TO quote Alan Paton in Cry the Beloved Country, "anxiety" of some Nigerians of Igbo extraction has turned into "fear" over the fate of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Ogbonna Okechukwu Onovo.

This is because the crack cop may miss the opportunity of being the nation's first law enforcement officer since 1964 when Louis Edet was appointed the first indigenous IGP.

Since the publication of its lead story last Sunday - Scramble for Replacement of Soludo, Okiro, Pepple, Arab - The Guardian has been inundated with inquiries from concerned Igbo elders, diplomats, retired and serving bureaucrats and even clerics about the fate of the only opportunity they have in the polity to get the first Inspector General of Igbo extraction.

Recall that the first opportunity came about two years ago when Sunday Ehindero retired as IGP and being the most senior DIG at the time, Onovo was made to act in that capacity.

Although he was incumbent IGP Okiro's course mate, he (Onovo), through promotion, was slightly ahead in career progression.

An agitated Igbo described the confirmation of Okiro as Inspector General of Police as "the triumph of 2007 politics of management of the Niger Delta people over due process in the Police Service."

Onovo, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) 1976, hails from Enugu State.

Okiro is due for retirement in two months' time while Onovo still has three more years to retire, having joined the service on August 1, 1977. He was born on February 7, 1954 and thus will clock 35 in service before reaching 60.

Though the agitation for due process has been quiet within Nigerians of Eastern extraction, their fear has been palpable, as the authorities, and the ruling class, can decide to retire all the DIGs in the Police Force in order to pave the way for a preferred candidate, in this regard.

Indeed, some concerned observers claim that they had got intelligence that the presidency might not be disposed to having yet another IGP from the South "at such a time like this when so many things are at stake concerning security and flashpoints emerging" across the country.

This development emerged at the weekend, as the presidency denied media report (not The Guardian) that the president had actually approved extension of tenure of Mike Okiro, the outgoing IGP, by one year.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, disclosed last night in a telephone inquiry that: "I am not aware of any such decision by the President."

One respondent on the issue, who sent a fact-sheet on the history of the Nigeria Police, laments the marginalisation of the Igbo people in a document entitled: 'IGP Distribution According To The Six Geo-Political Zones'.

The document reads:

• North East has had 3 IGPs, namely: Kam Salem (1966-1975); Adamu Suleiman (1979-1981); Gambo-Jimeta (1986-1989).

• North West has had 2 IGPs namely: MD Yusuf (1975-1979); Ibrahim A. Comassie (1993-1999).

• North Central has had only 1 namely: Adamu I. Attah (1989-1993).

• South West has had 4 IGPs namely: Sunday Adewusi (1981-1983); M.A.K Smith (1999-2002); Tafa Balogun (2002-2005); Sunday Ehindero (2005-2007).

• South-South has had 3 IGPs namely: Louis O. Edet (1964-1966); Etim Inyang (1984-1986); Mike Okiro (2007-Date).

• South East has had no IGP(s).

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