Opinion
The Logic and Magic of Integrated Marketing Communications in the Promotion of Rotary Public Image
The Logic and Magic of Integrated Marketing Communications in the Promotion of Rotary Public Image
By Lanre Adisa
I feel highly honoured to have been invited to share my thoughts with you on the theme of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Strategy as Magic for Public Image Promotion in Rotary. For starters, let me state clearly that I do not possess the magical acumen of Houdini, neither do I possess that of Professor Peller.
But I must state that the use of the word Magic is not out of place for those of us in marketing communications.
When developing campaigns, we often talk about logic and magic; logic being the empirical input that feeds the work we embark on for every new brief we receive from our clients; and magic being the outcome when it’s done in a way that beats everyone’s imagination.
This maverick of an outcome is so good, you don’t see it coming. This is the nirvana we all aspire to for every work we embark on in brand building.
The impact of every magical performance is often determined by the richness of the materials at the disposal of the performer as well as the prowess of the latter.
For this, let’s beam the light on Brand Rotary for a while. It’s not often that we as practitioners are given the opportunity to work on iconic brands. In the nonprofit space, it goes without saying that Brand Rotary is one of the most iconic one can find.
Worldwide, Rotary will be 120 years old next year. The year after that, it will be 65 years in Nigeria.
Its iconic status has not been earned just by the years of its existence, but more by the impact of its work globally and locally.
Founded in 1905 by Paul P. Harris as a business networking club, it has since evolved into one of the strongest movements for good around the world driven by its core mission of “Service Above Self”.
Here in Nigeria and globally, that mission has given birth to a lot of laudable programmes in the fields of education, health, water and sanitation. Perhaps the most ambitious and most impactful is the Rotary PolioPlus campaign.
Through its work with its members spread across the globe and a handful of partners, over 3 billion children have been vaccinated and over 20 million cases of paralysis arising from the effect of polio have been averted. And this is just taking on one area of intervention.
As laudable as the eradication of a disease like polio is, if we were to ask ten people outside the Rotary fold to list the organisations responsible for this feat, how many of them will mention Rotary? For me personally, when I think of polio eradication, Rotary doesn’t come to my mind first.
Whatever the answer to this question may be, it doesn’t negate the great work Rotary is doing for humanity. However, it doesn’t deliver the right value in the mind space of the different publics Brand Rotary will hope to appeal to.
Why is this so? The world has changed so drastically from 1905 and it keeps changing as we speak. The contest for the attention of the public has never been as frenetic as we are experiencing today.
So, if we all agree that the destination for every form of communication is magic, in a highly media-fragmented world that we live in, it’s safe to say that IMC is our magic wand.
The concept of IMC came about as a result of the proliferation and fragmentation of communications channels in the 20th century.
For brands to make sense of emerging media channels like the fast-expanding cable TV channels and digital technologies, there was a need for consistent messaging across all the different pertinent channels a brand has decided to use from the multitude of options available to it.
The term Integrated Marketing Communications was coined by marketing scholars and practitioners in the 1990s, driven by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s).
Don Schultz, an American Professor of Communications, who wrote a landmark book on the subject, Integrated Marketing Communications: Putting It Together and Making It Work (1993), is often regarded as the father of IMC. As defined by the 4A’s in the 1990s, “IMC is a comprehensive plan that combines various communication disciplines- advertising, public relations, direct marketing and sales promotion- to create a clear consistent and unified message for maximum impact.” The three things to note in this definition are:
A comprehensive plan
A clear and consistent unified message
Maximum impact
With the super pervasive reach of digital technologies, best represented by a plethora of social media platforms, the need for a comprehensive plan with a clear and consistent unified message delivering maximum impact cannot be overemphasised, no matter how big or small your media budget may be.
HOW CAN WE BRING IMC TO WORK MAGIC FOR ROTARY?
The Power of Consistency: The magic of IMC is in its ability to integrate various communication channels to create a unified and consistent message. Through this consistent messaging, trust and recognition are built over time. In today’s fragmented media landscape this is one way Rotary can rise above the noise. It will require being smart with whatever resources are available for each campaign. It will also require determining which particular communication channels will most effectively deliver the goods. Each media platform, be it social media or traditional media, must be selected and used with well spelt out goals and expectations on how it amplifies the message. The Rotary PolioPlus easily comes to mind in this regard. If this campaign were to be launched newly in this era, how would we go around it?
Storytelling as a Spell: We all grew up with stories. Nothing can be as captivating and engaging as a well told story. In truth, a relatable story can be spell-binding. People want to identify with the people in your story, and by extension, your cause, once they can relate with them.
This is something that comes easy for nonprofits. For instance, while a documentary or generalist content on World War II may give us reasons to think of the horrors of that human tragedy, we tend to be moved more about the accounts of that war when we are exposed to the stories and ordeals of the individuals who lived through that period.
It’s the reason why a film like Schindler’s List or Saving Private Ryan will leave a more longstanding impact on us than hundreds of generalist narratives of the war.
A good example of this is the Make A Wish Foundation in the US. Using emotional stories, it is able to raise funds by telling powerful emotional stories of children living with severe ailments, using cross-platform integration, while helping the children to attain their wishes.
The Magic of Multichannel Synergy: The use of multiple channels like email, social media and PR is one good way of amplifying the message.
We must determine the role of each platform in a way that complements one another while deepening the reach of the message.
We must coordinate our campaign in a way that ensures a ripple effect that helps to boost reach and engagement, especially when we have a limited budget.
Authenticity as the Magic Ingredient: To earn the respect and trust of the public, any brand worth its salt must be seen to be inherently authentic. Being authentic engenders genuine connections and transparency between a brand and its target audience.
Authenticity helps define your brand character, helping your audience to know what you stand for. Doing anything out of character will be easily flagged by your audience and this could come with serious consequences.
The moral here is that to keep the magic going, you must genuinely be yourself. When people are asked what Rotary stands for, our target audience must be able to answer that from what they’ve known Rotary to stand for over time. And nothing captures this better than the Rotary Four-Way Test
Is it the truth?
Is it fair to all concerned?
Will it build good will and better friendships?
Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
One good example of authenticity in action is UNICEF and its focus on the world’s children. Almost everybody knows that UNICEF is all about the children of the world. This authentic association is captured in its campaign “For Every Child”.
Target Audience Enhancement: One key asset that can aid the impact of IMC for Rotary is its extensive network of clubs across different strata globally and locally. This helps connect the message to its intended target and the general public most effectively.
The cumulative effect of these clubs projecting a singular message using global and local channels is invaluable. The trick here is ensuring that the message doesn’t get diluted in any way. The versatility of this vast network also lends itself easily to the nuancing of the message to the different strata of the network based on their sociocultural context.
Impact Measurement- The Magic Proof: It is not enough to have a spellbinding message cascading through our network of multiple clubs. In today’s world, we must be able to measure the impact of our magic.
Who are we reaching? Are we delivering the intended message? Is our messaging eliciting the right kind of action or responses from our audience? For this we need to deploy digital tools that can help us measure the impact of our campaigns from engagement to donations, down to volunteer/new members sign-ups. The lessons from one campaign can help us plan better and smarter for subsequent ones. This way, we can start working towards a magic formula.
Community Building as a Magical Force: One way a nonprofit can stay sustainable is by building a community around its causes. With its brand legacy spanning over a hundred years, this should not be of any challenge to Rotary.
In reality, engaged communities are the backbone of nonprofit. What IMC does is nurture these relationships over time. This is composed of not just the Rotary family, but also those whose values align with that of Rotary. It will also include those who have benefited directly or indirectly from the impact of Rotary’s work.
Observations & Recommendations
Before I wrap up, I believe it’s important to bring up some points for consideration.
Thought Leadership/Ownership of Causes: In as much as being around for a long time is a strength, it can also create a sense of overfamiliarity which in turn may translate to indifference on the part of your audience.
If you take the case of the PolioPlus campaign, while it is commendable that Rotary had a long running global campaign for the eradication of this disease, when the campaign got to its climax, for those outside of the Rotary circle, Rotary was not first to mind when one considered those in the forefront of polio eradication.
The public heard more of the Melinda & Bill Gate Foundation than any other organisation. Bill Gate became more of the face of that eradication in this part of the world than anyone else. I’m not basing this on any empirical data; it’s more of my observation of the public space. It begs the question, who is/are the face(s) of Rotary as regards its different causes in Nigeria?
The Need for Tactical Campaigns: Sadly, with the advent of social media and its retinue of influencers, there is a drift towards short-termism in brand building. Social media in particular is filled with thousands of initiatives and campaigns of different sorts. When you consider a campaign like the Earth Hour by the WWF, the single-mindedness of this one-hour activation is truly magic. The awareness generated around the issue of sustainability through the preservation of the environment from switching off the light by individuals and corporate entities at a designated day and hour around the world speaks to effectiveness.
Within the context of globally agreed causes within the Rotary world, what opportunities can we explore locally to create the sort of impact that is unmissable. A quick look through the Rotary social media pages at the moment doesn’t leave one with a sense of impact. Rather, it’s more of an album of activities.
Nuancing and Contextualising Global Messages: Being part of a global network is a great advantage. This affords Rotary the power to drive one singular message across the nooks and crannies of the world. While the thrust of the message may be the same everywhere, it is not likely for the context to be the same. It’s for this reason that deliberate attempts must be made to localize global campaigns. This will make the campaigns more relatable and much more effective in delivering the desired outcomes. This will also lead to talkability.
Aiming For Impact Beyond Rotary: I personally commend Rotary for its foresight in establishing Rotaract clubs as a way of attracting the next generation. However, one still gets the sense that Rotary activities are confined to the world of Rotary as regards their reach.
It is important that Rotary deploys media-neutral ideas that deliberately target non-members, especially the youth, using the most relevant platforms that they can relate with to enable them take interest in Rotary as an entity as well as support their activities. This is when the magic of IMC really does its job.
A good example of this is another brilliant campaign from the WWF titled #Last Selfie. Using the Snap Chat platform, pictures of different animals that are likely to go extinct were posted to users of the platform that disappeared in seconds.
They ended with messages stating this may be the last time they are seen without any support. This same campaign reached over 120 million users on Twitter (now X). The WWF was able to raise their monthly donation target within a week of the campaign.
In conclusion, I would like to commend the founding fathers of Rotary and those of you who have continued to raise the banner of doing good for humanity. Today’s new media platforms may be fragmented.
We have since gone past the age when we all watched the same programme on TV or radio; when newspapers held sway in terms of information and education. Today, the mobile phone could be likened to an extension of our human anatomy. While all of this can appear confusing, therein lies opportunities to find your space and audience as a brand.
What is needed is a well-crafted message with an emotional human angle, delivered through carefully selected channels and deployed to reach your audience wherever they may be. For Rotary, this is the way to keep the magic going.
Thank you for listening. I wish Rotary many more centuries of delivering Service Above Self.
* Lanre Adisa is the President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and Chairman, Heads of Advertising Sectoral Groups (HASG)
Opinion
The Shettima danger for Tinubu, By Farooq Kperogi
The Shettima danger for Tinubu, By Farooq Kperogi
The Shettima danger for Tinubu, By Farooq Kperogi
Opinion
Don’t Label Oyo Kidnappers as ‘Islamic Jihadists’ – Saudi-Based Nigerian Scholar Warns
Don’t Label Oyo Kidnappers as ‘Islamic Jihadists’ – Saudi-Based Nigerian Scholar Warns
- Says criminality remains criminality, warns against dangerous religious profiling
A Saudi-based Nigerian Islamic scholar, Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade, has cautioned against the growing tendency to brand criminal gangs operating in Oyo State and other parts of the South-West as “Islamic jihadists,” warning that such narratives are misleading and capable of igniting dangerous religious tension.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Agunbiade, a Taalib (student) at Jami’ei, Islamic Propagation Rabwa in Saudi Arabia, expressed deep concern over the direction of public discourse surrounding insecurity in Oyo State, particularly following the recent abduction of pupils and teachers from three schools in the Oriire Local Government Area.
The scholar specifically referenced a programme on Splash FM 105.5 FM, “State of the Nation,” anchored by Edmund Obilo, where, according to him, repeated references were made to kidnappers and criminal gangs as “Islamic jihadists” allegedly bent on conquering the South-West and establishing dominance.
“Such sweeping and emotionally charged narratives may attract public attention, but they are not only misleading; they are also capable of creating dangerous religious tension in an already fragile society,” Agunbiade wrote.
He described the recent attacks in Oriire as “indeed tragic and condemnable,” adding that every responsible citizen must rise against such barbaric acts. However, he questioned the logic of automatically labelling criminal activities as religious missions.
“Since when did kidnapping schoolchildren become an Islamic mission? Since when did abducting innocent teachers and pupils become a religious obligation?” he asked.
“It is both irresponsible and intellectually dishonest to automatically label every violent criminal activity involving suspected Fulani bandits or kidnappers as ‘Islamic jihad.’ Criminality should remain criminality. Evil should be called evil without dragging religion into matters where religion itself clearly stands opposed to such actions.”
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Agunbiade pointed out what he described as a critical irony: many of the victims of these attacks are themselves Muslims. He noted that among the kidnapped pupils and affected families are Muslims whose lives have been shattered by the same criminals.
“So, how does one logically arrive at the conclusion that these kidnappers are fighting an ‘Islamic cause’ while terrorizing Muslim communities and targeting Muslim children?” he queried.
The scholar emphasised that Islam has never permitted the kidnapping of innocent people, attacks on schools, or the creation of fear and instability in society. He stressed that those who commit such crimes are enemies of humanity and enemies of peace, regardless of the language they speak or the religion they claim.
He further noted that respected Islamic bodies and leaders in Oyo State have openly condemned these criminal acts. He cited the Oyo State chapter of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), which has issued statements condemning insecurity and calling for urgent government intervention. He also mentioned the Grand Imam of Oyo, Sheikh (Barrister) Bilal Husayn Akinola Akeugberu, as well as prominent Islamic organizations including MUSWEN, who have publicly expressed concern and called on authorities to intensify efforts toward rescuing victims and restoring peace.
“These are the voices that deserve amplification in our public discourse — voices of reason, peace, unity, and responsibility,” Agunbiade said.
He warned that when media narratives lean toward religious profiling instead of objective analysis, they risk inflaming ethnic and religious suspicion among citizens who have coexisted peacefully for decades.
“The role of the media in times of insecurity is not merely to sensationalize fear or promote divisive assumptions. Journalism carries a moral burden. Broadcasters and public commentators must exercise caution in their choice of words, especially in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society like Nigeria. Words are powerful. A careless narrative repeated consistently can gradually poison public perception and sow seeds of hatred among innocent people,” he cautioned.
Agunbiade acknowledged the seriousness of insecurity in the South-West, noting that communities are under pressure, farmers are afraid, travellers are anxious, and parents are worried. However, he insisted that solving insecurity requires facts, intelligence gathering, effective policing, and sincere governance — not religious stereotyping.
“We must avoid turning a security crisis into a religious war narrative. Once criminality is wrongly framed as a battle between religions, the real perpetrators hide behind the confusion while innocent citizens suffer discrimination and hostility,” he said.
The scholar called on government at all levels to strengthen local security architecture, equip law enforcement agencies adequately, improve intelligence operations, and ensure that criminal elements are arrested and prosecuted. He also urged traditional rulers, community leaders, religious institutions, and civil society groups to work together in promoting vigilance and unity instead of suspicion and division.
“At this critical moment, Nigerians must refuse to allow fear to destroy the peaceful coexistence that binds communities together. Kidnappers are criminals, not representatives of any faith. Terrorists are enemies of humanity, not ambassadors of religion,” Agunbiade stated.
He concluded: “The fight before us is not Islam versus Christianity, nor North versus South. The real battle is between law-abiding citizens and criminal elements threatening the peace of society. Anything short of this understanding only deepens the crisis.”
Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade is a Taalib (student) at Jami’ei, Islamic Propagation Rabwa, Saudi Arabia, and can be reached via agunbiadeib@gmail.com.
Don’t Label Oyo Kidnappers as ‘Islamic Jihadists’ – Saudi-Based Nigerian Scholar Warns
Opinion
IGP Disu: Inside the rotting walls of Zone II
IGP Disu: Inside the rotting walls of Zone II
Tunde Odesola
(Published in The PUNCH, on Friday, May 22, 2026)
Except for its motto and morality, there is hardly anything wrong with the Nigeria Police Force. If burnished in the furnace of grammar, the statement, “Police is your friend,” which is the motto of the Nigeria Police, is wrong because ‘police’ is a plural noun, and so, cannot legally coexist with ‘is’, a singular tense. Therefore, to put the motto in the right grammatical drive, the statement should read, “The police are your friend(s).” Aside from the test of grammar, the motto also fails the test of authenticity because, as everyone knows, the Nigeria Police Force is friendless and loveless.
But this wasn’t the fate of the force some 40 years ago when I walked into the Okigwe police station, stranded and needing a place to lay my head for the night. Early in the day, before the second crow of cock, I had boarded ‘The Young Shall Grow’ bus from Lagos en route to Okigwe, the home of Imo State University, where I had just been admitted.
It was a mobileless era when a letter sent by post to a distant state travelled like a tortoise with arthritis, crawling for weeks or months before reaching its destination. As soon as I got my admission letter from JAMB, I headed eastwards, afraid of missing the registration window and ultimately forfeiting my admission. The Lagos Liaison Office of the school had no information because it was on recess. Quickly, I borrowed the wisdom in a Yoruba proverb that says: “Kí ojú má rí’bi, gbogbo ara ni ògun ẹ̀’. Translated: “For the eyes not to see evil, the whole of the body must be agile.” So, I hit Oshodi, boarded a bus, and moved agilely to Okigwe.
However, Nigeria happened on the road.
Head of Zone II, Assistant Inspector-General Moshood Jimoh
Due to mechanical delays and a poor road network, the bus didn’t reach Okigwe until late in the night when the whole town was in bed, except the dingy police station. Though I was a lad who had never travelled outside the south-west and spoke not a syllable of Igbo, I knew police stations across the country were a place of refuge and fortress. I knew the Nigerian police, in a good measure, embodied the spirit of service and protection.
Similarly, “To protect and to serve” is the spirit behind the motto of police departments across the United States. But somewhere along Nigeria’s broken national journey, the Nigeria Police Force lost its spirit, service, and protection.
The reasons for this monumental loss are clear to the blind eye. With a numerical strength of 371,800 officers and men, the police-to-citizen ratio in Nigeria is about one police officer to every 637 citizens, which falls short of the United Nations’ recommendation of one cop to 430 persons. To attain the UN benchmark, experts say the country’s police force must hit between 650,000 and 684,000. A force starved of funding, adequate welfare, modern technology, equity and fairness cannot produce saints in uniform.
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The officer on duty that night in Okigwe was courteous but pitiable. I introduced myself and showed him my admission letter. He wondered why someone would leave Lagos for Okigwe. “Uhmm! My brother, you can see di way we dey here o. NEPA don take light. If you fit manage for dat place till morning; day go soon break,” he pointed to a concrete slab that was about to be my king-size bed. But providence had a deal lined up for me. As I sat on the slab, contemplating how I was going to sleep, a man in mufti walked in, spoke with the policeman on duty, and went to rummage through a chest of drawers at the back of the counter. He was a policeman. On his way out, he stopped and shot a glance at the man on duty, asking with his eyes who I was. “The boy na student of IMSU. He no know say di school never resume, and na from Lagos im come. He wan sleep here till morning.”
The man in mufti spoke Igbo to me. I smiled and told him I didn’t understand Igbo.
“So, you bi Yoruba from Lagos?”
“Yes, sir.”
Ha!” Why you come suffer come dis far? Why you no stay for Lagos or Ibadan?”
“I have spent all my life in Lagos and wanted a change.”
“Hia! Mosquitoes go chop you finish for dis station o. If you no mind, you fit come and manage with me till morning. Day go soon break.”
Though I felt safe in the station, I couldn’t bring myself to reject the Good Samaritan’s offer. So, we both left the station in a pall of darkness and headed to his abode, which was a stone’s throw away. As we made our way through bush paths to his house, I asked if there was a watering hole where we could have some beer. “All of dem don close. Okigwe dy sleepy once university no dey session,” he said, and added, “You dey hungry? I no get food for house o,” smiling. I told him I was hungry. So, we went to a house where he knocked on the door, and a sleepy woman opened the door and sold us bread, moin-moin and soda, which I paid for. On the way to his house, I fished a packet of Consulate cigarettes out of my pocket, the policeman whistled in admiration and said, “You bi original Lagos boy!”
Darkness escorted us to his house, which looked like an abandoned poultry shed. “This is where I dey manage o,” he said in a welcome. The house was built with corrugated iron, with holes that let in the rays of the moon through cracks. He showed me his mattressless king-size bed. “I go sleep on the floor,” he said, “You fit sleep on the bed.” It was a large-hearted moment of benevolence, and I was deeply moved. I spread my clothes over the naked springs, lay down and pretended to sleep, peeping at the sky through the cracks in the roof, silently asking God if He could see what I was going through. I prayed silently that I may succeed in my academic journey in the land of the rising sun.
At dawn, he showed me his bathroom – if courtesy permits me to call it a bathroom. Four sticks rammed into the earth, wrapped with palm fronds, roofless and doorless. In that jacuzzi, the heavens watched your nakedness while passersby viewed your legs as your towel or wrapper served as a door. I took my bath with the brown water my benefactor provided and headed to the school to see things for myself, offering profuse thanks for the memorable accommodation.
That was the situation of the police force 40 years ago: poor, neglected, unpaid – yet still recognisably human. Today, the situation has not changed, the motto has not changed, but the morality and purpose of the force have changed drastically. Today, poverty remains, but humanity has fled. The bloodstream of the police has been infected. Police stations are no longer safe for the police and the citizens.
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I have encountered one thousand and one ugly police experiences bordering on corruption, impunity, wickedness and opportunism. I can’t mention all, but the sheer devilry behind police actions was shocking. One was when my uncle, Abel Odesola, was killed on the Ife-Ilesa Expressway by a drunk driver in an accident in 2005, and the police at Atakumosa police station demanded a bribe from my family before they could release his corpse. I refused to pay the bribe and got my uncle’s corpse out. Another was when a team of policemen arrested me in the Ajegunle area of Osogbo, took me to the station for standing up to their impunity. On the way to the station, they told the eldest among them to lie that I slapped him. Little did they know that I was recording all our exchanges on the way to the station. The Osun Commissioner of Police threatened to sack them, and I had to beg on their behalf.
Now, age has tempered my intolerance of police impunity. Today, I often resist the temptation to escalate police misconduct on the pages of newspapers because I understand the internal mechanics of the force. The recklessness of a corporal can stain the career of a commissioner. One scandal can trigger a chain reaction. So, I often let things slide.
This was exactly what happened two years ago when officers made unprofessional demands of me at the Zone II Command Headquarters of the NPF, Onikan. I declined to comply but let it slide. This was after I went upstairs and complained to one of their bosses. I knew if I went to the press with the unprofessional actions of the junior officers, the embarrassment would travel upwards.
Thunder struck the same spot early again this year when I took a case of fraud to the notorious Zone II Zonal Command Headquarters, Onikan. It took PUNCH authorities to call the IG’s office to complain about the actions of the officers of the zone before the case could even be listed for investigation. The immediate past leadership of the zone appeared disturbingly indifferent, maybe deliberately so, for some reasons best known to it.
In a petition I wrote to the command on December 11, 2025, I complained about a suspected fraudster named Wole, who fraudulently obtained $8,800 from me during the process of helping him to buy a 2014 Toyota 4Runner from the US. The criminal suspect had lied to me that he was working with Dangote Refineries and repeatedly assured me repayment was guaranteed. This was in 2022. When I realised the suspect had no job, I personally helped him secure job opportunities, including two banking jobs and an accounting position with a major newspaper in the country.
The suspect turned all the jobs down, citing flimsy excuses.
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That was when it finally dawned on me that the suspect was playing games. So, I gave him an eight-month deadline, warning that I would initiate legal actions if he failed to pay me by November 2025. When he failed to pay, I wrote a petition to Zone II, titled “Re: Fraudulent Obtainment of $8,88,” which was received and signed by the zone on December 11, 2025. Wole wrote an undertaking at the zone that he would pay me the equivalent of N500,000 in dollars every month. He only paid for January, February and March. Efforts to get the zone to reach Wole had been futile as excuses tumbled down from Onikan, with the investigating police officer, Mrs Priscilla Erroim, telling me that the suspect was not picking up her calls, while he cruised the streets in the silver-coloured Toyota 4Runner with number plate LSD 388 HS.
I had thought that when an officer goes on transfer, the cases they were handling would be transferred to another officer. More so, the suspect included his residential address in the undertaking. This was not the case with Zone II. The case was just left in limbo. At the commencement of the case, I had a very rough time with Erroim, who is a Chief Superintendent of Police, and her subordinate named Francis. But we later resolved the conflict between us.
When I could not make a headway with Erroim and Francis, I called the Zonal PRO, Mr Gbenga Afolayan, a deputy superintendent of police, who said the officers handling the case before they were transferred should tell me who they had handled the case to. Thus, the case ran into a cul-de-sac. But an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr Ojugbele, distinguished himself by making genuine efforts to intervene.
I had thought that the recent shake-up within the force by the Inspector General was yielding results when I texted the new Head of Zone II, Assistant Inspector-General Moshood Jimoh, who acknowledged my text and promised that the zone would look into the case. I was pleasantly shocked! “Here’s an AIG responding to a random citizen personally, while the former AIG in charge of the zone wouldn’t respond,” I thought to myself. The Nigeria Police Force is working!
I acknowledged Jimoh’s prompt response in my article published in THE PUNCH on Friday, May 15, 2026, titled, “IG’s deployments and the rebirth of Zone II.” The article was published under another article, “Adeleke: Crime cannot dethrone Apetu and enthrone Oluwo.”
How wrong was I! Little did I know that what appeared to attract Jimoh to respond to my texts was not duty, but the allure of my foreign telephone number. Or, how do I explain that calls and texts to him after I introduced myself and made the publication were ignored? It left me wondering what manner of service and protection the common man gets from the police force if a columnist with the most widely read newspaper in the country could be tossed up and down by officers?
As it happened to me two years ago at Zone II, Onikan, so it has happened to me again this year: officers deliberately erect obstacles before citizens, preparing the ground for exploitation. I’m sure the shake-up initiated within the force by the IG is part of ongoing reforms aimed at re-energising the force. But for men and officers of Zone II, Onikan, this reform is like water bouncing off a rock. The IG must break that rock; otherwise, his efforts would go down the drain.
There is no nobler honour than for men and women to put their lives on the line for the safety of their country. This is why I spare no effort in commending the nation’s security agencies whenever they do right. But when corruption takes the place of conscience, then the walls of police institutions begin to rot from within.
Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com
Facebook: @Tunde Odesola
X: @Tunde_Odesola
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