For Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, the return to Ago-Iwoye Police Division in Ogun State was more than an official tour. It was a deeply personal journey back to the place where his career in divisional leadership began.
Years after serving as a young Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the community, Disu recently returned to the station during a tour of the area, walking through the familiar surroundings and revisiting the office and living quarters that once formed the centre of his professional life.
The visit offered the IGP an opportunity to reconnect with the memories, challenges and experiences that shaped his early years in policing.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, disclosed details of the visit in a post on X on Saturday.
Standing in his former station, Disu described the experience as an emotional one, reflecting on the significance of Ago-Iwoye in his journey through the Nigeria Police Force.
“It’s a very emotional one. This is my first police station. This is where I learned to be a DPO,” he said.
For Disu, the posting to Ago-Iwoye represented a defining moment. It was his first opportunity to assume responsibility as a divisional police officer, despite having no previous experience in the role.
He recalled that the assignment provided the platform on which he first tested his leadership capacity and learned the realities of managing a police division.
“This is the first time I was able to test my leadership ability. I remember when I was posted here. I’ve never been a DPO before,” he recalled.
A Walk Through Memory Lane
During the visit, the IGP inspected his former office and went into the living quarters where he stayed while serving in Ago-Iwoye.
The physical surroundings appeared to trigger memories of an earlier chapter of his career—when the responsibilities were different, the challenges unfamiliar and his leadership journey was still taking shape.
“I’ve just gone around to see my room. I’ve entered the office and I’ve looked around,” Disu said.
But the memories extended beyond the police station itself.
The IGP expressed an intention to walk through the surrounding streets and revisit some of the familiar faces and places from his time in the community.
Among those he remembered was an elderly woman who sold items near the police station and kept goats that often wandered into the station premises.
“I’m going to go around the streets. I know there’s an old woman in front of the police station. She used to sell things. She rears goats. The goats always come into our station,” he recalled.
He also remembered an elderly man known to him as Baba Aladji, further underscoring how deeply his first divisional posting had become embedded in his memory.
From Young DPO to Inspector-General
The significance of Disu’s return lies not only in the nostalgia surrounding his former station but also in the remarkable progression of his career.
Ago-Iwoye represents an early chapter in a professional journey that eventually took him to the highest operational leadership position in the Nigeria Police Force.
His return therefore offered a symbolic reminder of how careers are often built through seemingly ordinary assignments, challenges and responsibilities.
The station where he once learned the demands of divisional command became, years later, a place from which he could look back on the foundations of his leadership.
For serving officers, the visit also carries a wider message: today’s difficult or modest assignment can become tomorrow’s defining experience.
The Legacy Test
Perhaps the most significant message from the IGP’s return was his call for people to approach every assignment with commitment and integrity.
Disu used his personal experience to pose a simple but profound question about professional legacy—whether an individual can return to a former place of work with pride in what was accomplished there.
“For everybody, not only police officers. Where you work, do well. The question is, can you go back to where you worked before?” he asked.
The question goes beyond policing.
For officers, civil servants, professionals and leaders in every field, Disu’s reflection presents a challenge to build institutions, relationships and communities in ways that remain worthy of revisiting.
His journey from a first-time DPO in Ago-Iwoye to Inspector-General of Police makes the return particularly poignant.
The old office, the former residence and the familiar streets may have changed with time, but the lessons of that first posting remain.
And in returning to Ago-Iwoye, IGP Disu appeared to be reminding those still climbing the professional ladder that every assignment matters—and every place of service eventually becomes part of one’s legacy.
