The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase, CFR, retired Inspector General of Police has declared in his first official town hall meeting with the Staff of the Commission that he is in the Commission for service to God and humanity.
He noted that with the staff’s support, understanding, and patience, “it will be ‘Uhuru’ for us very soon,” adding that better days “are indeed ahead.”
Dr. Arase in his State of Affairs address to the staff over the weekend told the excited Staff “Just know that I share in your pains, your financial complaints are cogent and I promise to always do what I can to lessen these pains.”
He however said that he does not believe that the Commission’s relationship with the Police must be fractious to show the world “that we are alive to our duties”
According to him “I neither work in toxic environment nor subscribe to confrontation and belligerence as a leadership approach to getting results.
“For me, the ultimate is achieving our goals and delivering on our mandate and I believe there are better ways of resolving conflicts without resorting to actions that will embarrass the government and paint both institutions in a bad light.”
The PSC Chairman assured the Staff that serious talks and efforts have already begun toward an amicable resolution and settlement of “all vexatious issues in a win-win situation for all”.
He declared that as much as ” I do not believe that the powers of the Commission should be subsumed by the NPF(of course it cannot happen under my watch), the truth however remains, we cannot succeed and deliver on our mandate as an agency if we are working at cross purposes with the agency we are over-sighting”
Dr. Arase therefore implored the staff to show restraint and eschew every form of preconceptions, misconceptions and prejudices against the NPF for de-escalation of the conflict and restoration of trust and friendliness between the two agencies ”
He assured the Staff that he is totally concerned not only about their wealth but also their health and the reason a sick bay is already established.
He noted that he was not oblivious to the fact that he inherited a lot of liabilities of the Commission in terms of “allowances owed to personnel for different duties performed; ranging from election duties, duty tour allowances to first twenty-eight days; it has always been my belief that workers deserve their wages and there is dignity in labour”
According to him ” no wonder, in various leadership positions I have held in life, I always classify the welfare and comfort of people working with me as a top priority ”
” I did not waste time deploying my contacts and ensuring that these allowances are extinguished in no distant time. Although no funds have been released to this effect as of today, I am hopeful that in no distant time, we will receive a positive response”
Dr Arase appealed for patience as according to him ” I am also losing sleep over the liabilities, and I will not rest on my oars until the liabilities are totally defrayed”.
Speaking on repositioning the Commission for optimal functionality in delivering on its mandate, the PSC Chairman said he fully understood that the staff must be regularly trained and retrained on the rudiments of oversight functions. “On this note, I reached out and held meetings with UN agencies, Embassies, Civil Society Organisations and other government organisations requesting training assistance and collaborative support towards capacity building of the staff of the Commission.
“A little progress has been made as some Directors were trained virtually in the University of Pretoria, South Africa on oversight Course. Some others will attend NIPPS, Jos, and Lagos this month for different courses”.
Dr. Arase also spoke at a National workshop to re-launch the Commission to the world and emphasise “our presence as a critical agency of Government in Nigeria’s security architecture.
He added that the newly established Compliance Monitoring Unit (CMU) “of which some staff of the Commission is already undergoing training on the management of the technical platform, will be launched” after which a management retreat with Police leadership will hold followed by Zonal retreats and other forms of engagements with stakeholders aimed at sensitizing the populace about the Commission’s existence and responsibilities.
He announced that the Town Hall Meetings will be regular and held quarterly to bridge any form of communication gap in the administration of the Commission.
