It is my great honour to be here as part of this rich gathering to launch retired DIG Yemi Ogunjemilusi's book which is entitled 'Introduction to Law Enforcement : A Training Guide'. The impressive turnout of guests at this event does not only demonstrate the love for Yemi but also confirms the respect that you all have for the Nigeria Police which is the institution that produced him.
2. When Yemi gave me a copy of the book, I assured him that I would read through and I did before I endorsed the foreword of the publication. Reading through the book, a number of things attracted my attention. First, is that the publication is not an autobiography of Yemi, as most retiring officers normally do. Rather, it is an intellectual effort by a cerebral officer who draws on his rich and expansive professional experience to leave a lasting legacy of human development for his primary constituency, the Nigeria Police. The book is a brilliant attempt to enlarge the frontiers of knowledge of the Police officers and fill the capacity development gap which has been an issue in policing in the Nigeria.
3. Secondly, it was observed that the book encompasses virtually all the core areas of policing and it captures most important topics in our entry level training curriculum across all cadres. It covers the history of the Nigeria Police; the command and control structure of the Force; the topical issue of Community Policing; the Use of Force and Firearms; Intelligence as a tool in crime prevention; Criminal Investigation; and the Criminal Code and Penal Code.
4. The lesson I would want all officers to take away from here is that we must, as demonstrated by Yemi, all strive to make modest contributions to our professional institution both while we are in service or in retirement. Yemi's focus in this regard is timely as his book shall be an invaluable reference source for the training of not only recruit Constables, but other strategic police leaders.
5. Knowledge is power. No organisation can perform above the intellectual quality of its personnel. Hence, any organisation that aims at the optimal attainment of its mandate must of necessity, invest in its human assets through a strategic human capacity development plan. It is in appreciation of this that I have been initiating sets of actions that are directed at bridging the manpower gap in the Nigeria Police. Aside the sustenance of the Police recruitment exercise, we recently approved the establishment of the National Institute of Police Studies. This is with the long-term objective of bequeathing a highly skilful and professional police force to the nation.
6. The Institute will provide strategic manpower development programmes for police and other law enforcement officers of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police or its equivalent in other security agencies. It will work with academic partners, security agencies, international police organizations and the public to produce and commission research on priority areas for policing and public safety.
7. The ultimate goal of all these efforts is to produce a pool of highly trained police personnel at both junior and strategic levels who will have the intellectual capacity and critical reasoning ability to dissect and respond to current crime trend and future dynamics of security threats in the most professionally-efficient manner. I want to thank Yemi, for aiding us in this regard with his book.
8. Permit me at this stage to call on Nigerians, especially retired police officers, to continue to collaborate with us in enhancing policing and public safety and security. We may not write books, but, simply giving the right information to the police at the right time could make a lot of difference. There is no community in this country without retired police officers and they would be doing the nation a lot of good by working with the police in their localities to mitigate crime. Our current efforts at integrating the community policing concept into policing duties presents a unique opportunity for the retired officer to be part of this process.
9. Yemi, I commend your efforts in putting this book together and I congratulate you. By passing your knowledge and experiences to the up-coming ones, you have left a durable legacy for yourself in the Nigeria Police Force and I pray for Allah's (SWT) guidance in your future endeavours.
10. I thank you all for the honour of your attendance and I call on you all to encourage the author by patronising the publication.
Thank you all for your attention.