The Chairman, Police Service Commission, Dr Solomon Arase, has said Nigeria needs the right police personnel with “mental mobility and fertile minds” to relate effectively with the public.

This is contained in a statement to journalists by the Head of Press and Public Relations of PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to Mr Ani, Mr Arase spoke when he paid a courtesy visit to the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede.

Mr Arase said the focus of discussion during the visit was on the process of engaging JAMB to conduct computer-based tests for applicants seeking employment into constable cadres of the Nigeria Police.

He said the police force he joined 42 years ago was knowledge-based with officers who could relate with the public and engender love and confidence.

The PSC boss said there was a need for a paradigm shift in the recruitment of Nigerian youths into the police.

“If the commission can get 50 per cent highflyers with this recruitment, the progression to a better and effective police service would have started. Mentally mobile policemen will have self-confidence and are capable of discharging their duties creditably,” Mr Arase said.

According to him, going forward, the JAMB computer-based tests will be done first before the screening exercises to weed out those with questionable certificates.

In his remark, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, commended Mr Arase for the visit and pledged to support the commission in its project to change the narrative of the Nigeria Police for good.

He urged the PSC boss to take note of the peculiarities of the country’s diverse population and get the best for every state and zone in the recruitment process.

(NAN)