A
renowned Indian philosopher and leader -Mahatma Gandhi once said that the best
way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. This
testament goes to show how divine and rewarding it is for one to serve his or
her nation.
It
also reminds us about the virtues of patriotism and loyalty. However, ensuring
security for the citizenry these days is one of the many challenges nations
face especially in our part of the world. The recent nationwide tour by the
Inspector General of Police is not only timely, but important as well. The tour
was geared towards improving the effectivenåess and efficiency of police
service delivery at all regions.
Assessing
the general welfare of our men and women in uniform goes to further demonstrate
how government cares and values their service to the nation. In many developing
countries including The Gambia, serving men and women face numerous challenges
such as accommodation, mobility, fuel and uniforms and other working tools. So
the tour accorded the police high command the opportunity to hear from security
personnel themselves about their general conditions and obstacles hindering
their work.
We
are aware that some of these items requested by the men and women on the ground
were addressed, but there still remains more to be done.
Mobility
and general living conditions are a challenge. And IGP Jobe during the tour
distributed 25 new motorbikes among different police stations across the
country.
What
is required of any security apparatus is to serve the nation with utmost loyalty
and dedication. And in doing so, equipping them to live up to those
expectations is important as well.
The
tour, also saw mass promotion of officers to various ranks within the force. We
gathered that over 200 officers were elevated to various ranks. This is
encouraging as promotion is now merit-based as opposed to the former style,
where promotion was on ‘whom you know’
basis.
Let
this promotions serve as a motivating factor the uniformed men and women to do
more in the service of the nation. We also hope that the items presented would
be used for their intended purposes.
“I
think police officers are modern day heroes. I think they protect us.”
Cuba
Gooding, Jr.