Meet Usman Alkali Baba: An acting IGP ready to ‘leave a legacy of policing with a human face’

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday announced Usman Alkali Baba as the new acting Inspector General of Police. 

He took over the position from Mohammed Adamu whose tenure ended in February but was extended by Mr Buhari on February 4. 

Mr Adamu tenure extension generated controversy and from far away UK, the president sacked him today.  

Born on March 1, 1963 in Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State, Mr Baba enlisted in the Nigeria Police on March 15, 1988 and holds a Teachers’ Grade II Certificate from Teachers College, Potiskum.

He has a Bachelor of Arts (ED) degree in Political Science from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from Bayero University, Kano.

Before now, he had served as Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Yola, Gombe, Kaduna and Jos. He also served in Ilorin, Kwara State as Area Commander, second-in-command in Ebonyi State and Assistant Commissioner, CID, in Kaduna.

He later became the deputy commissioner in Kaduna and FCT. He became a commissioner of police in January 2014 and AIG in July 2016.

Since then, he served as commissioner of police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Delta State. He later served as the AIG in charge of Zone 5 Benin, Zone 4 Makurdi and Zone 7, Abuja.

He had also attended peace keeping operations outside the country.

He was promoted to the rank of DIG in November 2020 and was in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID) until his appointment as IGP on Tuesday.

He had acted as DIG in charge of Finance and Administration and at some point served as Force secretary.

Mr Baba attended several professional courses. He is a member of Course 22/2014 of the National Defence College (NDC) Abuja and also a fellow of International War College.

He said in an interview  that he would like to “leave a legacy of policing with a human face.”