I LOOK FORWARD TO A DAY THAT THE SON OF A NOBODY WOULD BECOME SOMEBODY WITHOUT KNOWING ANYBODY - BALA ELKANA

Veteran policeman and public relations officer Bala Elkana, who has just been promoted from the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police DSP to the elevated position of Superintendent of Police SP, In an exclusive interview with The Gladiators Magazine revealed how tasking the police work is, some of the challenges he has encountered and how he was able to handle them.

Bala further explained why he has lived each day of his life as if it were his last day on earth, despite the Herculean task before him, and he encouraged every police officer to do same.

He also thanked the CMC Gladiators Group for presenting what he considered a precious gift, and he expressed maximum appreciation for their support.

Excerpts;

"I thank you all for reckoning with me even till the last hour. We have worked closely together and I was able to achieve this much because of the support I got from you, because of the cooperation and love you have shown me, you have always been there for me. Without you all i wouldn't have achieved this much. 

Thank you for this, you call it a token but for me it is a big one because it is worthy of appreciation for someone to look at you and say thank you for your efforts in making things better for the society. 

A lot of people see what we do as natural, they don't see it as things worthy of appreciation. When someone leaves his house in the morning and returns home safely, it is believed to be natural. 

Why do we have the police patrol on the Road? Why do we have these police patrol everywhere? That could be reason why I fly the Road safety everyday and return back safely. 

Somebody is there keeping an eye on the Street, Somebody is watching over the neighborhood to ensure that everywhere is safe and there is no crime. So it's not natural, somebody is somewhere making it happen and that person out there is the police. So I'm happy that you have seen our efforts and you deemed it necessary to spur us up to do more."

"Thank you, I'm not sure of receiving any more media before I leave as this may be the last group I will receive. I'm tidying up and putting things together for my friend and colleague who is coming to take over from me, to build up from where I stopped and to do even better than me. 

I have so much confidence in his ability he is a seasoned police officer. We have known each other for quite some years. When I was the PRO in Niger State he was also a PRO in Ogun State so he is not new in this terrain and no doubt, public relations in Lagos will be taken to the next level under his watch."

"So what I'm asking from you is your maximum support for him. Support him more than you did to me so that he will succeed. Being on this seat is not about how you start but how you end. I have spent one and half years hear and I must say it's not an easy journey. To speak for one of the largest commands in Nigeria, the commercial centre of Nigeria where we have all manner of activities going on is not a joke."

"There were turbulent moments, there were moments that were really traumatic but we were never discouraged, we kept doing what we know how to do best, We kept giving Lagosians adequate update, information about security."

"Bridging that gap between the police and general public is very wide. I remember when I stepped in here the gap was wider than what I'm leaving. The gap is narrow now because we created platforms where we can reach out to people, my Twitter handle has been so active. 

A lot of people reach me on Twitter and I follow up happenings on Twitter minutes by minutes and I respond promptly. We also have hotlines for people to reach us not just for emergencies but for complain against the police so that we can intervene."

"We have handled so many cases regarding police misconducts and we have recovered from the police, money extorted from the general public. We did a lot to build the confidence of the masses on the police, so I can gladly say that we have achieved much."

Q - Sir tell us your most trying and challenging moments as the PRO.

Ans - "The biggest challenge was when we had some cases of extra judicial killings. The first case was Kolade Johnson's case. He was murdered early last year by an inspector and we got the killer arrested. Then we put a lot of measures together to ensure that such a thing doesn't occur again. 

Barely three weeks after that, another person was killed and you already gave an assurance that there will be no reoccurrence of such act, yet it happened again in no distance time. You can imagine how traumatising this can be. Within three months we had three cases of extra judicial killings.

 At a time the IG had to come down to Lagos to talk to policemen here because it became worrisome to everybody. Now the first one happened, you gave an assurance that it won't repeat itself and suddenly the second one happened again and you are thinking of what to tell the people that have confided in you because you assured them that it won't happen again and it has happened. 

Then in a blink of an eye, the third one happened again. If you were in my shoes you can imagine what you would have taught as the spokes person of that organization, because first of all you have an integrity to protect. Whatever you say should be seriously adhered to by the people and it won't speak well, when you say something and they are like.... ah we have been hearing the same thing always. 

So we have a name that we must protect and my name is at stake here not just the name of the organization. I'm glad that we did a lot of training on human rights, emotional intelligence and over time Lagos became calm. So we hardly have such difficult times again but it was tough. Moreso, as a PRO sometimes there are tough moments that comes with tough questions. You seem to address the public and keep repeating that bail is free, even in your statement you keep mentioning that bail is free. 

The question often asked is that, is bail really free'? I remember being on a live TV one day and the presenter asked a question about bail and I said, bail is free. Then the next caller said PRO why are you lying? You and I know that bail is not free. So stop lying, but the reality is that I am not lying, what is wrong is wrong and the fact that everybody is doing the wrong thing doesn't make it right. 

Legally bail remains free, it is a criminal offence for a police officer to take money for bail, it is also an offense for the giver to give money for bail. So that is why it is boldly written in every police station that bail is free. 

One who gives money for bail and the police who collects money for bail are both guilty of a crime under the law because bail remains free. But the point is.... what do you see? So it requires so much efforts to explain all of that for people to understand the meaning of the word, ' bail is free.'

Another word that is tough for people to understand is.... The police is your friend. It's so tough because the people are like.... you said I'm your friend and you are harassing me, you said I'm your friend and you are molesting me, you said I'm your friend and here you are extorting money from me. 

How then I'm i your friend? So to make it a reality we keep introducing a lot of programmes and training to make the police adjust to that slogan. So that they can see that slogan as a lifestyle that should be added to service. 

Take it upon yourself to satisfy the people and the only way to satisfy them is to give them a quality police service that they deserve as citizens of this great country, respect their rights and don't extort money from them, never bully on them, don't insult them, talk to them with courtesy and lend a hand of friendship. 

That is the reason you always see in the news that a police officer takes a stranded pregnant woman who is at the verge of delivery to the hospital with the police patrol vehicle. It was not so before but it's happening now because of the measures we are putting in place. 

The husband of the pregnant woman was there struggling in his helpless state, there was no vehicle to move her until the police came into the seen and moved her with the police vehicle to the hospital and waited until she delivered the baby. It happened in Lagos. 

So we have had quite a number of instances where the police extended a hand of friendship and the people are like wow.... this is what we expect from The Nigerian Police, let's keep it up. So we use these tough moments, we look at the lessons learnt and make things better over the years. I'm glad that we have a very robust public relations strategies in place, we have a perfect network that is working for us. 

People know who to talk to, even on Twitter they know who to tag when they have a complain but before it wasn't so. We are very much visible, we are very much assessable and we have improved the public perception of the police to a large extent that when I look back, I say we have come a long way."

Q - Being a man of integrity, how do you feel when you get reports about policemen doing ill things that are capable of tarnishing the image of the police?

Ans - "It's quite devastating, quite traumatising. Even as a police officer siting down here sometimes I ask myself. Do this people have conscience? Are they humans? Why don't you put yourselves in the shoes of the people you are dehumanising? If you follow up my interviews, we trace and arrest them.

 Sometimes I lie them here in my office to talk to them, and I often ask questions like... what you did to this 20years old boy, would you like someone else to do same to your son? You have forgotten so soon where you came from, you were a civilian before you became a police man and the journey you have embarked on is just 35yrs. So you will still leave your normal life after your service days. How would you love to be treated? 

So everyday is an opportunity for me to reach out to somebody. I keep telling my staffs that if you look at the board, I'm the number 23, meaning that 22 persons passed through this office and if you look downwards you will see an empty space upto number 40. It means, after me more people will still come in. So I leave each day of my life as if it were my last day on earth. 

I do good to change the bad I see because I want to leave a remarkable legacy behind. I use every opportunity i have to reach out to people and that is the same message we pass to policemen. 

Live each day of your life as if it were your last day on earth. Help people in need of support, create opportunities to help somebody. I'm not aware of any job that offers the opportunity to help people like the police. Doctors and nurses have opportunities but limited because until a sick person shows up before them in the hospital, they may be idle. 

But it's not so with the police officer because people need to be safe always, They always need the help of a polic, they need to be kept away from criminals. 

So if you maximize that opportunity and do your work diligently, I'm not sure any police officer should miss heaven. If only the police can diligently follow these guides given to them without cheating, molesting or stealing from people the country will be a better place."

 

Q - How do you feel about your promotion?

Ans - "Promotion is.... to some people a reward for hard work but I see it as a challenge and opportunity for you to do more because you have been given more responsibilities. To my staffs, they see it as.... yes our boss deserves this because he has put in his best, he has worked hard and the police authority did not demote him, they promoted him to encourage him. 

My staffs are so happy, they were calling for party but I said there won't be party because of the COVID-19. It actually calls for celebration to many, but I said we cannot celebrate because to me it's a time for reflection. 

What more can I do through this opportunity given to me to reach out to people? I'm glad that I have also upgraded for good and I have a higher opportunity to reach out to others."

Q - Having been a member of the CMC Gladiators group for some years, What can you say about the group?

Ans - "I have not seen such a wonderful group that has worked so hard over the years to discover talents, raised people who have visions in life, bringing together talented celebrities and young Nigerians that are adding values to the growth and development of the country generally. I'm glad that the leadership have done so much for the society, this has kept hope alive, to many Nigerians he has kept the train moving and quite a number of people can look back and say if not for him we wouldn't have been where we are. 

So it's something I can say we should keep it up. We should continue to do these great works together, and continue to encourage young and talented Nigerians to achieve their dreams whether they know somebody or not. 

I keep on saying that there is only one Nigerian I'm looking for, where the son of a nobody becomes somebody without knowing anybody. And that is exactly what the Gladiators are doing. Ensuring that the son of a nobody becomes somebody without knowing anybody."

Watch out for the September Edition of The Gladiators Magazine as the full interview will be published in there.