Azubuko Joel Udah is a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police. He is notable for conceptualising the amnesty program which brought about the disarmament of Niger-Delta militants during the

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who, was the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 20 ...

government. DIG Udah (rtd.) currently serves as Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Idyllic Farms Ltd. and Chairman of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) Microfinance Bank. He is also Member of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Member of National Institute For Policy & Strategic Studies, Principal at Azubuko Udah & Co., Member of Nigerian Bar Association, Member of International Association of Chiefs of Police, Inc. and Member of International Bar Association.

Biography

Udah, a native of Ozuitem,

Abia State Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the ...

was born on the 26th of October 1954. After a brief delay in his education due to the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

, Udah attended National High School, Aba and eventually graduated from Government College Umuahia. He subsequently gained admission into the prestigious

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

to study

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Education

Udah holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Political Science (1978) from the

and a Bachelor in Law degree (LL.B) from the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a public university, public List of universities in Nigeria, university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a ...

. Udah attended the

Nigerian Law School The Nigerian Law School is an educational institution set up by the Government of Nigeria in 1962 to provide a Nigerian legal education to foreign-trained lawyers, and to provide practical training for aspiring Legal Practitioners in Nigeria. ...

Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2000. He also holds a master's degree in law (LL.M) from

University of Jos The University of Jos, abbreviated as Unijos, is a Federal University in Jos, Plateau State, central Nigeria. History What became the University of Jos was established in November 1971 from the satellite campus of the University of Ibadan. ...

. Udah is also a graduate of the

National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Nigeria is a policy formation center for bureaucrats, private sector leaders, Army officers, and medium-rank and senior civil servants, which was founded in 1979. Most policymaker ...

in Kuru, Nigeria.

Career

Udah joined the

Nigeria Police Force The Nigeria Police Force is the principal law enforcement and the lead security agency in Nigeria. Designated by the 1999 constitution as the national police of Nigeria with exclusive jurisdiction throughout the country, as at 2016 it has a s ...

as a cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1979. As a Police Officer, he had served in different formations of the Force and rose to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police in 2010 having headed several Police Commands. Udah has served in virtually all 36 States of the federation. He was a member of the Presidential Planning Committee on the amnesty program. Udah headed various offices as a career police officer. One of his roles was as Commissioner of Police in

Yobe Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisku ...

, Borno, Benue, and Akwa Ibom States, as well as Commissioner of police, Interpol. He also worked as Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 5 in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

, Zone 12 in Calabar, and Zone 2 in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. Udah was also Deputy Inspector General of Police, 'A' Department (Finance and Administration) Abuja During the 2011 general elections, Udah was temporarily redeployed to oversee election activities in the North Central Geopolitical zone comprising Benue,

Kogi Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the s ...

Nasarawa Nasarawa is a Local Government Area in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Nasarawa, located at 8°32'N 7°42'E, with a population of 30,949 (as of 2016). The local government area has an area of 5,704 km and a populat ...

Kwara Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

, and the Federal Capital Territory. AIG Udah

Mr. Udah is a prominent member of several professional bodies among which are

Nigerian Bar Association The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. T ...

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associat ...

, International Association of Chiefs of Police and the

National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) is a membership group of primarily black law enforcement CEOs and command level officials in local, state, county, and federal government. Headquartered in Washington, DC, it h ...

. In 2015, Udah contested to represent Abia-North Senatorial district on the platform of the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

. Udah is a chieftain and active member of the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

, playing prominent roles in delivering both the Senatorial and House of Representatives seats for his party in the

2019 Nigerian general election General elections were held in Nigeria on 23 February 2019 to elect the President, Vice President, House of Representatives and the Senate. The elections had initially been scheduled for 16 February, but the Electoral Commission postponed the ...

. Udah is a prominent voice in Nigerian Police matters, offering insights across different issues such as the menace of herdsmen and

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...

, as well as advocating for more police funding. On 23 July 2015, Udah was appointed as Chairman of the Nigerian Police Force Microfinance Bank. Udah called on the Federal Government in May 2017 to check the proliferation of small arms in order to check incessant Farmers/Herdsmen clashes in the country. He declared that the situation was escalating because of the easy access both groups have to arms. On 19 June 2021, Udah stated that "the government should... find a way of stopping this orgy of attacks on the police." The comment was in reference to the End SARS is a decentralised social movement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Udah, Azubuko Udah, Azubuko Udah, Azubuko University of Ibadan alumni Nigerian police officers Igbo politicians Abia State politicians All Progressives Congress politicians 1954 births Government College Umuahia alumni