How Not To Be Force Public Relation Officer -By Ochereome Nnanna

A Public Relation Officer, PRO, or spokesman of an entity is also called the image-maker of that entity. His or her duty is to project the image of the organisation in a manner that brings dignity, esteem, goodwill and loyalty from its internal public (board, management and staff) and the external public, the citizenry.

Before a sound PRO says or does anything that will go out to the public, he must ensure that such an action will enhance, not denigrate, the image of his organisation, even if it is a personal issue. I am saying these things to show that the Force Public Relations Officer, FPRO, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, through his unwarranted, frivolous words and deeds over the past weekend, further tarnished the already jaded image of the Force.

According to The Cable, a respected online newspaper, Adejobi, for reasons best known to him, posted the photograph of the very pretty Victoria David, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, and Secretary to the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, on his verified “X” (former Twitter) handle with the quoted words: “We have beautiful and intelligent ones in the force. This is DSP David Victoria, secretary to the IGP. Happy weekend. Ire o”.

The ever-vigilant and proactive citizens of the worldwide web (netizens) were swift in their reactions to this pointless and self-damaging post by the FPRO. It turned out that the photograph showed Ms Victoria flaunting a top-of-the-line Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, which reportedly costs between N700,000 and over N1 million. She also had on her wrist a watch that was said to be rather “expensive”. People started asking where she got the money from to buy and flaunt these luxurious items.

Take note that it was not the lady police officer who made the post to brandish her baubles. She was sitting on her own, jeejee-ly, as we say. Someone came around to snap her photo, and she happily posed for the shot with a wide smile, displaying her handsomeness and precious possessions before the camera. There is no knowing if Adejobi sought her consent before taking the photograph and flattering comments to the internet. Knowing how vanity has captured the mentality of our youth, especially our female youth in this Nollywood and celebrity generation, I am not sure she could have seen the potential danger and objected vehemently enough to stop the post.

Yet, this is the Nigeria Police, the foremost law enforcement agency in Nigeria! The Police is the foremost law enforcement agency anywhere in the world because their work is to maintain law and order and keep society safe from criminals. Police is the personification of government. It is the duty of the police to enquire into anybody’s means of livelihood and source of income when they show off suspicious material wealth. When members of the public are the ones questioning a police officer’s source of wealth, that’s the news: a man is biting a dog here!

To worsen his case, Adejobi went on the offensive against those raising relevant questions about a DSP and her expensive jewellery. He said: “Police officers are not paupers. Withdraw your statement. It’s ridiculous to us to say a DSP can’t use Samsung fold 2…you need to reason straight and be objective. Do you know what it is to be a DSP?”

Imagine such a careless outpouring of immaturity from the nation’s number one Police image-maker! Police officers are not paupers? I can vividly recall that it was the poor conditions of service of the Police and their brutal transfer of aggression to the people (especially the youth), as well as extortions of the citizens that led to the series of #EndSARS protests which culminated in the Lekki Toll Gate killings of October 20, 2020.

Unknown number of unarmed Nigerian youths were reportedly killed by soldiers sent to the Toll Gate. Many more others were maimed while calling for a better deal for the Nigeria Police. Nigeria police officers are not paupers? Facts on the ground indicate to the contrary. According to The Cable report, a Deputy Superintendent of Police is on Grade Level 10 and takes home N170,399.69 every month. Even if DSP Victoria David does not eat, pay rent in Abuja, fuel her car and pay other bills (which is impossible), it will take her over five to six months to raise the fund to buy her Samsung Fold cell phone alone, before addressing the issue of the “expensive” wristwatch! So, the question is valid: how did she make the money to buy those items?

How would Adejobi justify his claim that Nigeria police officers are “not paupers”, except that even the Police, through its spokesman and image-maker, are officially admitting they make money through other illegal and corrupt means?

It is not as if we do not know already that most police officers use their offices and weapons to line their pockets. The same way an IGP Tafa Balogun could amass the over N16 billion found on him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is the way many operatives of the force use their guns to brutalise, extort, even rob members of the public.

It is only a police image-maker who can no longer “reason straight and be objective” that does not know that a Police Force full of wealthy officers is a corrupt, sick joke! The disease has become so pervasive that even the police image-maker no longer knows where the line between right and wrong is drawn.

We are in trouble!