Joblessness made me join police –Retired ASP, Ajisafe

I came from a poor background; my father was a bicycle repairer, and my mother was a petty trader. When I was in school, I wasn’t even privileged to go further in my education. I came down from Ikole-Ekiti to Lagos to work as a factory worker. I was later laid off, and that was what prompted me to become a policeman.I attended St. Saviors African Primary School, now known as our Savior Primary School, between 1963 and 1970. I attended St. Michael Anglican Modern School from 1971 to 1972; then I went to Egbe-Oba High School from 1973 to 1977, all in Ikole-Ekiti. When I finished my secondary school I went to work as an apprentice, then I came down to Lagos and worked with Bata Nigeria Limited.You said it was after you were laid off as a factory worker that you joined the police. Why was police the option for you then; was it something you’ve always loved?Not at all, it was joblessness that made me join the Force. I was working at Bata Nigeria Limited in Ojota, Lagos, but we were laid off from the job in December 1980; by January 1980, I became jobless. One day I went to the bank to withdraw the little money I had when I met a classmate, Samson Akinyemi, who worked in Wema Bank Ikeja branch back then. He was a policeman who was guarding the bank. We had a discussion and I told him that I had just been laid off from my place of work. He asked me to come and join the Police Force. I listened to him, I went for recruitment and I was enlisted on February 1, 1981.In July 1981, I was posted to Ondo State and later to D Division Oke-Aro Akure. I was there till 1982 when I joined the Mobile Police Force in Lagos. From Mobile Police Force, I was posted to the Lagos State Command again in 1985. And that was when I started working at main police stations and I started getting promotions until I got to the rank of an Inspector. I became an Inspector after 19 years in the Force. Joining the force wasn’t as a result of passion; it was because of my situation. When you are jobless and someone offers you a job, once you are fit and capable of doing the job, you have no option but to do it. The day I went to the bank, I had gone to withdraw a sum of N20 from the little money I had saved; if I hadn’t joined the Force, I would have ended up withdrawing everything and be left with nothing.