The Federal Government is working on a new pay structure for the Nigeria Police, to boost the morale of policemen and officers.
This was stated by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 9, Mr. Solomon Olusegun, on Thursday in Awka, during a visit to the Anambra State Police Command.
He said the pay structure was being worked on by the Force headquarters, Abuja
Suppression of Rank in NSCDC.
Sir.wish to refer to the above subject matter with the hope that there would be timely intervention from the relevant authorities.
You will not be offended or awed that I am not leaving any forwarding address because you are soon to find out why. NSCDC needs your help. All the help you can give through all the contacts you have, the media, sister organizations, etc.
It is a known fact in all Military and Para military formations that Respect, Discipline, and Orders are some of the fundamental ethics of the job of personnel
It is however baffling and shocking that after one year since the release of the results of the verification exercise conducted by the Civil Defence, fire service, Immigration and Prisons service Board which consequently led to the proper placement of various officers, affected officers are yet to be allowed to wear the insignias (RANKS) of their current and actual status.
Sir, one of the implications of this suppression of our ranks is that you may find an officer who is actually on salary grade level 9 wearing the rank of a level 11 officers and another officer who is actually on salary grade level 12 wearing the rank of level 7 officers.
It is pertinent to mention here that affected officers in various cadres have all since 2011 been issued with letters of proper placement and as such have been receiving the salaries of their current status.
This issue of suppression of ranks has led to strife and rancor even though many of the loyalists of the Commandant General may not want to agree with this but that is the gospel truth.
Sir we believe that if one has received a letter confirming him on a particular salary grade level and is being paid accordingly it means that is what government recognizes concerning that officer and that is the officer’s actual status.
There is also the adoption of double standard now as a result of this suppression of ranks. For instance, when applying for your annual leave, you are asked to make that application using your “old rank” which in most cases brings a reduction in the number of days you are actually entitled to considering your “new rank”
We know the bureaucracies associated with getting things done officially in public service but we expect that steps would be taken to make proper investigation and find out why after one year of proper placement officers are yet to wear the ranks of their actual status.
For the purpose of clarity Sir, when you see an inspector he might just be a lance corporal or a sergeant actually. So now you can no longer tell a civil defender’s actual rank by his shoulder unlike in other organizations. It is subjecting superior officers to serious abuse and disregard denying them the respect they deserve and also preventing them from appointments into certain positions.
Nscdc has passed out a set of newly recruited senior officers since after the issuance of these letters of proper placement. These newly recruited officers are on level 8 and some on level 9.They started wearing their ranks as soon as they were passed out this year. Whereas officers and men who have since last year September been waiting are being denied. Another set of trainees are currently in training and it is expected that they too would wear their ranks as they are passing out while those who have been suppressed would remain like that.
Sir, A point to note as to why the delay in allowing the various beneficiaries of the aforementioned exercise is that very many officers in the rank of Commandant had their ranks reviewed downward based on their qualifications and so it is hoped that they would either accept the demotion or resign their appointments without benefits. Other categories of officers cannot move upward because those unqualified commandants are still there.
Sir you would recall that the Immigration service recently upgraded and promoted some of their officers and affected officers have since been decorated. The same board conducted the same exercise for NSCDC between 2008 and 2010. The exercise started with these commandants and yet it is these same commandants that are yet to receive their letters of proper placement whereas every other category of officer has been issued letter.
One would really need to make friends with officers of NSCDC to really appreciate the weight and magnitude of this malaise. Why put some category on hold and allow others to roll freely. The most absurd is that the newly recruited are allowed putting on their ranks and lording it over those who have been upgraded since last year September.
There are so many issues at stake in Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps and I believe that one of the ways forward is to talk about
If Abolurin would prevent those who have been upgraded since last year and have since been receiving the salaries of the new status from using their new ranks, he should be wise enough to stop all others who were recruited between that period and those presently undergoing training at various commands from putting on their ranks too for there to be peace.
We are not officers awaiting promotion, we were properly placed by the board and we have our letters to that that effect and we have since been receiving the salaries.
Thanks for your time and I hope steps would be taken to address this.
Adebanjo Fagbemi Festus.
AIC (former Rank) ASC11 (Current rank)
18/09/2012.
In my organization it is an offence to complain openly so the name you see above is a pseudonym.