‘I won’t mind remaining on the road even when I become police commissioner’
When did you join the Nigeria Police Force and how has the journey been so far? I joined the Nigeria Police Force in 2001 as a recruit, I passed out in 2002 and I was posted to Zamfara State upon completion of my training in Sokoto Police Training School (PTS). From there I was posted to Kaura Namoda, then to the Zamfara State Police Command before I was transferred to Lagos in 2009 when I got married. When I got to Lagos, I was posted to the crime unit at Ketu division and later on to the traffic section in 2010 when the unit became short of personnel. Other traffic wardens are police too, though unlike us, you will see the difference in our uniform. So like I said, I am a general duty police officer assisting the traffic wardens. I have been doing this since 2010.
How was your first day on the road as a traffic warden?
It took me just one day to understand the basics of the job. On my first day at work, I stood and I observed another traffic warden controlling traffic, and somehow I felt discouraged. But eventually, I began to develop interest and fell I love with the job. I try to have fun while working and before I know it was already my closing time.
In 2011, I went for a course after which I was again posted to traffic duty. People are always happy with the way I do my job because any time I am on duty, you hardly find traffic gridlock. In September 2016, I was posted to Maryland here, and since I came here, I have been able to manage the traffic situation. I enjoy doing my work here because it is more spacious than my previous post. I have space to direct vehicles in a very interesting manner, and my superiors are all happy with my job. They even told me at some point that they wanted to promote me, but I didn’t put my mind on that though.
Are you not scared of being knocked down by motorists?
Never! Sometimes cars even climb my feet but nothing has happened to me. My belief is that whatever that is destined to happen to you will happen. If you are destined to die by accident, there is Inspector Jummai Musa is a General Duty police officer deployed to Anthony Division attached to Maryland in Lagos State as a traffic warden. Her exceptional attitude to work distinguishes her from other traffic wardens as she controls motorists passionately with smile, dance and different acrobatics to the admiration of members of the public including young and old. In this interview, she speaks on why she chose to do her work differently. Excerpt. nothing you can do about it. As a traffic head of traffic officers in Lagos state gave because it will fail you as you advance in warden, you must not forget yourself on me an award recently. age. the road, stand well, be focused, watchful and be on the alert. When you are working, don’t think about anything that can distract you. Although, before I go to work every day, I pray and ask God for his protection and wisdom so that in the end
His name will be glorified in my life.
How do you feel when you are doing your work?
I feel very excited because I am very much interested in what I am doing, my heart is in the Job, so that helps me find joy in what am doing. But when I ask a motorist to stop and he/she refuses, I feel very bad because I feel we are all old enough to differentiate what is right from what is wrong. So when they prove to be stubborn, I discipline them. However, but on a good day, I tell them ‘God bless you’ when they insult me. By and large, I love the way the road users have been cooperating with me. Many motorists, pedestrians and other passers-by stop by to say hello and appreciate the work I am doing but you know there must always be bad eggs whenever you are dealing with people.
I just enjoy what I am doing and I will even do more, if I am duly promoted. I will put extra effort in what I am doing, in fact I will put my all. I don’t mind remaining on the road even when I become a Commissioner of Police. Though the
You engage in a lot of movement of the body while doing your work, do you feel body pain?
It was really not easy the first time, as your legs and hands would be paining you, but now I have mastered the act, I no longer feel those pains like before and I don’t take pain relievers. Before I joined the police, I was into karate, so that helped deal with the pain. It’s really not easy working under the sun and rain and that is why I am always playing and dancing while on duty so as to take my mind off the scorching sun or rain as they case may be.
What are your schedules like?
We run shift, we have the morning and afternoon shifts. I do morning for seven days and afternoon for another seven days. Morning shift runs from 7am to 2pm while the afternoon shift is expected to run from 2pm to 9pm.
What are your challenges?
It’s really challenging working with different people with different orientation. Some people get drunk and still man the steering, when you stop them, they will not stop because they are under the influence of alcohol; some will talk to you anyhow, and even abuse you on why you stopped them. On my own part, I try as much as I can to make the gridlock clear as quickly as I can, yet, some people will complain.
Is age beginning to tell on you considering the nature of your job?
For now, it’s not affecting me. When you are not constantly carrying out your work, you tend to feel tired but if you are in the system, you hardly feel it. I am 43 years old. Some of my colleagues and even some LASTMA officials ask me what I take that gives me energy to work the way I do. Some even say, I am just wearing out myself. The truth remains that I don’t depend on drugs to work energetically
What does it take to be a good traffic warden?
As a good traffic warden, you must know how to hold the vehicles, how to stop vehicles, how to ensure that the vehicles don’t ram into each other, focus so that you can see very well. At my post, on about three occasions, fire almost burnt up some vehicles but thank God I was quick enough to spot the incident and then we used water since we don’t have fire extinguishers. After rendering such help, the driver of the vehicle tried to appreciate me financially but I rejected it because whatever help I rendered at my duty post, I do it for God without expecting anything in return.
Are there people who appreciate you for your work?
Yes, many people, including young school girls, tell me they want to join the Police force because they like the way they see me doing my work. I encourage them to go to school and read very hard so as to become senior police officers. Apart from that, I get gifts from different people. They always say ‘we like the way you work on the road’ and that is how they keep complaining anytime they don’t see me on the road. When I am on morning shift, motorists who ply the road in the afternoon complain of not seeing me while those who ply the road in the morning complain when I am on afternoon duty. Sometimes, when I go to eat in a restaurant, after eating and want to pay, I would be told someone had already paid for my food.
What is your advice to drivers?
They should listen to us and be patient so that everybody can be happy. They should always obey traffic rules and only then can they be my friends. Drivers should have it at the back of their mind at all time that ‘speed does nothing good but kills’.