By Daud Olatunji

It was a befitting homecoming reception organised   for, Dr. John Ade   Abolurin, an illustrious son of Ogun State, from Gbagura extraction   after ten years of   meritorious service to Nigeria   as the first substantive Commandant General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. Prominent people in the state, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the state Governor,   Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the Alake and paramount ruler of Egbaland,   Oba Dr. Micheal Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo among other who-is-who in the state paid their tribute to   the immediate-past Commandant General of the corps.

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo flanked by former Commandant General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Dr. John Ade Abolurin and others at a reception organised in honour of Abolurin in Ogun State.

According to the record, Abolurin   assumed the command of NSCDC as the first substantive Commandant-General in 2005, fourteen years after he joined the Corps in Abeokuta South local government as a cadet leader. He was officially pulled out of the service after his ten years tenure as the overall head of the corps in grand style with a lot of activities lined up for him in his homestead.

Few days after he relinquished the power as the Commandant General,   he was given a grand homecoming reception in a bid to recognise his service to his fatherland. A-week-long reception was held in his honour   during which he paid a welcome visit to the state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, followed by a visit to the palace of Agura of Gbagura,   Oba Dr. Halidu Laloko,where he hails from.

He later paid a visit to the Alake’s palace and got a royal blessing from Oba Gbadebo. The homecoming also featured visit to the state   command of   NSCDC and it’s college of security management where he inspected guard of honour and afterwards addressed officers and men of the NSCDC.

A civic reception was also held at June 12 Cultural Centre,   Kuto, Abeokuta where the manager of Ogun State Television,   Alhaji Ayinde Soaga presented life and stewardship of Dr. Abolurin to the people.

Week-longactivities

A public presentation of a   book written by the   ex-Commandant General was also featured. The week-long activities were rounded off with novelty match between police team and Nigerian navy secondary school,   Onikolobo, Abeokuta   , Jumah service,   parade and special drill and thanksgiving service held at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.

How he joined NSCDC: When Dr. John Ade   Abolurin decided to join Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in 1981, he did not know he was going to rescue the moribund and the   hitherto voluntary organisation which   had no attraction from the society. Then, in 1980s, those who joined   NSCDC which was being run as a voluntary organisation   were known as errand boys at social parties.

These corps begged to be the volunteer   security personnel at the social   parties while   their   gratification had been wraps of   cassava flour and yam flour with remnant meats and soups.

Joining the Corps, then,  was disgusting to many people. Those who courageously joined the Corps   were being called   various nicknames such as   ‘guguru defence’ among others. But, today, the Civil Defence which had got the Federal Government backing and had since become official security outfit for   the country is now a beautiful bride in the eyes of youths especially graduates.

Unlike in the past,   graduates are now   struggling     to be employed   either as an officer or recruit in the Corps   because they are now collecting fat salaries.

His achievements: Going by the records available to our correspondent,   Dr. Abolurin has successfully executed and completed   61 capital projects for the Corps within his ten years in office. While only four were on-going. The projects were sited in Abuja, Abeokuta, Imo , Benue and   Katsina states. In addition to his position as Commandant general of the NSCDC , Abolurin had been lecturing at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic studies,   Kuru, Jos, Plateau state since 2008 as a visiting lecturer in security studies.

Abolurin has also published 20 books;   four is under process and edited two amongst many. He has also published almost   150 articles in learned journals and many of his articles have also been accepted for publication. He was said to have presented almost two hundred and fifty, 250, papers in different conferences and seminars.

TRIBUTES

While giving his tribute to Abolurin,former President Olusegun Obasanjo   commended   him   for taking   the organisation to an enviable height. According to Obasanjo, bunkering and vandalism were the “most challenging problems” that confronted my eight -year tenure as Nigeria’s President. He said that in his bid to effectively tackle vandalism, he ensured that he institutionalised.  the NSCDC through an Act of Parliament.

Obasanjo said he had no regrets for doing that because the corp had turned out to be one of the government agencies that “I am very, very proud of. Some of the things that I had to confront during my tenure as President of Nigeria were pipeline vandalism, holdup, and stealing of crude oil.

“That stealing is what they call bunkering; there is nothing like bunkering, it is outright stealing. We used all the available agencies and resources; and your organisation as a voluntary organisation, unpaid, unremunerated, unrecognised and not institutionalised, was doing great job without being armed and without being equipped.

Patriotism andservice

“That meant the height of commitment, nationalism, patriotism and service to fatherland and service to humanity. “Of course, I didn’t hesitate to move ahead for an Act of Parliament to be able to organise you into what you are today,” he said. While paying his tribute to Abolurin, Governor Amosun described him as a pride of the state,   saying his performance has boosted the good image of the state. Amosun   commended Abolurin for his contributions to the issue of   vandalisation and oil bunkering in the country as the head of NSCDC.

According to Amosun,   the 10-year tenure as C G of the NSCDC   has repositioned the Corps and has put the State in a good stead. The Alake and Agura have   showered their royal blessings on the former Commandant General   of the corps while many people including officers who got employment through his reform expressed their happiness to him.

His   Message 

In his remarks at the occasion,   Abolurin   declared that the activities of the insurgency Boko Haram could only be subdued with help of the citizenry. He noted that the military and all the forces involved in fighting terrorism in the nation needed the assistance of the people to be able to tame the insurgents which had killed several thousands of innocent citizens.

He declared that though the military is making tremendous impact in the fight against terrorism in the country, assisting the military in terms of volunteering information about suspected members of the dreaded group to the appropriate agencies by people in the society is germane to the fight.

According to him, this would quicken the capture of the perpetrators of the heinous activities in the country by the military. “There are conventional wars, there are wars that are not conventional, terrorism is a new dimension in crime, insurgency is a new dimension in crime, so this requires strategy and counter-strategy operations.

“Many people have forgotten that when you have imported crime, it’s of different magnitude and dimension. They are only operating as if those who are in charge are not in charge . “For instance, it is related to vandalism. Today there is vandalism in Ikorodu, tomorrow they are Arepo and before you know what it is happening they are in Ogun Waterside. They have a way of making people think that those who are in charge are not, but is not true.

“If you look at the topography of Borno State, it’s of different areas. They use guerrilla tactics. By the time they know you are in the northern part, they want to operate in the southern part. “To the best of my knowledge, government is tackling it. The armed forces are doing their best.

“Citizens are also expected to play role, the military including civil defence are not magicians, these people live in certain areas, locality, local government, but what happen to the people they live in their houses. Why can’t they come out and givel those people in charge information at their disposal so that it would be possible for us to eradicate this in time?

“So if the citizens play their role by offering information, the insecurity in the nation would be easy for us to combat. “To me, the armed forces are in charge and in  control and are doing their best. They need our encouragement,” Abolurin said. The ex-NSCDC boss disclosed that the paramilitary formation was also involved in fighting the Boko Haram, saying that the officers of the agency are involved in different departments of forces confronting the insurgency.

“The contribution of the corps is not limited to intelligence gathering, we are also actively involved in assisting and supporting the armed forces. We’ve been to Adamawa, Yobe and most turbulent places with our officers actively involved in curbing those acts,” Abolurin said.