I retired after 60 years of age. It is the mandatory age for retirement. Here I am now at 75.
Take us through your exploits at the University of Ibadan?
My exploits at the University of Ibadan started when I was at the first campus created by the University of Ibadan in Jos, Plateau State. I arrived very late. I found out that we had interim student union appointed by the university authorities. I felt that was wrong when I came in. We needed an elected student union who was not under the caprices and dictates of the university. But I felt that since the university has appointed the student union, probably they will bend to the whims and caprices of the university. I said I wanted a full-fledged and elected student union officials. Some people agreed with me, some did not. Those who were appointed as student union refused. So, there was fracas on campus. I was running a newspaper called the Radar to voice out what the students wanted. The students were divided into two; those in favour of the existing acting student union and those in favour of a duly elected student union. Finally, we won and I was elected. A lot of people felt Okiro had more qualities. A lot of things happened in the University of Ibadan in students activities. We went to the University of Ibadan, in Jos campus. We did pre-degree 1 and pre-degree 2. All of a sudden the university said they were going to establish the University of Jos. We were supposed to be pioneer students of the University of Jos. We said no. At that time, we believed University of Ibadan was the best, and how can I leave the University of Ibadan to University of Jos? I came up with a legal interpretation. I applied to the University of Ibadan and I was sent to the Jos campus. My certificate should be that of University of Ibadan and not University of Jos, legally. The university insisted. We went on a two-week strike. Finally, the University of Ibadan got us a bus that carried us from Jos to Ibadan. That was how we finally ended up graduating from the University of Ibadan. The University of Ibadan is the bigger campus. But in Jos, we were just 79. In Ibadan I had another magazine called The Burg. If you avoided the Burg, you have avoided problem in the university. Nobody wanted to commit any offence. Even lecturers that misbehaved, I would publish it. In Ibadan, I continued with The Burg and the Magazine called The Dome. I was the Editor-in-Chief. I did not campaign. All I just did was to put some of my articles I wrote in the Daily Times and Tide newspapers and say vote for Mike Okiro . That was it. I had a landslide victory. I represented my hall in the executive council, to ensure that things are done properly in the university. Also, I missed rustication by the last breath. There was a lecturer whom I got information that he was having an affair with a student. I published it in the magazine called The Burg. His name was Komolafe, but I spelt it Mokofale. The car number was, for example, 304, I put 403. Everybody knew the person. But legally, nobody can provide the person. The lecturer reported us to the university disciplinary committee. The four of us who were editors were invited. I knew I was going. I packed my loads, packed my books from the library. But I said let me go and pray to God. I went to the church. After praying, I saw one of my lecturers and academic adviser coming out of the Senate building. I greeted him. He called me Mbama and asked me what the problem was. I told him I was about to leave the university. He asked what happened. I told him the story. He asked me about the magazine. I told him it was in my hall. He said I should go and bring it. Before then, I came across a campus magazine of the University of Ife. On the front page of the magazine, they wrote ‘All names and students of this magazine are fictitious. Correspondences are highly regretted.’ I liked it. I copied it. I wrote it on all my magazines. So, when I brought the magazine to the professor. He asked me if I was aware of the inscription of that magazine that ‘All names and students of this magazine are fictitious. Correspondences are highly regretted.’ I said no. He said when I appear before the disciplinary committee I should tell them that the story was fictitious and that I write to entertain the students. When I appeared before the panel, incidentally also, the chairman of the panel, a professor who later became the vice chancellor of University of Ilorin, knew me. Each of the halls had a professor. So, a member of the hall is the chairman of the disciplinary committee. The man knew me because he was a member of the hall and editor of the Hall Magazine called The Dome. So, when the lecturer gave his side of the story, the professor asked for the copy of the magazine. I tendered it. He read the first article. He looked at the back page. He made reference to the inscription that read: ‘All names and students of this magazine are fictitious. Correspondences are highly regretted.’ He asked the lecturer how he knew that I was referring to him. The lecturer said his name was spelt backward. The professor asked him if it was his name. ‘Is your name komofale? The professor told him that he was bringing a problem to himself. The chairman told him that he converted his office into a living room and claimed that a name that was not his, was his. He then told him to allow me to prepare for my examination the following week. That was how we won the case. When we came out, the students were carrying their shoulders high and were hailing us. We did a lot of things. Even during the time we insisted that (Yakubu) Gowon must go, we demonstrated. I liked it because a lot of people knew me in the university. I got elected as the President of Student Union Government.
How did you emerge as the first IG from who did NYSC?
When I was going into the police force, I did not know I was going to be the first IG. It just happened to be. I was doing my NYSC in Maiduguri. In the Daily Times, they advertised that the police wanted to recruit young graduates. They gave me the qualifications and so on. One of my friends that his brother served in Kano State last year, applied to the police, they flew him from Kano to Lagos for the interview. I said, if that was the case, I will apply. My reason being that from Maiduguri to Port Harcourt is a four-day journey. You will leave Maiduguri to Jos, you sleep over. The next day you take Benue-Plateau Transport Corporation to Onitsha, you sleep over. On the third day, you will leave Onitsha to Owerri, and from Owerri to Port Harcourt. We were given five days pass. There was no airport at that time. Four of us succeeded and we were taken to Lagos for the interview. They brought a station wagon given to an inspector to take us to Lagos. We went to Lagos and after the interview I was the only one taken. They gave me a letter of employment there. I told the driver that I wanted to go to Port Harcourt. The man said no. I told him that he was not going to pay for me. He said he was given an instruction to take me to Lagos and back. So, I would not go to anywhere. I said why waste my time coming for this interview when I should have stayed back in Maiduguri because I have not achieve what I wanted to achieve. I had other jobs and I did not think about the police. On my way back, I had a friend, Alhaji Bello was my classmate in secondary school. We were staying in Jos, and I said to myself: ‘Why should I sleep inside the vehicle in the park when I have a friend almost like a brother whom we grew up together in Jos.’? I took my baggage to his house and slept. The next day instead of waking up at 6:00 a.m. I woke up around 9:00 a.m. I parked my load and went to the park before I could get there the bus had gone. I went back to Alhaji Bello’s house. He had gone to work. So, instead of staying at home sleeping, I went to the Police Staff College, Jos, to see what it looked like. When I got there the people started congratulating me. They said they saw my name. I asked how? I was in course 6. I told them I was coming because I did not like the police. They called the course officer and introduced me as one the students in UI. I told the man that I was not coming to join them, he asked me why? I gave him the reasons. On August 9, he said I should apply. The next day I went to Port Harcourt. The 9th of August passed, I did not return. I was thinking of other jobs. Two were to start in September. A friend of mine came in one day and said Mike, what job did you get, I said the police. He asked how managed? He said it was difficult to get the police job. He said his brother tried to join three times and was unsuccessful. He asked if I had a long leg. He said the police was a good job. I had other opportunities in the Rivers State civil service, assistant editor at Daily Times Newspapers and the ministry of education. My father wanted me to join the Rivers State civil service. He said one day I would become a permanent secretary. In the Rivers State civil service, permanent secretaries were like gods. Me, I wanted to go to Tide Newspapers because I could write. But this man is telling me that the police is good. When he left, I wrote the different job opportunities, squeezed them and put them in a bowl. I took my rosary and prayed. Then closed my eyes and told God to give me the best. After that, I picked one and it was the police. I did not tell my father because I knew he would not want that. So, I did not want to have a conflict between what God had told me to do and what my father wanted me to do. Because he wanted me to join the civil service. I told my mother that I wanted to join the police force. I only told my dad that I was going to Jos. After about two weeks, the course officer called me. I followed him to the office. He asked of my parents and so many questions. At a point, I had to interject. I told him that the answers to the questions he was asking are in my forms. He gave me a paper to apply for casual leave. We moved and joined Benue – Plateau vehicle. We landed in a hotel. Something happened that night. Armed robbers came to the hotel where we stayed. We were hearing people shouting and crying. We went down on our kneels and prayed the Muslim prayers and I prayed the Christian prayers. The robbers robbed the room before and after our room without entering our room. After that incident, I went to Port Harcourt and my father’s house was full. People were drinking and chatting with friends. I went to the kitchen to see my mother. And my mother said ‘Your father is angry with you for joining the police’. I got the message. My father went out, came back and knocked on the door and told me to sit down. He asked me if I had joined the police, I answered in the affirmative. He asked me if that was what we discussed. I did not answer. He said if I knew I was going to join the police why did I allow him to waste his money and time to train me in school. He said I should have joined since and that he would have disowned me and know that he had no son like me. When he was done, I told him that in actual fact I joined with course 6. He asked if that was so. I told him yes. He said he did not know. Secondly, I told him there were two things concede to me; the woman I will marry and the job I do. You can advice me, but I will take the final decision. He kept quiet for some seconds and he said okay, go back to bed. The next morning around 5:00a.m., he summoned me to discuss the things we discussed last night. He wished me the best of luck since I have decided to join the police. I knelt down and he prayed for me. And that was how I joined the police.
Why is your community divided; half belongs to Rivers and half is in Imo?
I am from Egbema. Egbema is a minority group. It is small, but we have two occupations– farming and fishing. There was a time in Imo State where over 30 per cent of the food in Imo State was produced in Egbema. Egbema is blessed. The land is so fertile that when you plant yam, it germinates so fast. Every town in Egbema has crude oil. So, what the Federal Government did, in its wisdom, was to attach the part that has oil with another without oil. About two years ago, Imo and Rivers states had a problem over location of oil well. As far as Egbema is concerned we have about 16 towns. Three of the towns are in Rivers, 13 are in Imo. As far as Egbema is concerned, there is no division. It depends on where you have opportunities. Let me tell you a story: my late brother was a king in my place. I came across a form he filled. I saw his surname, Okiro; first name, Tony; Town, Egbema; Local Government, Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government; State, Rivers; Position, Vice Chairman, Imo Council of Traditional Rulers. You can see it. As far as my people are concerned, there is no division.
How would you described the police force when you joined and what we have now?
When I joined the police force it was better. But it has slid backward. I think it is also not the fault of the police, but the system itself. I presented a paper two days ago on Nigeria yesterday, today and tomorrow on what to expect. All facets of Nigeria administration has gone backward. Is it education, health? Mention it. What it was during the colonial time or the civil war is not what it is today. Things have changed. People are complaining on the devaluation of the naira. I remember when I travelled to London for a conference I flew from Port Harcourt to Lagos at N480. Before I travelled, I changed $1 for 40 kobo. Even in London I saw a brand new Mercedes for £2,000 at that time. Things have changed. The police is also part of the society. What happens in other parts of the society, robs off on the police. I was an ASP living in a big house at a GRA in Port Harcourt. That time there was money. As an officer going to Maitama to Gwagwalada all I needed was to take my dairy and write that I was going for an investigation. My DPO will sign it and at the end of the month you get paid. They check the mileage and pay. If you are going on leave, they will pay you your leave allowance. Everything was in abundance. But now the money is not there. What has happened to the police is what has happened to the entire society.
What is your perspective on state police?
We are in a developing society. If you compare us with advanced countries, we are not capable of doing what they are doing to advance the police force. In 1993, I went to the United States for a study on criminal justice and administration. People came from all over the world. I was the only person from Africa. I applied for Fulbright programme. There was an examination on police administration. Later, they called me. When I went, they said I did well in the exams. But, unfortunately, this year nobody sponsored police administration. But we do not want to waste your effort. They asked me if I would be willing to embark on another programme on police administration that would last 30 days? I said why not. They paid for everything. The United States has 1,400 police services. As you are here, each street can have its police force. The difference there is that they can carry gun, they have FBI. They have state police. They have county police. But in Nigeria it is not so. America has developed. If we want to borrow the system of state police somewhere along the line in the next 10, 20, to 30 years people will get fed up and they will want to go back to what we have now. The Federal Government cannot fund the police adequately. When I was CP Lagos, the Mayor of Oakland visited me and gave me the golden key of the town. I called the press and journalists, he asked about the police force in his country, he said the police service has 10 helicopters for 30,000 people. Can you imagine. That is to tell you how they equip the police force. When a country that has over 200 million people does not have up to 10 helicopters for the police. The point I am trying to make is that state police has its own good and bad. But I think the bad outweighs the good. There are some states that cannot pay the civil servants. That is why you see that teachers, doctors and nurses go on strike because they have not been paid. What I will advocate is a regional police system. I call it geo-political police system. But all of them will be under the Federal Government. The governors who need it can buy equipment and give to the police. The Federal Government will pay them. And if you are in the Southeast, you can transfer somebody from Anambra State to Imo. Then you move somebody from Enugu to Ebonyi. Because they have the same religion, culture and language. Then if you are a CSP to ACP upward you can be removed from Southeast to Southwest. When I was Chairman of Police Service Commission the President invited me alongside the Service Chiefs. I recommended that the budget of the police should be divided into seven. Each to be headed by a DIG in the IG office. They did not like it. I knew why he did that. The IGP then did not like it. He said no to the political zone. The President said since the IG did not like it cannot be implemented.
What were your key achievements as IG?
When I travelled to South Africa I noticed that phones were registered. So, when I came back, I wrote to the National Assembly to ensure that phones are registered. I found out that the government made a mistake on public property. Public government property were sold. The house of the Inspector General of Police was sold. State commissioner official residences were sold. I fought and got them back. In those days every police station had a barracks. As you are posted to a command, you are given an accommodation. I wrote to the government that policemen are public servants who are entitled to national housing fund. At that time it was N5 million to get accommodation.
How do we address insecurity?
Inter-agency rivalry is one of the issues affecting security agencies. I wanted a synergy among security agencies. We should not create inter-agency conflict. Because it is the same country we are serving. Whether it is the police that did it or not it is the same thing. We have the same training. The difference is just the colour of the uniforms. So, the synergy is essential. The situation is critical now because the agencies are working separately. But the NSA is trying to bring them together. Also, we need good record so that immediately you place your fingerprints your information will appear.