Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Bishop Mathew Kukah, has advised Nigerians to use positions of power and authority to impact and add value to humanity.
Mr Kukah gave the advice on Friday in Abuja at the 2nd Annual Impact and Legacy Lecture of the late Founder of Cleen Foundation, Innocent Chukwuma.
The foundation is known for promoting public safety, security and accessible justice through the strategies of empirical research, legislative advocacy and publications.
Mr Kukah who spoke on “Power of one: Dreams and nightmares,” said that it was important to strive to change negative narratives, lead impactful lives and leave lasting positive legacies.
He said, “I begin this lecture by telling you about people like Pope John Paul, Malala Yousafzai, Martin Luther King and a host of others who have used powers positively. I used this to illustrate the choices that people have made in life and how they have used powers in their hands, either for good or bad. The late Innocent took up a passionate commitment and we must continue to push the frontiers that brought greatness to Nigeria.’’
The bishop said that memorials were only for those who make impacts.
He urged everyone with ideas on curbing crimes and enhancing policing to strive to make an impact irrespective of age and location for the betterment of the country.
In his contribution, Chairman, Police Service Commission, Solomon Arase, said the whole idea of community and intelligence policing could be attributed to the efforts of the late Chukwuma.
According to him, it was through Chukwuma’s efforts that the trends and patterns of crime and its terminology were introduced into Nigeria’s policing vocabulary.
“Intelligence policing in Nigeria can be attributed to the late Innocent Chukwuma because most people may not know about this and how this whole thing came about. The efforts of this man brought people from the metropolitan police and conveyed about 500 police officers from Nigeria to study what they were doing in the United States.
“His efforts and those of Prof Etannibi Alemika, Kemi and the MacArthur Foundation also brought into Nigeria one of the best police officers in the world who started talking about community partnership in deepening internal security management. The man Innocent Chukwuma has left things that are imperishable and should be sustained,” he said.
A former minister of solid minerals, Obi Ezekwesili, representatives of Ford Foundation, civil liberty organisation, YIAGA Africa and others at the event commended the convergence of great minds to foster continued development in policing.
(NAN)