NLC Protest: A new crisis management skill under IGP Egbetokun.
By Comrade Kunle Sodipo
For keen and unbiased observers, Wednesday 2nd of August, 2023 protest by the leadership of NLC in Nigeria is proof that the principles of crisis management as being thought in different classrooms only become meaningful when the known strategies are effectively and brilliantly put to use such as displayed by the Nigeria Police Force under IGP Olukayode Egbetokun.
For many Nigerians, management of recent protests in the country has been a major concern for obvious reasons, which are majorly political, and how they were handled by security forces, especially the Nigeria Police. Surprisingly, what transpired yesterday during the NLC protest in Abuja and other major cities across the country is proof that the Nigeria Police Force under the current IGP deserves a distinction in the school of strategic crisis management.
Yesterday, in the most populous nation in Africa, we saw a Police Force with absolute professionalism, total regard for the rigths of every Nigerians to peacefully protests, and an astonishing sense of responsibility to protect the lives and properties of all Nigerians not withstanding their political, religious and ethnic background. This indeed is a signal that something positive is gathering momentum in the NPF, and we must now play our roles well as good citizens in support of the only Police Force that we can call our own.
The message is now crystal clear and unambiguous; that the expression of our rights as entrenched in the Nigerian constitution is possible if and only such expressions are carried out peacefully with regard for the security and safety of other citizens. We must always have in our consciousness that the same Nigerian constitution, which guarantees our rights to protests, also makes it a duty for the Nigera Police to maintain law and order with a responsibility to guarantee the security and safety of all.
Comrade Kunle Sodipo is a renowned speaker, writer, author, child safety advocate, youth empowerment campaigner, consultant, and entrepreneur.*
