Exit of a Permanent Good Man, Sir Emmanuel N. Dinwoke (KSJI, ACP Rtd)

  Dr. Victor Okey Dinwoke 

The dawn of 21st November 1948, as authentic records heralded some significant luminous foreboding for the family of Chief Ugwuoke and Lolo Nwakaego Dinwoke (both of blessed memory) as it marked the birth of a vibrant neonate with an uncanny destiny.  

     As custom demanded, that child was soon named Nnadi by his paternal uncle, Ihe an’ebo agu. He was much later baptised and christened Emmanuel in the Catholic Church. 

Chief Sir Emmanuel Nnadi Dinwoke (KSJI, ACP Rtd) was the second son and the fourth of five children of his mother, Nwaka Dinwoke (Nee Ezikeanyi of Amogbo Amabokwu Aku) – the first wife of Ugwuoke. 

     Dinwoke first enrolled for Primary education in St Gregory’s Elementary School (Central School), Aku in the mid to late 1950s. He later changed to Central School, Nze, Ojebe Ogene, Udi Division where he completed his Standard Six and obtained his First School Leaving Certificate in 1961. He began to show flashes of brilliance and extraordinary intellect which stood him out amongst his peers in the early years of his education. 

   Upon completion of his primary education, he proceeded to the prestigious New Bethel College, Onitsha where he had his secondary education from 1961 to 1966 and came out with flying colours. The events and adverse consequences of the Nigeria/Biafra civil war of 1967 to 1970 negatively impacted Emmanuel’s further education. As the times then dictated, young Emmanuel was conscripted into the Biafra army, where he showed admirable gallantry and soon gained quick promotions.

A significant fallout of the civil war and a major setback to his educational pursuit and career was the death of his father, Chief Ugwuoke Dinwoke just as the war was ending.

   With the cessation of war hostilities in 1970 and faced with a grim and bleak future, Dinwoke settled for classroom teaching. He gained employment and had a brief stint as a teacher at the Daughters of Divine Love Juniorate, Isienu in the Nsukka Division of the then East Central State of Nigeria from 1971 to early 1973. 

Driven by the quest for higher education, Dinwoke privately enrolled and commenced a distance learning programme with the then Exam Success Correspondence College, Yaba, Lagos and successfully completed the correspondence course and obtained his Cambridge Advanced Level General Certificate in Education with good grades in 1982. 

    He was visionary, focused, and purpose-driven with a desire to have a successful career in public service. It was in line with this inclination that he chose the Nigeria Police Force as a career path after his short-lived stint as a classroom teacher. He was enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force in 1973 and was posted to the Nigeria Police College Ikeja, Lagos for his training. He recorded an excellent performance and drew respect and accolades from his course mates and instructors alike. 

  On passing out from the Police College, he was posted to his first place of primary assignment, the Divisional Police Headquarters, Mile One Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State as a General Duty Police Constable. He recorded an outstanding performance demonstrating excellence, gallantry, fearlessness and a high level of professionalism in the discharge of his duties.  

   He had a distinguished and unblemished career as a law enforcement officer. He readily got the best evaluation scores and recommendations and gained accelerated promotion as a Non Commissioned officer, acquiring the ranks of a Police Corporal within one year and Police Sargent within three years of enlistment into the Force. He was promoted to the Inspectorate cadre within five years of his career. His sojourn as a Police Officer in Rivers State saw him pass through various towns and divisions. 

    In 1988 on the recommendation of the then Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Gambo JImeta, he was commissioned as Superior Police Office with the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP II) through a promotion specially approved by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for a few police officers who have displayed exceptional gallantry and brilliance in the discharge of their duties. He was subsequently transferred to Abia State, where he variously served at the State Police Command Headquarters Umuahia and the Divisional Police Headquarters Bende. Thereafter In 1990, he was transferred to Enugu State and was first posted to the Police Detective College Enugu as an Instructor/Lecturer. In this position, he brought his deft teaching experience to bear and impacted positively on officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force. Following his excellent performance in the Police Detective College, he was again promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in 1992 and was transferred to the Divisional Police Headquarters Ogbede in his home Local Government Area of Igbo-Etiti. He adroitly honed his ardent and extensive Law enforcement skills in this onerous duty post initially as the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) and later as the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the very near precincts of his hometown. He displayed splendid professionalism and candour in ensuring the maintenance of law and order and the protection of life and property. 

   From Ogbede, Dinwoke who was again promoted to the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) in 1994 was posted to Divisional Police Headquarters Ohaukwu in Ebonyi State as the Divisional Police Officer, specifically to quell the constant communal clashes in that area given his established record in the force as negotiator and peacemaker. There was a notable cessation of frequent hostilities in communities around Izzi and Ezzamgbo throughout his stay as DPO in Ohaukwu. Having achieved that tremendous result in Ebonyi State, He was again transferred to Taraba State where he had a brief spell at the Command Headquarters in Jalingo, from where he was frequently sent to Takum to deal with rising hostilities between the Jukuns and Tivs around that axis. The next year in 1997, upon his promotion to the rank of Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) further call to duty took him to Ekiti State Police Command where he first served in the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from where he was posted to Aramoko Ekiti and Ikole Ekiti as Divisional Police Officer. He was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in 2001 and became the Area Commander of Ijero Ekiti and subsequently, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Operations, B’ Department Ekiti State Police Command. He was later posted to serve at Anambra State Police Command, Awka as Assistant Commissioner in Charge of State Criminal Investigation Department, CID, Awka. From Anambra State, ACP Emmanuel Dinwoke (as he had then become) was finally posted to the Cross River State Police Headquarters in the twilight of his service years. His last duty post was as Officer in Charge (O/C) MSD, Cross River State Police Command from 2005 to 2008. He honourably retired (even though not tired then) from the Nigeria Police Force in 2008 after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60 years. He won various awards in the force and was decorated with various service medals by the Nigeria Police Force.

    It bears reiterating that in the course of service to his fatherland as a Police Officer, Chief Sir Emmanuel Nnadi Dinwoke enjoyed the copious and ready recommendations of most of his superiors who admired his sterling qualities. His brilliant, outstanding, exceptional performance and dedication to his duties earned him promotions. Thus from the lowly rank of Police Constable (PC), Chief Sir Emmanuel rose to enviable and exalted the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) before his retirement in 2008. 

Considering the rather slow, but agonizing descent of the Nigerian society, nay the Police Force, to the abyss, this accomplished career and well-earned retirement was roundly celebrated with the loudest ovation.

    Dinwoke had his wife and heartthrob, Lolo (Lady) Dorothy Oyibo Dinwoke (Nee Orurua), married and betrothed to him as a child by his wealthy father and traditional ruler, Ugwuoke, as was the then prevailing norm among affluent men. His wife was the only daughter and biological child of his father’s fellow privileged Ozo and Chief, Dinwashie Onyenamacha Orurua and Lolo Iyiukwu Orurua (Nee Nw’Agu Odeke) of Ameguwani village, Mgboko Aku. Expectedly, they started procreation quite early in their late teens and early twenties. The couple was handsomely blessed with six amazing and accomplished children.

    Emmanuel Nnadi Dinwoke, Ihe an’ebo agu was an apostle of truth, regardless of whose ox was gored. For over two decades spanning the early 1970s to the 1990s, Chief Sir Emmanuel Nnadi Dinwoke played a pivotal role in setting up and ensuring regular meetings and social gatherings of Aku Diewa indigenes in Port Harcourt and its environs. He was thus the pioneer Chairman of Aku Development Union, Port Harcourt which was to later become the Aku Welfare Association Federated (AWAF), Port Harcourt Branch. 

    Following his retirement from the Police Force, Chief Sir Emmanuel Dinwoke elected to settle and fully reside in his native village to maximally contribute his quota to the development of the community. He discharged this role creditably and shone like the leading star he was. He was a Community Leader and mobilizer and presided as the Chairman of Useh Community Development meetings for several years. He became the centrepiece around which the resolution of many thorny issues and disputes revolved. He held the prestigious Ozo title and earned the names: Amuduche and Akworh Nw’iyi.

    He grew in the Christian faith to become a devout Catholic and served the Lord as a highly committed Lay faithful till his passing. He was an active member of the Catholic Men Organization (CMO) and contributed significantly to the growth of the Catholic Church. He was a member of the noble order of the Knights of St John International (KSJI). 

  He will be buried on August 19, 2022 at his hometown Useh, Aku in Igbo-Etiti LGA of Enugu State.