• By throwing unfounded allegations at his predecessor, IGP Ibrahim Idris has made a reckless start to his tour of duty
Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, made a most inauspicious start to his tenure by hauling petty and reckless charges at Solomon Arase, his immediate predecessor.
In a sensational announcement, Mr. Idris claimed Mr. Arase exited the police with 24 vehicles, thus leaving his new office with decrepit vehicles unfit for the high office of IGP. He also alleged that retired deputy inspectors-general (DIGs) often retired with seven to eight vehicles, particularly the ones in their charge at the time of retirement. While decrying such practices, he added that a maximum of four vehicles would have been fair, thus appealing to the officers concerned to return the excess.
This charge, if true, would have been a scandal, particularly under the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency, that has made a decisive war against corruption the cornerstone of its public policy.
But as it turned out, IGP Idris rushed to blab the accusations without confirming his facts, either by poring over his predecessor’s handover note, or by phoning Mr. Arase for clarifications. That was grave and unfortunate, for those allegations cast serious slurs on Mr. Arase’s character; and Mr. Arase, from records, was not among those noted for notoriety in the force.
By this singular action, Mr. Idris tended to present himself as petty, graceless, reckless and vindictive. Those are no traits for the IGP in contemporary Nigeria, when violent crimes and kidnapping are too frequent for comfort; and where the chief cop, to tackle this serious malaise, must maintain a cool head and clear mind, so as not to be tragically misguided, nay distracted, from his onerous duty of securing fellow Nigerians.
A newspaper report had claimed that Mr. Idris’s apparent bellicosity against Mr. Arase was an unanswered query the former IGP gave his successor for an alleged non-clearance for a trip Mr. Idris allegedly made, when he was AIG. As it turned out, that query was reportedly still to be answered when Mr. Idris was announced as new IGP.
The report also claimed that Mr. Idris’s less-than-conventional take-over speech, in which he reportedly did not raise any of Mr. Arase’s achievements as IGP, but instead launched into a threat to probe the finances of some police welfare agencies, was part of Mr. Idris’s grouse with his predecessor.
All these would be unfortunate, if true. To start with, the police could do with more institutional cohesion than an IGP openly bickering with his immediate predecessor, on something as inane as alleged carting away of vehicles. Besides, Mr. Idris should not give the unfortunate impression that his new position is too big for him.
Even if he had any issues with Mr. Arase, that he had somewhat become his successor should give him enough grace to let go; and extend to the former IGP the traditional respect he deserves; and relate with him with the decorum that requires. On this score, it wouldn’t be out of place for the IGP to publicly apologise to his predecessor, since the whole thing has been found to be a hoax.
But something indecorous still crawled out of this unfortunate affair – that DIGs and IGPs often exited with seven or eight cars; yet the police is always pressed for vehicles, operational and otherwise. If this allegation is true, then everything should be done to stop it forthwith.
Nigeria is in a bind economically. If you don’t have much, the most logical thing is, at least, to preserve the little you have. Even in plenitude, waste – and this is wanton waste, if indeed this allegation is true – is no virtue. That you have excess does not mean you should waste resources. That is why such practices should stop forthwith.
