Within A Week
OpenLife Nigeria reports that within two weeks, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, PSC, retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Hashimu Argungu, has offered solutions that would make the Nigeria Police best on earth.
According to a statement signed by Ikechukwu Ani , Head, Press and Public Relations of PSC and made available to OpenLife, the retired DIG has called for proper and defined background checks in the nation’s recruitment process to ensure that the right people are selected and given opportunities to contribute to nation building.
Background Checks
DIG Argungu noted that getting the right people into positions in the nation’s bureaucracy is not easy and required an effective intake process in which skills and knowledge of individuals are matched with the demands of the jobs.
He spoke yesterday Wednesday, August 14th, 2024 at the 6th edition of the Commission’s ‘Arena of Knowledge’ weekly lecture series in Abuja where he declared that recruitment needs planning to meet all the objectives such as best skills, best jurisdiction and must be democratic.
He insisted that successful recruitment will be difficult “if jobs are vaguely defined ” adding that it is also necessary “to search for and secure the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time.”
The PSC Chairman who spoke on the topic “Hiring and Firing in the Public/Civil Service: Police Service Commission (PSC) Employment and Recruitment Template, Process and Practices ,” said background checks for applicants should include, schools attended, previous places worked, whether convicted for criminal offences, public records such as birth, marriage, divorces etc.
DIG Argungu said appointments into all grades in Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies should be on need basis.
Also speaking on the same topic at the Arena of Knowledge lecture series, Mr. Sunday Abutu Garuba, Assistant Director in the Department of Human Resource Management in the Commission said hiring and Firing in the Public service are critical processes that require adherence to established rules, regulations and guidelines.
Mr Garuba noted that the Public Service Rules (PSR) provides a framework for ensuring merit, transparency and fairness in the selection and management of civil servants. “Effective hiring practices attract top talents, while fair and just Firing proceedures maintain accountability and integrity in the Public Service” he explained.
Mr Garuba remarked that by following due process and upholding the principles of public service, “we can build a competent, efficient and responsive civil service that serves the nation with integrity and excellence”
Information and intelligence Gathering
In like manner, DIG Argungu on Monday, August 12, also called for another look at the old-fashioned way of Information and intelligence gathering in the country stressing that they are already obsolete and ineffective in today’s digital world.
DIG Argungu in a key note address in Abuja at the Nigeria Police Force Youth Summit to Commemorate the 2024 International Youth Day noted that the old Police regulations “appear to be uncertain and obsolete, and also, it is becoming harder for the regulations to keep up with technology. ”
He remarked that at this hour of the 21st Century, the need to recognise offences committed by computer and how electronic evidence can be obtained and preserved, can not be over stated.
DIG Argungu said there was need for the Summit to suggest and recommend better anticipating emerging issues “strategize more innovatively about the best policies and interventions for addressing and acting quickly to maximize its chances of success “
The PSC Chairman said with globalisation, digitalisation and computerization era, intelligence gathering work ” is likely to become more electronically based and technology driven in business in everyday life”.
DIG Argungu said the inputs of the youths as the future leaders of tomorrow are so relevant that without it our nation “is bound to fail.”
He noted that the theme of the Summit “Enhancing Nigerian Youth value for National Security Intelligence ” is of utmost importance from the crucial issues discussed all over the world and designed for the core stakeholders whose interest is to employ all possible means for attaining the needed security and safety in Nigeria.
The PSC Chairman traced the major challenges and problems facing youths in contemporary Nigeria which included ineffective educational system that has resulted in unemployment, abject poverty, lack of jobs, ignorance and non functional education.
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