User:Okay Uzoma/Ogbonna O. Onovo

Ogbonna Okechukwu Onovo (born February 7, 1953) is a Nigerian law enforcement officer and specialist detective, who rose through the ranks of the officer cadre to become the 14th indigenous Inspector-General of Police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Education and Professional Training:

An indigene of Enugu State, Nigeria and a son of a policeman, Onovo received his secondary school education at Izzi Boys High School, Abakaliki and Mary Knoll College, Ogoja (both in Nigeria) between 1965 and 1972. Upon the successful completion of his high school education, he proceeded to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in the same year, from where he graduated in 1976 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with International Relations as his area of specialization. He obtained his initial law enforcement training by completing the Cadet ASPs course at the Nigerian Police Training School, Kaduna. As he, subsequently, progressed in his law enforcement career, he also completed a Detective Course; Junior Command Course; Middle Management Course; and a Senior Management Course under the auspices of the Nigerian Police Force. He also further attended the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, Nasarawa State, Nigeria for the NIPSS Course No. 25; the Institute of Humanitarian Law, San Remo, Italy for an International Humanitarian Law Program ; as well as several other courses in Criminal Investigations.

Career:

Onovo’s professional odyssey in the field of law enforcement commenced on August 1, 1977 with an enlistment into the officer cadre of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) at the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). Subsequently, between 1978 and 1984, he was deployed to Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, Nigeria, where he served the police force in various leadership capacities including Divisional Crime Officer, Administrative Officer, Okrika Police Station; as well as Unit Commander, Second-in-Command to Squadron Commander, and substantive Squadron Commander of the Police Mobile Force in this zone. In the course of this service period, he was respectively promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in January 1981 and to the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) in October 1984, prior to his redeployment to Owerri, Imo State capital. Between 1984 and 1986, Onovo sequentially served as Divisional Crime Officer and Commander of Surveillance in Owerri before he was promoted to the rank of Chief Superintendent of Police and transferred to Lagos to assume the post of Staff Officer in the Force Secretary’s Office in June 1987. In 1989, Onovo was elevated to the position of Assistant Force Secretary in the Force Headquarters, Lagos, and was subsequently bestowed with a promotion to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police in March 1990. In 1992, he was posted to Edo State Police Command to serve as a Deputy State Police Commissioner (Second-in-Command) and, in 1994, to Adamawa State Police Command to serve in the same role until his elevation to the substantive rank of Commissioner of Police (CP) in April 1997. As a Commissioner of Police, he headed the Ogun State Police Command until December 1998, when the federal government of Nigeria appointed him the Chairman/CEO of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

From the NDLEA, Onovo was deployed to the Police Academy in Kano as Commandant in May, 2000, and he served in this position until his subsequent promotion to the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in May, 2001. As an AIG, he headed the Research and Planning Department at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, and also served as Force Secretary until February 2002. Following another upgrade to the rank of Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) in March, 2002, Onovo was initially designated the Second-in-Command to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in the Force headquarters. However, between 2003 and 2006, another official reassignment of tasks placed him in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department, from which he was subsequently designated the DIG in charge of Administration in November 2006. Onovo remained in this capacity until he responded to the presidential summons of Umar Musa Yar’Adua to succeed Sir (Dr.) Mike Okiro as Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police on July 24, 2009, following Okiro’s retirement. He assumed duty in an acting capacity until his appointment was unanimously confirmed as substantive by the Nigerian Police Council on August 5, 2009, officially crowning him the 14th indigenous Inspector-General of Police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Significant Accomplishments:

As Nigeria’s ‘Drug Tsar,’ Onovo’s efforts in combating international drug trafficking prompted the U. S. Department of State’s 2000 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), issued on March 1, 2001, to disclose that – “Nigeria did take a significant step in November of 2000 by transferring into U.S. custody four fugitives wanted on serious narcotics and narcotics-related charges, including two who are on the President’s List of Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.” (Retrieved from - http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2000/893.htm)

Honors and Awards:

In the course of his career years, Onovo was honored with various national and international awards, service medals, decorations, special citations, as well as traditional chieftaincy titles from his native community and other communities. These include –

• National Honors

He was bestowed with the honor of “Nigerian Security Watch Award” for being “an outstanding law enforcement administrator” (2007); a national decoration of “Officer of the Order of the Niger” (O.O.N.) from the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2006); a “Letter of Commendation” from the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for his “outstanding performances” (2006); a “Distinguished Alumnus Award” from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (2002); and a “Commandant’s Leadership Award” from the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies - Course 25.

• International Honors

He also bagged a “Special Commendation Award” from the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) “for his meritorious contributions to the war against drugs” (2000); a “Letter of Commendation” from Her Majesty’s Customs Services, United Kingdom of Great Britain “for his tremendous contributions to anti-narcotic smuggling” (2000); a “Letter of Commendation” from the Yorkshire Constabulary, Leicester, United Kingdom of Great Britain “for his role in the arrest and prosecution of a fugitive drug baron for murder” (2000); and a “Spirit of Detroit” Medallion Award from Mayor Andy Coleman of Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. (1992).

Professional Memberships/Extracurricular Activities:

Onovo remains focused and engrossed in his career path by maintaining full memberships of a number of reputable professional organizations including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). In addition, since 1999, he has consistently participated in all Interpol General Assembly annual conferences, and had previously attended the United Nations Congresses on Crime respectively held in Vienna, Austria in 2000 and Bangkok, Thailand in 2004. In 2006, he served on a nine-member panel appointed to review the United Nations Protocol on Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna; and, for three consecutive years from 2004 to 2006, he reserved the privilege to be the Chairman of the Technical Committee of West African Police Chiefs Organization (WAPCO).

Published Materials:

Onovo is credited with over eight publications and, since 1990, has variously and numerously delivered conference papers on a broad spectrum of law enforcement and public safety issues.

Philanthropy:

Onovo has also made tremendous personal sacrifices and substantial contributions to the socio-economic and medical welfare of humanity. Among other undertakings, his philanthropic deeds include his solely building, equipping, staffing, and maintaining a full-service medical facility designed to provide free medical care to the underprivileged and underserved indigenes of his home community.

Hobbies/Interests/Family:

Among Onovo’s favorite pastimes are reading; watching football and soccer games; listening to a variety of good music, and spending quality time with his nuclear family. Additionally, he devotes some of his leisure to the voluntary activities of his church fellowship, as well as to the recreational activities of the police community. Onovo is married to former Miss Mary Ede and their marital union blossomed over the years with the blessing of two children (a son and a daughter).

Reference: Retrieved from - http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2000/893.htm