POLICE STATE COMMAND HEADQUARTERS, PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE.
The present Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Abdulrahman, plopped down with a massive sigh on one of the leather-strapped chairs in his office which was located at the State Command Headquarters. He kneaded his temples, dreading the imminent ringing of his phone which signaled one of the calls he detested receiving. It was the call from the Inspector-General of Police, Ahmed Kabiru.
The Inspector-General just urgently requested a conference call through his Personal Assistant (PA, for short) with him and three other commissioners, which were the police commissioners of Lagos State, Kano State, and finally, the Federal Capital Territory. He had five minutes of freedom left before his own PA would connect him to a live video call with the IG of police and the other commissioners.
He already knew what the call was about, even though the meeting was impromptu.
But he was trying his best, wasn't he?
Obviously, his best was no good. That was what the IG was going to tell him and the other commissioners. He would blast them with how the president had been seriously breathing down his neck and how they must "Act fast!"
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Well, that seemed to be the word of the day. "Act fast. Act faster than lightning. Time is of great essence." Those weren't just the IG’s words. They were the governor's words which he reiterated the last time they spoke, which was just yesterday.
The Governor of Rivers State had been so bent on achieving this goal before his administration was over. He wanted it to be etched in history's record that an imposing mountain was conquered during his administration.
It would bring him more honor from his people, and he would be revered in the whole of Nigeria for a long time. It would also boost his future political career.
What the commissioner of police was about to discuss with the three other commissioners and the IG of police was one of Nigeria's greatest headaches. Any political figure who could use the police or any other means to provide the solution would be highly esteemed in the country. That was why the governor was pressurizing him.
Besides, the IG of police was receiving the same fire from the president.
And today the IG would also repeat the same line which he was already tired of hearing. "Act fast, oga commiss.
Time is flying."
Of course, he wouldn't pronounce it as "commiss"; he would pronounce it as "commish".
"Act fast, oga commish."
His phone's alarm, which he had set in order to be punctual, rang. It was time for the conference call. A shudder ran through his shoulders.
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Mr Abubakar's PA, who was a computer whiz, connected him to the virtual meeting after a rapid succession of strokes on the keyboard. In no time, he could see the faces of the other three commissioners and the IG of police on the screen of the computer.
Mission accomplished, his PA walked out of the commissioner's office, leaving him all alone with the gadget.
He wasn't particularly computer literate and that was why he saw what his PA did with the computer as a perfect case of manipulation. What other word could be used for it? When a human being could compel a bleeping machine to do whatever he wanted with just a few taps on a keyboard or touchscreen and some vocal commands.
His brain groped for another suitable word but he couldn't find any at the moment.
Manipulation.
No, there was definitely no other word to qualify it. Or so he thought.
This was what he perceived the politicians in the country were doing to the police. We are just puppets in their hands. They try to make the police do their bidding for their own glory.
This was why they were currently on this conference call. That was Nigerian politics for you, he thought wistfully.
Come to think of it, just like the computer in front of him which had been designed to serve its handler, wasn't that what the police and every other military personnel in the country had signed up for?
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To serve Nigeria by protecting the citizens' lives, properties and more.
Yes, this was what they were meant to do, regardless of any politician or government administration's good or bad motives.
And this job they were doing was for as much glory to the police as it would be to any government in power.
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"Good day, ladies and gentlemen," the Inspector-General of Police greeted the four commissioners.
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