By Adewole Kehinde
“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work gains success. Greatness will come.” — Dwayne Johnson
On Thursday, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, declared open a groundbreaking training programme for operatives manning the Nigeria Police Force Criminal Database Systems across zonal, divisional, and state levels of the country.
This initiative is a turning point in the history of Nigerian policing, and it deserves our collective commendation.
For too long, Nigerian policing has been constrained by weak records, scattered files, and fragmented intelligence. Investigations often relied on memory, anecdotal evidence, or poorly kept archives.
With operatives now empowered to man the Nigeria Police Force Criminal Database Systems, a new dawn has arrived, one where every detail matters, and no criminal can simply vanish into bureaucratic shadows.
IGP Egbetokun was emphatic when he declared that this initiative signals a decisive shift from outdated, reactive policing models to a modern, intelligence-driven system rooted in data, memory, and predictive analysis.
In his words: “Without data, there is no memory. Without memory, there is no justice. But with data, there is no hiding place for criminals.” These words capture the heartbeat of the reform, the acknowledgement that justice itself begins with accurate records.
There is no doubt that the Criminal Database System is the core of intelligence-led policing. It is designed to track repeat offenders across jurisdictions, detect crime patterns, share intelligence seamlessly, and support prosecutions with credible evidence.
With this infrastructure in place, Nigerian policing is no longer stumbling in the dark; it is now guided by a system that sees, remembers, and predicts.
The professionalism, discipline, and integrity that IGP Egbetokun has consistently embodied are now being extended to operatives manning these systems. They are stepping into roles of critical national importance.
Their work will determine how justice is served, how trust is built, and how the Nigeria Police Force repositions itself as a credible, modern institution.
We must applaud the IGP for building a system where every arrest is recorded, every case is documented, and every officer is accountable. No case will vanish into forgotten files. This is not just reform; it is a cultural shift in law enforcement.
When citizens know that their complaints are properly recorded, when they see consistency and follow-through in investigations, their confidence in the Police grows. Trust begins with record-keeping, and that is precisely where IGP Egbetokun is laying the foundation.
Equally important, this initiative is positioning Nigeria within the global policing community. Through integration with INTERPOL, the African Union Border Programme, and UNODC frameworks in West Africa, the Nigeria Police Force is ensuring that offenders in Nigeria will no longer find sanctuary abroad. Crime has gone global, and so must policing.
There is no doubt that under the leadership of IGP Egbetokun and his management team, the Nigeria Police Force can build a service that is modern, trusted by Nigerians, and respected across the world.
The Criminal Database System is not just a tool; it is the memory of justice, the foundation of trust, and the future of Nigerian policing.
Adewole Kehinde is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja. 08166240846. @kennyadewole @kennyadewole@gmail.com
