The acting Comptroller-general of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Adepoju Carol Wura-Ola, and her counterpart at the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa, have been told to walk their talk or be kicked out, as the country is at a critical point and in dire need of transformation.
The Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who gave the marching order to the duo while receiving briefings from them, stressed that the President was interested in tangible results and not excuses.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Minister’s Chief Press Secretary, Babatunde Alao.
The minister said, “I am just returning from a meeting with the President. He is not interested in excuses. We must work and deliver. Anyone who cannot help Nigeria to record progress must be kicked out because we can actually be great. It is not rocket science.”
Tunji-Ojo, who further directed the NIS boss to immediately come up with measures to decongest passport collection centres nationwide, buttressed that President Bola Tinubu-led administration will no longer tolerate excuses and endless queues at Passport Offices.
He directed the NCoS CG to work towards revolutionising the country’s correctional system, making it more agile and responsive.
Tunji-Ojo, who further reminded the Interior agency heads that the new administration was not interested in usual talks and essay presentations but actions to deliver value and growth, added that, “Nigerians will take us up on our promises. If we have officers who are not ready for this rigorous process, we will excuse them.”
The minister further said, “Let me know your challenges. I am here to help you solve them. When you solve them and record successes, I am also successful. The time of talks is gone. So, keep your talk. Let us discuss solutions.
“Nigerians should not have to queue endlessly to get passports. No, this must stop. This is not the Nigeria of our dream. I need to know the challenges the agency is facing.
“We must all come together to deploy and invest our expertise to resolve them. Nigerians will take us up on our promises. If we have officers who are not ready for this rigorous process, we will excuse them.”
He added; “Talks have not taken us anywhere as a nation. We must get it right. The Ministry of Interior is the heart of any nation. I want you to return to your tables and bring up action plans. It is my job to ensure the ministry is working.”
While also underscoring the importance of leveraging technology as a means to enhance efficiency and accuracy within the immigration and correctional services, the minister pointed out that the implementation of advanced technological solutions could significantly reduce delays and streamline the handling of critical challenges.
“Technology has the potential to revolutionise our Immigration and Correctional systems, making them more agile and responsive. All I care, is that we need to embrace innovation and find ways to overcome the current challenges that often lead to bottlenecks in our processes. Our country is a great and important country. Let us live up to expectations,” Tunji-Ojo stated.
