[ICYMI] Junior officers protest as NCoS makes new uniform mandatory for promotion exam
Junior officers in the Nigerian Correctional Service are currently uneasy since the authorities have not given them the new uniform for the service at no cost, unlike their more senior counterparts.
The decision by the authorities to require the wearing of the new uniform in order for the concerned officers to participate in a promotion examination that is set for Monday, July 1, 2024, through Saturday, July 6, 2024, has also caused them to express concern.
Speaking on Thursday, a few impacted people pointed out that while rank and file employees in uniformed organisations receive free uniforms, "the phase-out reverse is the case in NCoS."
Speaking under anonymity out of concern for being singled out for abuse, one of the cops stated, “The NCoS changed its uniform in 2019, and since then, there has been a gradual phase-out of the old uniform. It started with the Controller-General to the Chief Superintendents of Corrections free according to plan, and it stopped.
"At this point, they are pressuring other officers to purchase the uniform on the open market, even though the necessary funds were set aside for the uniform and other accessories to be distributed for free.
"They are now enforcing this enforcement through the impending promotion interview."
"They always wait for promotion interview time to implement such draconian policies," remarked a second impacted officer.As stated, the abovementioned outfit is not being given away for free. Not all of our command stores across the country carry it. Officers are buying on the open market as a self-help tactic. This is not good.
The military personnel wear four distinct uniforms, another officer observed, bemoaning the fact that a uniform "costs N4,000 per trouser length in the market, and we are using three trouser lengths for one complete uniform." So, we need a minimum of N12,000 to buy the materials for one complete set of uniforms.”
According to his allegations, certain individuals obtained the new uniforms' materials "from the central store and gave them out to some others to sell for them."
The schedule for the third batch of the 2024 promotion exam for officers holding the levels of Inspector/Superintendent to Assistant Controller of Corrections was revealed by a circular that our reporter saw on June 24, 2024.
Dr. Ado Sale, Assistant Controller-General of Corrections (HR), signed the circular with reference number GEN.24/S.21/T2/VOL.IV/632.
The circular stated in paragraph 7 that “Eligible officers must appear in the new NCoS uniforms” in addition to the other requirements listed for officers eligible to participate in the promotion examination.
The NCoS spokesman, Abubakar Umar, responded to our correspondent by saying, "The actual attitude of the Service is that from Level 7 (junior officers) downwards, they are not only given free uniforms but also the accoutrements and the jungle boots, while the senior officers buy their uniforms.”
"I'm not aware of that stringent measure put in place," the NCoS official responded when asked if officers would be permitted to participate in the accreditation and promotion examinations if they showed up without wearing the new clothes. I have no comment on that.
"They (the officers) used to know that uniforms are distributed based on ranks, lower down the ladder. Saying something like, "They are now using that as cheap publicity and not appreciating the Controller-General's efforts," will be a bit of mischief because the screening and promotion exams are soon.
After enacting the NCoS Act 2019, the former president Muhammadu Buhari's administration renamed the Nigerian Prisons Service in 2022.
The new uniforms for NCoS staff members were unveiled along with the Information and Communications Technology command and control rooms. Former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola stated that the uniforms represented "the transition from a punitive prison system to a reformatory corrections system that is now the philosophy of the service."
