Alhaji Musiliu Adeola Kunbi Smith, is a former

Inspector General of Police An inspector-general of police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

appointed in May 1999, who retired in March 2002 following a police strike.

Early life

Smith was born on April 17, 1946. He completed secondary education at Ansarud-deen College,

Isolo Isolo (also known as Isumbi) is a traditional mancala game played by the Sukuma people in northern Tanzania. The rules of the game come in three variants, respectively for women, boys and men. Equipment The board used to play Isolo (also known a ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and attended the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

, where he obtained a B.Sc. in sociology in 1970.

Career

In 1972 Smith joined the police force in

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

as an assistant police superintendent. He later served as an instructor in the Police College

Ikeja Ikeja is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, cl ...

, and a divisional police officer in

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

Adamawa State Adamawa is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Borno State, Borno to the northwest, Gombe State, Gombe to the west, and Taraba State, Taraba to the southwest while its eas ...

. From 1980 to 1982, he was in charge of the X-Squad at CID Alagbon Close,

Ikoyi Ikoyi is the most affluent neighborhood of Lagos, located in Eti-Osa Local Government Area. It lies to the northeast of Obalende and adjoins Lagos Island to the west, and at the edge of the Lagos Lagoon. Popular with the extreme upper class r ...

. He then moved to

Ilorin Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria. The city is a major hub for transportation and commerce in the region. . Retrieved 18 February 2007 Although Ilorin is classified under the North-Central g ...

, where he served in various capacities, finally becoming

Kwara State Kwara () 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 international border with Benin. Its ca ...

Police Command administrative officer. He was posted to

Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...

in 1987, taking charge of the Police College. In 1988, he was promoted to commissioner of police and moved to Lagos, where he took over control of the Criminal Intelligence Divisional Force. He returned to Kwara State and later

Plateau State Plateau is a northern states of Nigeria, Nigerian state. It is located in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria and includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and Tourism". Th ...

as commissioner of police. In 1996, Musiliu Smith was promoted to assistant inspector general of police, placed in charge of Zonal Headquarters,

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

. He completed a master's degree programme in strategic studies at the University of Ibadan in 1997. He was appointed a member of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1998. Smith was appointed the inspector general of police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 1999. He succeeded

Ibrahim Coomassie Ibrahim Coomassie (18 March 1942 – 19 July 2018) was a Nigerian police officer and the 9th Inspector General of Nigerian Police serving between 1993 and 1999, under the military governments of Generals Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar. H ...

, who had held the post since 1993. Smith followed instructions from President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

in refusing to follow up on charges of certificate forgery laid against

Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saying the court could not compel the police to do the investigation. On 1 February 2002, the Nigerian Union of Policemen called a partially successful strike. Smith was asked to retire by Olusegun Obasanjo in March 2002. He was replaced by

Mustafa Adebayo Balogun Mustafa Adebayo Balogun (25 August 1947 – 4 August 2022), widely known as Kumawu, was a Nigerian police officer, 11th Inspector General of Police from March 2002, but was forced to retire because of widespread charges of corruption in January ...

. As of 2006, Musiliu Smith was chairman of the Skye Bank board of directors. In 2007,

Governor

Babatunde Fashola Babatunde Raji Fashola ( ; born 28 June 1963) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as the federal minister of Works and Housing of Nigeria from 2019 to 2023. He was the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing (Nigeria), minister of Pow ...

appointed Smith head of the Lagos State Security council, a body charged with taking a holistic look at the anatomy of crime in the state.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Musiliu Living people Nigerian police chiefs 1944 births University of Lagos alumni People from Lagos University of Ibadan alumni