On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Musiliu Smith, a
former inspector-general of police (IGP), as chairman of the Police Service
Commission (PSC) to succeed Mike Okiro, also a former inspector-general of
police.
Senate President Bukola Saraki
read Buhari’s letter seeking the confirmation of Smith’s appointment and those
of three others.
Former President Olusegun
obasanjo made Smith IGP on May 29, 1999 but fired him on February 1, 2002, when
men of the Nigeria police force began a historic strike. The industrial action
came as a surprise and made Obasanjo very angry.
The policemen decided to go on
strike as a result of distrust.
After Smith took over from
lbrahim Coomassie, who had held the post since 1993, the population of the
police in Abuja was on the increase. Smith was said to have presented an idea
that he believed would solve the accommodation problem facing policemen.
However, Obasanjo reportedly
directed the IGP to allow policemen rent houses while the government made a
refund. In a twist of event, the government reneged on its promise and
policemen, who believed that their IGP had embezzled their housing fund,
decided to embark on a nationwide strike.
Five days after the strike was
called, Obasanjo retired Smith with six of his deputies. He was replaced with
Tafa Balogun, whose career ended on a controversial note.
TINUBU, FASHOLA ENGAGED SMITH
After Obasanjo disengaged Smith,
Bola Tinubu, who was then the governor of Lagos, who accepted Smith’s security
proposal, gave him an appointment. In 2007, Babatunde Fashola, former governor
of Lagos state, appointed the former IGP as the head of the Lagos state
security council, a body charged with the responsibility of reviewing and
managing the state’s security system.
Smith carried on with his life,
enjoying patronage from the high and mighty.
ANOTHER ENCOUNTER WITH OBASANJO
The paths of the former IGP and
Obasanjo crossed again at a maiden biannual special training and capacity
building programme organised by the assistant inspector-general of police (AIG)
in charge of Zone II at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, March 2,
2017.
Obasanjo , who was the special
guest of honour, lambasted the Nigeria police for “keeping him waiting” more
than 90 minutes before the event started. He also took a swipe at the former
IGP who was a guest speaker at the event.
He said: “Police must be aware
and in touch with new developments in other parts of the globe. I can see my
former IGP Musiliu Smith. Smith is completely out of date to give lecture on
police duty. He has experience to share with you, but not on modern way of
doing things. I don’t even know how digital you (Smith) are.”
Smith was born to the Smith
family of Offin/Alakoro in central Lagos on April 17, 1946. His father, the
late Liasu Akande Smith (MON), was the first surveyor general of Lagos state
and a former national president of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria while his
mother was a staunch member of the society in her lifetime.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com