Konnektions146: funny enough thats de extension number for the security in my work place.

ita not a bad idea though.....at least easily memorized and if it can be made uniforn so wen in distress,yur call hits the nearest police station, would be nice.

You see, its now making more sense..... can someone please pass this idea upward...

419, most suitable, most fitting. Exemplifies who the police really are, in our eyes and in the eyes of the world audience.

lwkmd. 419? well it will be very easy to rem

I wonder who in the world does not kno that number, the old men and women n d villages kno it, tell them today that they can reach police, hospitals nd all emergency places wit 419 and they will neva forget it in their live! but what is 911 or 119 to the people in the village and the numerous illiterates in Nigeria?

lordZOUGA: well, its easy to accidentally type any 3 digit of the same number. thats why they changed just one number and left the others as it ia.

Correct

operation Occupy 419

KnowAll: 419 is d most important 3 digits number Nigeria as a nation has given d world. U can google it. So making it a distress call number in Naija makes a lotta sense.

You're very correct. And this will even go a long way in removing all the negative meanings associated with it. It will be a major rebranding boost. I like it, and I support it. How can we make this happen?

ManTiger:
+1000000 Likes.
I don't know how some writer thinks, probably they fail to see beyond their nose.
419 is the word associated to internet scams, no thanks to some foolish Nigerians and some politicians.
This is a number known world-wide and how on earth will that meaning changes if the number is adopted for police emergency?
It sounds so foolish and the world will make further fun of us.

ManTiger, I am the author of that book - and I am not always a foolish person, once a while I do see beyond my nose. :-) But seriously, I want you to understand that creative writing is a matter of skills and competence. When I wrote that book (two years ago), copies of which I ensured was delivered by courier to both the Minister of Police Affairs and Mr. President, the idea was not to FIRMLY canvass that 419 should be made our police emergency number. I only wanted to have the idea of a 3-digit emergency number brought to the fore. At once, I was deliberately making fun of the Nigerian police system and labeling it a "419" system. You may not agree with my style, but I knew what I was doing . . . and whether they adopt the 419 number or not, the police system in Nigeria is an organised 419 system. You can take it, or leave it.

This is an absolutely brilliant idea. God Bless you OP.

Na the change go make am work?

Good idea !!!

Who da hell cares what anyone thinks of the number.

As long as it has the advantage of being easy to remember (which it definitely does) and you get an effective response when you call it, I'd say bring it on.

It will create confusion, because, Obtaining under false pretence is a section in our law that falls under number 419. It is highly felonious to be charged into the law court with this section. Nigerians are already confused with unpleasant government policies. If 419 is adopted, some people will term police authority to be fraudsters. You and i can attest to the bad image of the police, this may permanently soil every thing and the actiom will be counter productive in fighting crime. A simple no. as 111, 234 or 123 will be okay. Thanks.

We should not allow them make every Nigerian feel shame for the scam of a few dudes that learnt from them. It is would be right up in there face. Turning a negative into something positive.

cogitoErgo: I wonder who in the world does not kno that number, the old men and women n d villages kno it, tell them today that they can reach police, hospitals nd all emergency places wit 419 and they will neva forget it in their live! but what is 911 or 119 to the people in the village and the numerous illiterates in Nigeria?

another lovely point there. occupy 419!

martyns303: Oprah " they are so proud of it they make a song of it" referring to Olu Mentain and Kelly Handsome, now we want to make it a nationalize thing? You can imagine how Wikipedia will have to put it, " the Nigerian emergency number was derived from its popular Internet scam phrase"

Sounds logical but slightly unbalanced.

searchcorp: “As president, I would ask the Police to get a national emergency number, say 419 like the Americans use 911. It won’t be various numbers for various police stations. I saw some very long un-memorisable numbers on the website of the Nigerian police. How on earth do they expect anyone to know such numbers? The first thing most robbers do now is to take your phone from you so you won’t be able to call. How does the Nigerian police expect a traumatised robbery victim, whose phone has been taken from him, to remember a 10-digit emergency number? It’s rather ridiculous. I mean, we could instead have 419 – which is the most popular police code in Nigeria. If you are robbed, and your phone is taken, you can get to a call centre and just dial 419." by Temitope Oyetomi Author of the book 'Fellow Nigerians, I wish you Goodluck'

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am surec you know the meaning of 4 1 9. LOL, BUT I WONT BE SUPRISE., AFTERALL , NAIJA POLICE IS THE GREATEST PROBLEM NIGERIA IS FACING.

pretty_boi: This is an absolutely brilliant idea. God Bless you OP.

Amen!