The Federal Government has charged all paramilitary service chiefs to focus on delivering their respective mandates to make Nigeria safe and secure, as well as free the country from economic sabotage limiting national development.
Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, gave this charge on Saturday in Abuja at the top management retreat for officers of the ministry and its agencies.
He urged the officers and heads of paramilitary agencies under the ministry, including the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Fire Service (FFS), and Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), to enhance their performance.
He encouraged them to ensure efficiency and deliver on the renewed hope agenda of the current administration by performing better and meeting the yearnings of Nigerians through the deployment of technology and prudent management of resources.
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Dr. Tunji-Ojo said the retreat was organized for officers at the top echelon and service chiefs to share ideas and collaborate to set achievable targets and perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently.
“At least twice a year, management of all agencies and the ministry must come together to share ideas and collaborate. Let’s come to a point where we will have our targets.
“Every six months, we should come together, and the next time will not be a jamboree like this. After this, you will have your achievable milestones, so that by the time you are coming next, each CG will make a presentation on the journey so far.
“Mr. President has given me a target, and I must transfer the pressure onto you, and you must deliver. For anybody that knows they cannot deliver, there are two options: either you up your game, or if you know you are not going to up your game, at least in public service, it is free entry and free exit.
“What you are doing is not pro bono; you are working for the government and the future of Nigeria. Your actions and inactions will be judged by the generations that come after you. I will never blame myself for the Nigeria my father gave to me, but I will always be at fault if I hand over the same Nigeria to my children,” Tunji-Ojo said.
The Minister urged the Commandant General of NSCDC to focus on the core responsibility of the Corps in protecting critical national assets, declaring that the era where NSCDC competes with the police is over.
He maintained that NSCDC should concentrate on ensuring that pipelines, telecommunication infrastructure, power infrastructure, schools, mining fields, and other national assets are protected from attacks, vandalism, and economic sabotage.
He added that the NSCDC of his dream should be a specialized security outfit dedicated to the protection of critical national assets, not competing with the police and causing unnecessary rivalry.
Regarding the Nigerian Correctional Service, the minister insisted that Nigerians must see a difference in service delivery by NCoS now compared to when it was called the Prisons Service, saying changing the nomenclature should not be the issue.
He said the issues of non-custodial measures, non-violent awaiting trial inmates, overcrowding and decongestion of custodial centres, human rights, welfare, and transformation of inmates, among others, should be uppermost in the management of the Correctional Service.
Tunji-Ojo, who lamented that the Federal Fire Service was the most untapped agency in his ministry, said there was a need to ensure the Service is moved from just being the first responders to being enumerators and regulators.
He added that the fire service occupies a pivotal role in the development of the country and that, all over the world, it is one of the highest employers of labor.
