Business
‘I have the Best husband in the world, He is my Engine room’ – Zonal PPRO, Dolapo Badmus
Public Relations Officer, responds to questions on pertinent issues regarding her profession. She also shares her passion for the job, humanity and she tells us what people might not know about her when not in uniform. She speaks to the Editor, FOLORUNSHO HAMSAT, in this interview conducted Excerpt…
In law enforcement, women seem to have advanced far beyond the days they were considered as matrons. How would you describe the transformation?
That’s a very funny question, though you forgot to also put “teachers” . Well, you will agree with me that the transformation is not only in law enforcement unit alone, we now have female doctors, engineers etc. and they are doing well. The only reason why that of law enforcement seems spectacular is because it’s a profession generally believed to be male dominated and it’s considered a duty basically for men but I will want to say that the transformation we are witnessing today is because some women I considered “courageous” decided to explore the “world” of men.
Was it your childhood dream to be in the police?
Well, I never thought of being a police officer while I was growing up. I always think I will grow up to be a medical doctor, saving lives and be a care giver but as faith will have it, I became a police officer still caring and saving lives because policing is all about protecting lives, ensuring there is no oppression.
Being a woman in law enforcement is not easy. It remains a predominantly male profession that does not easily accept them because it is believed that women possess inherent physical and emotional weaknesses. But you are very lucky to find yourself at the top and doing well too. How did it happen in your career, I mean the success?
Like I said earlier on the profession, it is believed to be and I will agree is predominantly male profession and for a woman to attain the height I am today, first I will say it could only be God, He gave me the physical strength needed, at times, I ask myself “Dolapo from where are you getting this strength?” And the other thing is basically while we were in Academy undergoing training, part of the things we were taught and I ensured it stuck to my brain was “A police officer should never be controlled by emotion” for you to be successful in this job, you won’t let emotions override you rather you should be compassionate. If you allow emotion, then you are bound to fail, at times you arrest a suspect and then he starts feigning ignorance up to the extent of crying and wailing and if you are not careful, you might want to believe that someone crying and wailing like this should be ignorant, at this point emotions sets in and you might want to set the suspect free which invariably might not be healthy for the society but when you are compassionate, you will only treat the suspect with caution, ensuring his rights are respected while you carry on your investigation with utmost sense of professionalism. At the end, you might discover evidences and exhibits that show he’s even the kingpin in the crime. If you have allowed emotion to override you, then you have failed. Let me quickly add that in any chosen career not only the police, passion and dedication are the keys. I want to believe my passion for the job backed with great sense of dedication has helped me this far.
We’ve interacted with some policewomen and we found out that the police academies are also places where female recruits learn a lot; from trainers allegedly being hard on them, to alleged sexual harassment, to having to deal with female competitors, and so on. Would you like to honestly share your experience at the academy level?
Ok. Now, let me tell you the difference when you talk about police academies that is where senior cadres are trained, we call those ones CADET while recruits go to police colleges which is for lower cadres. We have only one academy in the whole federation while we have like five or six colleges in Nigeria. So tell me how do you want to harass a senior cadre officer sexually? Someone that has been to the university? That knows her left from her right? I can’t see that happen in Academy? Never! Meanwhile, in the college which is for the recruits, the trainers know that these are low cadre officers which you should not unduly take advantage of, the force does not permit it, because the system understands they are naïve, so if you are caught taking advantage of them, it’s outright dismissal so who wants to take such risk? Such things do not occur because there is even a rule that if You go through such and didn’t report, you are even liable.
Concerning the issue of trainers being hard on trainees, it’s normal, you don’t expect them to be too familiar with us. In fact, most of the ones that trained us are our juniors but you need to see how we fear them but after passing out parade, they were the first set to pay us compliment but up till today, most of us still call them oga. So it’s not a big deal for instructors to be perceived as tough people. Let me also state here that there is no competition in life, the world is full of various tracks where each individual runs his/her race. I don’t want to be anyone else. The farthest I could go is to choose who I want to emulate or seek strength from and that is permitted; it’s called “role model “. Academy to me was full of ups and down, low moments and high points but it’s a training ground, it toughens me. My experience at Academy makes me know that I can be responsible for other people’s misdeeds which awakens the team spirit in me, you watch your team mates back but funny enough when you jointly ask for a favour, they will tell you there is no “we” in police; there and then you get confused but what I deduced from that is when you ask as a group, it becomes sort of revolution and revolution is felony. The force wants to guide against that but they encourage team work because you can only succeed as a team not individually.
Women solve problems with brains rather than with muscles, as they say. What are the qualities that you think won you the hearts of your equals and superiors’ equals?
This is me, I’m my normal self, I don’t think there is anything extra ordinary about me. But I think my superiors will be in the best position to answer the question but like I told you earlier, I love my job, I do it with passion and I’m dedicated to it. So if that is what makes me win their hearts, I won’t know.
What are your fears about the job you do?
Sincerely, there is no fear, maybe it’s because I believe in life there is nothing to be afraid off. There are three things that govern life; your trust in God, hardwork and destiny. I stand on this tripod and with that, no shaking.
Did it ever get to a point that you felt like quitting?
I agree there were low moments but that does not mean I should quit, have you heard about the phrase “there is light at the end of a tunnel”? Those low moments represent the tunnel period, so when I know there is light at the end, why should I quit? Winners don’t quit. There is a goal I set my eyes on and if I’m not there yet, why should I get discouraged?
Please, share your successes in your brief tenure as Divisional Police Officer of Isokoko?
Yes, the success recorded at Isokoko is as a result of embracing the concept of community policing. I tag it “policing of the people by the people and for the people” did you get that? The communities are their own police, they see us as partners in progress, we do periodical meeting, we decide policing priorities for them, you know they know each other in the community, so when they see a stranger, they place a tab and even challenge him or her when they are not comfortable with such person and when there are difficulties, they call on police and spontaneously we react and by that, the area remains peaceful. Agege people are fantastic; they even have what we call Voluntary Policing Sector. So that is their own native police, they wake up at night to do neighbourhood watch and patrol in conjunction with police so whenever any stranger is accosted, they easily recognize if such person is their own or not? About the police angle, I ensure our personnel in that division imbibe the spirit of community policing although most policemen do not like the idea of community policing because it’s not lucrative (you know what I mean?) Because under community policing, we ensure bail is totally free, because we have synergy with members of the public and on the other hand, there is reduction in crime because everyone in the community has no choice than to behave responsibly.
In other words, I also operate open door policies, I have my phone number written everywhere so the community members have direct access to the DPO and can report conduct of my personnel to me and because the policemen know that members of the public have access to me, they behave as expected. Above it all, I think it’s the grace of God that helped me because basically it’s tough being a DPO. From patrol to traffic duties, operations day and night and then administrative duties.
Tell us about some of the situations that you have encountered in which being a policewoman helped out?
Hmnnnnn! I don’t think I have any of such situations! But I can just say being a uniformed personnel has made me to rescue family and friends from any form of oppression in the hand of security personnel.
Please, describe in simple terms Dolapo Badmos, the policewoman and Dolapo Badmos the noncombatant lady.
(Smiles) Well, I don’t know how you want to take away non-combatant from a force personnel, once a combatant is always a combatant( laughs) but if your question means who am I away from uniform, I will tell you that I’m a fun loving go-go type, a down to earth chic (laughing) Dolapo hates oppression and cheating. God first in anything I do. I’m a good wife and wonderful mum. My son calls me yummy mummy (laughter)
Please, share the experiences of being a DPO and being a PPRO.
It’s basically two different assignments; as a DPO you are an operational personnel but as a PPRO, you are viewed as administrative personnel. But I must confess both are taxing.
What’s your definition of success and failure?
Well, in my own opinion, success is having fulfillment and making marks/impact in whatever you do while Failure means when you are static, refusing to try your hand on anything.
As a top cop, how would you define the link between knowing God and enforcing law?
Knowing God is the stamp you need to enforce law. To enforce law, you need to know God to be above board or else you will misbehave. Knowing God will make you have what is called conscience. If your conscience is dead, you can’t be an upright law enforcer. So you can’t separate the two
How do you find time for leisure, given your tight schedules and the job at home as wife and mother?
It is not easy I must say but with God, I’ve been pulling through. I do steal time for leisure though. You know, basically police job is for 24 hours, so you need to steal time to have fun. As for home front, thank God for my husband, he’s been supportive and understanding. He urges me on, I have the best husband in the world. I can shout it from the mountain top, and I thank God for the day I decided to marry him. He’s my engine room. He makes my life worth living. Above all, it’s been God.
NNPCL and Corruption’s Final Throes
By Pius Olasanmi
In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, when Nigerians were still capable of being outraged, when Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries was a buzzword that still held some mysticism to bamboozle citizens, during a conversation, a certain man said something profound. The man said, “As a businessman, if I were the owner of these refineries, knowing that they are three decades old, I would take the last money I have, hire bulldozers, raze them to the ground, and obtain loans to build new ones.”
When we pressed him further on why he would engage in such waste, he explained that repairing the refineries is the real waste. He explained that even if the TAM were honestly carried out, a thirty-year-old refinery would never compete favourably with a new one that would integrate contemporary technology. Operating at its best, such a refinery would never be comparatively more efficient. It is therefore pointless to have spent another one naira on the refineries at that point.
A few months later, I had a conversation with a then-lawmaker on an entirely different matter. I mentioned that the National Assembly has failed by not crafting legislation that would criminalise and punish public office holders who foist wrong decisions on the country. The logic: a public office holder need not steal to be punished, wrong decisions should attract penalties for an office holder who opts for the worst of all options when there are less injurious ones.
These established premises speak to the ongoing nauseating efforts at revisionism by those who wrecked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its previous iteration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Notably, this campaign to rewrite history is traceable to Engineer Mele Kolo Kyari, the disgraced immediate past Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL and his hirelings. They have suffocated the news and the public opinion space with even more lies than they spun while in office.
The Saint Kyari campaign is anchored on convincing Nigerians that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries were fully functional when he was booted out of office. So brazen is the campaign that one of its talking heads challenged the group chief executive officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, to “inform Nigerians categorically what happened to the functioning refineries he inherited from his predecessor, Engr. Mele Kyari.” The effrontery.
We have not forgotten so soon the charade that followed the baffling claim that Nigeria has spent $2.8 billion on the repair of the refineries, while they are not churning out even a single litre of refined product among them. Saint Kyari and his goons played all manner of tricks, all of which embarrassed President Bola Tinubu, who had counted on ticking off the return to productivity of the refineries as part of his achievements, only to realise that he was deceived into celebrating phantoms. Tragic.
Lest we forget, 200 trucks were arranged as props in a well-directed video clip to celebrate the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery. The disappointment. Nigerians were to learn from several reports that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing and was instead using old, stored petroleum products to load trucks. Worse still, the Kyari crew was passing off sanction-tainted Russian-sourced crude oil refined in Malta as locally refined products. More insult was piled on the assault on our collective sensibility with the lies that the Port Harcourt Refinery exported semi-finished products. Brazen.
Meanwhile, Kyari and his hirelings called those who pointed out or protested these glaring scams all manner of names. They hid behind industry technicalities and jargon to create the impression that those of us who knew Nigerians were being robbed did not understand what we were saying. The point remains that a $2.8 billion investment can potentially build a refinery with a capacity of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Of course, the actual capacity of such a refinery will depend on various factors, including the complexity of the refinery, the technology used, and the location. That is the amount that Kyari’s regime at the NNPCL took and did not give Nigerians refined products.
Fast forward to Kyari’s sack and the appointment of Engineer Bayo Ojulari, who has demonstrated that things can indeed be done differently. Kyari’s exit was expectedly followed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) going after him and his associates. The extent of the theft is better understood against the backdrop of N80 billion being found in the bank account of one of his associates. They went on the run.
Perhaps because the EFCC was biding its time on securing international warrants for the arrests of these characters on the lam, they have become emboldened. They have decided to fight back and rewrite the story of their participation in the greatest fraud against Nigerians. Engineer Ojulari’s renewed mindset, which is entrenching a semblance of the transparency Nigerians demand, became their natural target. The demons that once roamed around the corporation came out with malevolence. They started spinning stories of corruption to tarnish the incumbent who refused to hide their crimes. The objective: bring Ojulari down. But alas, he is winning the war as it stands.
His innocence is proven, and it is glaring that those who want him out are mere charlatans who can no longer ply their corrupt wares because of the impact of the new reforms. Corruption in the NNPCL is in its final throes. The fake news being unleashed against the incumbent leadership is akin to corruption’s last kicks as reforms in the sector strangulate it and its practitioners. The reforms must take place in the NNPCL, whether the industry demons like it or not.
As a parting shot, Kyari and his associates would do well to prepare their defence. In addition to accounting for the $2.8 billion they laundered in the name of repairing the moribund refineries, they must also answer for the poor decision to fix that which is irretrievably broken. Awarding contracts for Turn Around Maintenance of 59-year-old refineries that a right-thinking person had suggested should be demolished almost twenty years ago, when they were only 30 years old, is criminal. Trying to deceive Nigerians that the fake repairs worked is treason.
Olasanmi is a public affairs analyst writing from Lagos.
GRANDIS 5STAR LUXURY APARTMENT & SUITES SET TO REDEFINE LIVING IN VICTORIA ISLAND
Set to Rise elegantly against the Lagos skyline, is the Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites. According to Adejuwon Ademola, The General Manager of the Development company, it is more than just a residential building
“it’s a lifestyle statement. Standing 17 floors high in the heart of Victoria Island, this revolutionary masterpiece of modern architecture will offer a panoramic 360° view of Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi, transforming every apartment into an exclusive penthouse experience for the world’s most discerning elite.”
Developed by Dumarco Construction Limited, a globally acclaimed company with decades of delivering complex, high-value projects in the highly regulated petroleum, oil, and gas industries, Grandis 5Star brings unmatched international safety standards, uncompromising quality, and timeless elegance into Nigeria’s luxury property market.
> “When you live in Grandis, you’re not just buying a home—you’re investing in peace of mind, world-class safety, and an effortless luxury experience that will remain pristine for decades,” says Adejuwon A. Ademola, General Manager of Dumarco Construction Limited.
The Gold Standard in Safety and Quality
Dumarco’s roots in the oil and gas sector mean the company operates to some of the strictest safety protocols in the world. Every stage—from conceptualization, design, construction, to long-term maintenance—follows internationally accepted procedures and quality assurance measures. Cutting corners is simply not in Dumarco’s vocabulary.
> “In the oil and gas industry, there’s no room for compromise. We’ve brought that same discipline and zero-tolerance for mediocrity into property development,” says Ademola. “That’s why Grandis will be one of the safest and most enduring residential developments in Nigeria.”
To ensure transparency and prevent (project complacency), Dumarco deliberately separates the developer, contractor, and consultant roles, engaging only the most competent professionals in each respective field. Dumarco’s project team includes globally recognized contractors such as Julius Berger, Cappa & D’Alberto, and Elalan, Migliore Construczione & Tecniche (MC&T) and their partners VENCO IMTIAZ CONTRACTING COMPANY (VICC) based in Dubai, UAE, Business Contracting Limited, alongside leading consultants like Morgan Omanitan & Abe, LAMBERT, and James Cubitt.
Grandis – Investments, appreciation, returns and profitability
Our selection process for the location of the project alone was pains-taking and completely thorough scientific process. Top professional companies were employed to conduct a scientific data acquisition and analytical survey of the entire Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Eko Atlantic before a project site is selected. Analyzing and acquiring areas developmental charts and trends, studying and gathering historical and present sale prices, rental charge and occupancy rates over a 50 year period from every individual street before the selection of the location of any of our developments especially true for the Grandis Project
He adds,
“Our clients and residents can be rest assured that the location of Grandis has been scientifically proven through all existing data to provide our clients with a 100% occupancy rate, highest developmental location, highest rental income and investment returns. ”
The Grandis Experience
Located minutes away from international corporate headquarters, embassies, and landmarks such as Eko Hotel, Radisson Blu, and the Radisson Red, Grandis offers unmatched convenience for professionals, diplomats, and high-net-worth individuals. Every residence is designed for both indulgence and efficiency, with high-grade finishes, smart-home systems, and private amenities that ensure seamless living.
From sunrise over the Atlantic to the glittering Lagos night skyline, residents will enjoy uninterrupted luxury, supported by discreet and highly trained staff, advanced security systems, and a design that prioritizes comfort and privacy.
> “We designed Grandis for people who want everything—security, elegance, convenience, and the assurance that their home will look as spectacular in 20 years as it does on day one,” Ademola notes.
A Legacy That Lasts
With its combination of visionary architecture, peerless safety, and meticulous maintenance planning, Grandis is built to remain iconic for generations. Thanks to Dumarco’s meticulous approach, the building’s service charges are expected to remain low while its value and appeal continue to appreciate over time.
In a market often marred by shortcuts and substandard practices, Mr Ademola says
Grandis stands as a beacon of what luxury living should be—safe, spectacular, and built to last.
“Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites — Where safety meets sophistication, and every detail is designed for a life well-lived.”
He added
Website -www.dumarcoltd.com
Project website – www.26idowutaylor.com
Email [email protected]
Tel / WhatsApp +234 9077777883
GM – Adejuwon A. Ademola
celebrity radar - gossips
Nationwide Talent, One Broadcaster: Tinubu Picks Pedro, Bello, Din, Mohammed to Lead NTA
Tinubu Overhauls NTA Leadership: Media Powerhouse Rotimi Pedro Takes Helm as DG
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced a major shake-up at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), appointing renowned media executive Rotimi Richard Pedro as the new Director-General in a move widely seen as a bold step toward modernising the state broadcaster.
Pedro, a Lagos native, brings nearly 30 years of expertise in broadcasting, sports rights, and marketing communications across Africa, the UK, and the Middle East. A trained entertainment and intellectual property lawyer, he also holds an MSc in Investment Management and Finance from City University Business School, London.
In 1995, Pedro founded Optima Sports Management International (OSMI), which rose to become one of Africa’s leading sports content providers—distributing premium events such as the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup, and CAF competitions to audiences in over 40 countries.
His career highlights include top roles at Bloomberg Television Africa and Rapid Blue Format, as well as advisory work for FIFA, UEFA, Fremantle Media, and the African Union of Broadcasters (AUB). At the AUB, he was instrumental in securing exclusive pan-African free-to-air media rights for all CAF competitions.
Alongside Pedro’s appointment, Tinubu named Karimah Bello from Katsina State as Executive Director of Marketing, Stella Din from Plateau State as Executive Director of News, and Sophia Issa Mohammed from Adamawa State as Managing Director of NTA Enterprises Limited.
Industry insiders credit Pedro with building commercially viable broadcast platforms, driving sponsorship growth, and delivering world-class content to African audiences. His appointment marks one of the most significant leadership changes at NTA in years—signalling the government’s intent to strengthen the broadcaster’s competitiveness in a fast-evolving media landscape.
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