The wife of the Oyo State Commissioner of Police and the chairperson of Police Officers’ Wives Association (POWA) Oyo State chapter, Mrs. Oladunni Odude, today 27th June on “Community Today” an online TV Programme of CEOAFRICA expresses her heart on the challenges the police wives and their husbands encounter on daily basis with no ifs, ands or buts.
Mrs Oladunni who said the aim of POWA is to bring police wives together in order to rub minds, share each other’s pain, and care for each other. It is a platform where we don’t have to pretend about what we are going through because we understand ourselves”.
She also mentioned that most of their projects are in-house as they are still open to sponsors from outsiders because of the enormous demands from their own members too.
According to Mrs. Odude, wives of police officers are the pillars of their various homes because their husbands are always on the move with little time to be with their families. She said, “as soon as you get married to a police officer, you also become an officer, because you are automatically a higher rank officer than what your husband possesses. We are always there for the family with the responsibilities of the two parties combined together that you have to do as the wife.”
Mrs. Odude further stated that the police officers hardly have time for their families, but the little time they have with them, they spend it judiciously.
Reacting to the question of how she feels about the police officers not being appreciated by the members of the public despite all the efforts the police put in to secure lives and properties of the people . Oyo Cp’s wife said apart from such dedication their husbands put in to see that our domains are crime free, members of the public do not understand the pain of their husbands not being with them always , the pain of the children not seeing their fathers and even salaries not enough to cater for their families, yet they are still passionate about their job as a law enforcement officer.
Mrs. Odude added that, “even though we are worried about the pressure they go through and the loneliness we face in the family as wives every day, we cannot stop them from going to the job they have chosen and dedicated themselves to. So as a police officer’s wife, you have to be patient and understand that their job is service to the people”.
She however appealed to the government to provide officers and men with sophisticated equipment, and that they should promote officers on merit. She also beckoned on individuals to lift their hands to help the police officers in order to perform their best.
While briefing on POWA’S forthcoming event tagged “Couples Night”, she disclosed that the program is a time for the police officers and their wives to come together in order to appreciate each other, dance together, divert their attention from the public for few hours to their wives, and let them take a second look at the women they married.
The Oyo cp’s wife also implores the public to whistle blow crimes or any act they find strange in the society and not only where money is involved. “Until the society learns to be each other’s keeper and whistle blow any criminal act that might eventually affect us to the police, the society cannot be free of evil act,” she said.
In her advice to young ladies who wants to get married to police officers, she said “fall in love with the person’s personality and not his profession. You will be very wrong to judge a person’s character by his uniform. Look at the person’s character outside the uniform, and then you will be able to make wise decision.”
