Pius N. Okeke

Pius Nwankwo Okeke (born 30 October 1941) is a Nigerian astronomer and educator who contributed immensely to African space research. He is known as the Father of Astronomy in Nigeria. Quotes The challenge started from recruitment. The recruitment was lopsided. People who have interest in the police job are not picked but may be, it was a handshake for others. Also, people who have nothing else to do often resign themselves to Police Force. So, people who are learned enough to comprehend issues about security are not recruited. There has also been some sectional recruitment in the sense that people who got into the Police Force came from one section of the country by way of keeping them occupied. The next is the training. If you look at the syllabus, it is defective; you don’t have something that will inculcate values to those recruited to represent the police. Some get in there just to run through the period of 18 months and quickly come out to start collecting money on the street and get going. The third challenge is funding. The police have suffered seriously from deficiency of funding. They are always considered last in budgetary provisions. Following insufficient funding is lack of motivation. Within the period I served, I travelled far and wide and found out that the Nigeria Police are the least paid in West Africa, in Africa and in the world, even up till now. Whatever improvement they have got is what I succeeded in doing. I battled with the Presidency then to improve their welfare. Any time we had a meeting, I kept on stressing on the need for improved welfare package for police officers. It was very disgraceful. From 2001 to 2004, the take-home pay of a police officer, constables, inspectors, was about N9,000. So, I made so much noise about it that each time we had a meeting, the President referred to me as “Mr. Welfare Police.” Former President Olusegun Obasanjo tried to do something about it before leaving office, but they got the increment during the time of the late Musa Yar’Adua. Invariably, many of them die in the cause of their work. What is paid to the next of kin of a police officer is not enough to take the body to the home. That was why as their last resort, they started tinkering with the Police Trust Fund. It is as bad as that. External links Category:Astronomers from Nigeria Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Physicists from Nigeria