Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, has finally replaced Mr. Obafaiye Shem, the man who postulated the “my oga at the top” mantra, as commandant of Lagos State Command.
He was replaced by Mr. Adesuyi Clement from Oyo State Command.
The Commandant General of NSCDC, Dr. Olu Abolurin, who was in Lagos weekend over the alleged killing of two of his officers by some policemen, introduced the new Commandant to journalists.
However, he did not give reasons for Obafaye’s removal but sources hinted that it may not be unconnected with his recent interview on Channels Television live programme.
Before now, authorities of NSCDC have denied taking any disciplinary action against Mr. Shem over the said interview. Their reaction followed claims that Shem had been sacked on the orders of the Minister of Interior, who supervises the NSCDC.
Shem’s ordeal started when he appeared on Channels Television morning programme ‘Sunrise’ and when asked the NSCDC website he said:
“Hmmm, the website is, excuse me, my Oga at the top knows the website”.
He again, cleared his throat and said: “My Oga at the top is working on the website and I don’t have them”.
When the presenters insisted that he give a functioning website address of the para-military outfit, he dropped the bombshell: “ww.nscdc, that’s all”.
Immediately, the interview went viral and has become so popular to the extent that t-shirts with “my oga at the top” insignia has been produced and selling like hot cake across the country, even as some DJs and musicians have done what they called a remix of the phrase.
The replacement followed his earlier suspension from office.
The man who postulated the “my oga at the top” mantra has been suspended from office by the Ministry of Interior.
It was gathered from dependable sources at the Corps headquarters in Abuja, that the commandant was suspended after pressure emanated from its supervising ministry over the conduct of the Lagos Commandant in a recent interview in Lagos.
According to sources who craved anonymity, the Corps leadership had earlier set up a committee to investigate the incident, said to have put the NSCDC in bad light, but its report had not been announced or revealed to Mr. Shem, who is said to be bereaved and attending his father’s burial at the weekend, in Kogi State.
When contacted, the Deputy Commandant General, (Administration) Engr. Suleiman Akanbi Bello, said he was not aware of the suspension as he is currently at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, for a training programme.
Meantime, while the sack controversy lasted, Mr. Obafaiye Shem, has dismissed the stories making the rounds about his suspension from work saying he is still in- charge of the command.
This is even as the Channels Television has described as wild tale, the rumour that Mr Shem has been suspended and the purported protest by his wife over the upload of the interview by the Channels.
According to the commandant, he has been on casual leave to perform the burial rites of his father Pa Michael Obafaye, who died on February 8, 2013 at the age of 82 and will resume at his duty post next Thursday.
He said; ”I am still the State Commandant of NSCSC and I am determined to work hard to expose the vandals across the State.”
Shem who recently celebrated his 100 days in office said already, he has some pending files on his table which will be treated as soon as he resumes work. Since assumption of office, the Command under his leadership, has uncovered several hideouts of vandals especially at Arepo, Festac town and Epe and has paraded several pipeline vandals including three siblings.
It will be recalled that the social media was awash over the alleged suspension of Mr. Obafaye from office by the Ministry of Interior for postulating the “my oga at the top” mantra during a live interview on Lagos-based Channels Television last Tuesday.
On his wife’s visit to Channels Television, Obafaye said, ”my wife was in the village with me for my father’s burial and there is no way she could have visited the television station to carry out a protest. She is a learned person and somebody of that caliber would not have been involved in such a jinx. I see all these as a distraction which is not enough to hinder me from achieving my goal in Lagos State.”
Meanwhile, in a post in its website, the Channels Television said, “the rumour making the rounds that commandant of the Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corp in Lagos has been demoted or suspended in the aftermath of a now famous phrase is false. The alleged visit by his wife to the headquarters of Channels Television to protest the upload of the interview where he failed to name his organisation’s website has been discredited as another wild tale.”
