For a lazy and idle man, how time seems to linger with each dragging second, minutes and hours but for the proactive man saddled with responsibilities to tackle, times seems to fly with so much done, so much doing and much more still to do. For CP Hakeem Olusegun Odumosu, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Federal Republic of Nigeria, it will seem like just yesterday when the powers that be in the Nigerian Police Force singled out this exceptional gentleman, Super Crime Fighter and Patriot to be saddled with the onerous and daunting task of taking charge of Lagos State Police Command, arguably one of most challenging position to be occupied in the Nigerian Police Force on the 14th November 2019. As a matter of fact, taking responsibility of the Lagos State Police Command have over the years been a reserved position for Officers, men and women who have through their antecedents of impeccable records in service proven to be amongst the best the Nigerian Police Force has to offer. In this regard, CP Odumosu have not disappointed anybody; the police hierarchy, Lagos State Government and the citizens of Lagos State that he is indeed a round peg in a round hole as far as the task of policing Lagos in line with global best practice in modern policing and adherence to the dictates of the universal human rights principles demands.
Exactly 366 days of assuming office as the Commissioner of Lagos State Police Command, CP Hakeem Odumosu have not left any room for doubt on his determination to tow the line of the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu in entrenching community based and preventive approached based policing strategy to ensure the safety of lives and properties in Lagos State and the result are there for everybody to see.
It is worthy of note to mention here that before his appointment as the Commissioner of Police Lagos State Police Command, CP Odumosu had previously held some of the most challenging positions as far as policing Africa’s most rambunctious city is concerned. Hakeem Odumosu had at various times been the Chairman of the Environmental and Special Offences Task Force Lagos State and Commander Rapid Respond Squad of the Lagos State Police Command for eight years. These positions had given Odumosu an insider perspective in crime fighting in Lagos and provided an insight on which he built his approach.
Immediately resuming office as the Commissioner for Police in Lagos Command on November 14 2019, and armed with these fore knowledge, CP Odumosu knew his task was already cut out for him and consequently decided to use preventive approach by blocking all the loop holes he had identified in the State security apparatus. He identified offering a permanent solution to the insistent grueling gridlocks on Lagos roads his first move to bring succour to Lagos road users. Apart from the extensive failure of the major highways, poor traffic management of roads undergoing repairs, undisciplined road users and the unsavory attitude and pace of work by some of the contractors rehabilitating the roads have all combined to create the perfect storm of a nightmare scenario.
Less than a week into his redeployment, Odumosu signalled his intention to make efficient traffic management a top priority. He immediately deployed over 1,000 policemen to join in tackling the gridlock that has made commuting unbearable in the state. The move has a two-pronged objective. Motorists in prolonged gridlock often become sitting ducks for armed criminals who are always lurking in the neighborhood. Valuables are routinely lost to thieves who smash windows and, sometimes, bones in their heinous crime almost unhindered. The new Lagos police boss introduced an innovative approach to the schedule of service men manning the roads.
Rather than policemen leaving motorists to their fate at the peak of the crippling traffic having completed their beat, Odumosu reviewed the time schedule of traffic wardens to run between 10am and 10pm, while the second shift would run from 10pm to 10am to provide 24 hours coverage. Assuring motorists of safety. This insightful and fundamental solution has and is still paying dividends and assisting in no small way in checking crime and criminalities in Lagos today.
CP Hakeem Odumosu is very much familiar with Lagos terrain and there is no doubt, he has been deploying his wealth of experience to bear in piloting the affairs of the Command to positive and unprecedented effects in the last one year of policing in Lagos State.
On this august and momentous moment in the career of this exemplary Police Officer, dogged and indomitable Crime Fighter and leader of men, the administrative Executives and Members of the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP) led by its National President, Comrade Oki Samson uses this opportunity to felicitates with CP Hakeem Odumosu on his one year anniversary of his assumption of office as the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command.
NAOSNP, also use this opportunity to applaud your unrelenting efforts to make Lagos State a crime free society and a first choice destination for investments and economic development. You have remained an ardent champion of Community Policing, aligning yourself to the unrelenting drive and determination of the IGP Mohammed Adamu leadership to entrench Global Best Practices and strict adherence and observation of basic human rights in Policing in Nigeria.
We wish you hearty congratulations even as we pray that Almighty Allah will strengthen and empower you in your strides towards making Lagos State, Nigeria and the world a better and safer place to live.