Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola assumed office on August 21, 2019 as the minister of Interior. He inherited numerous problems ranging from dilapidated infrastructure at the correctional service centres, general loss of confidence in the passport issuance process by the citizenry as well as incessant clashes between farmers and herders amongst other criminal activities. CHRISTIANA NWAOGU writes that in just one year in office, he has proved that he is the right person for the job.
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 21, 2019 to superintend over the nation’s paramilitary services namely: the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Looking at the controversy that greeted Buhari’s offering him a ministerial appointment and how many respected columnists expressed doubts on the ability of the former governor of Osun State to perform, Aregbesola has proved his critics wrong as a transformation agent in view of the reforms he has introduced and diligently implemented.
LEADERSHIP Friday recalls that he was roundly condemned for conceding that he lacked knowledge of how the ministry operates and that the little he knew about it was what he gleaned from the pages of newspapers
After the knocks, he plunged himself into changing the fortunes of the paramilitary agencies under his supervision and rebranding the mother ministry.
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Today, Aregbesola has confirmed his vow of, “ I shall leave the stage much better than I met it.” Within the period under review, this internal chief security officer through his antecedents, has provided visionary and transformational leadership for the Ministry of Interior.
He has not only consolidated on the gains the ministry made under his predecessors, but has expanded on its scope by showing a deep understanding of his assignment.
Like other geniuses in history, the minister started off with a familiarisation and stocktaking tours of all the paramilitary agencies and departments under his supervision.
Though there were initial challenges occasioned by inadequate budgetary allocations as well as the creation of the Ministry of Police Affairs, which saw the removal of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) from the ministry’s supervision, the all-conquering efforts of the minister towards the restructuring and integration of the Interior Ministry for efficiency in the delivering of services to the Nigerian public made it a worthwhile.
His relentless efforts towards accountability, transparency and the rule of law particularly among the four paramilitary services as well as the CDNCFIB are fascinating!
Also, his efforts towards capacity building, re-tooling and re-equipping of the services; particularly the Fire Service, Nigerian Correctional Service, Immigration Service and the Civil Defence deserve commendation.
Similarly, with his far-reaching reform of the visa processing and procurement process, foreign investors who wished to do business in Nigeria no longer have paper challenge to confront with!.
Also, listed as his major achievement is the setting up of a committee to review all issues associated with the issuance of visas to prospective foreign investors. While not ignoring the passport needs of Nigerians, the minister also established additional passport offices in some states as well as clearing the backlog of visa/passport applications within two working days.
As chairman, federal government Committee on Citizen Data Management Harmonisation, he has worked tirelessly to reverse the United States (US) suspension of the issuance of “immigrant visas” to Nigerian passport holders.
Aregbesola has equally brought dynamism and innovativeness to bear on the job as the Minister of Interior. He has provided an effective and efficient, participatory, responsive and equitable and accountable leadership. He has remained an able captain in the forefront of the defence of Nigeria with the Ministry of Interior as the veritable platform. His unusual approach to governance has yielded bountiful dividends of democracy in several spheres of life to the good people of Nigeria.
LEADERSHIP Friday highlights that the mandate of the Ministry of Interior is to foster the maintenance of internal security and citizenship integrity for the promotion of good governance.
Its vision is to provide complementary internal security service in accordance with international best practices , while its mission is to render to Nigerians and foreigners alike, diverse internal security and other ancillary services that are highly qualitative, efficient, courteous and transparent.
The ministry’s policy initiative is majorly to among other things, review expatriate quota. The policy is geared towards providing more jobs for Nigerians as against importing expatriates to the country.
In line with the set objectives of the Buhari administration which centres around improved security, economic revitalisation and entrenching transparency in the nation, Aregbesola who keyed into this, twitted recently that he had achieved 12 tangible results in 12 months.
Among his achievements are the approval of the New Visa Policy reclassifying the visa categories from 6 to 79. Within this period, Nigeria commenced Visa-on-Arrival to holders of passports of African countries
The federal government from Aregbesola’s push procured 451 operational vehicles for the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).
He also ensured the creation of Citizens Integrity Unit at the NSCDC. Others are the construction of 3,000 capacity custodial centres in three geopolitical zones of the country.
Under his watch, the ministry promoted 18,000 personnel of the 33,000 that sat for promotional exams.
The Nigerian Immigration Service following his support and approval engaged Julius Berger to construct a a world-class technology building to manage all immigration ICT enhanced systems in Nigeria.
Other achievements by the minister are the re-opening and rehabilitation of 32 Satellite Custodial Centres previously shut down due to insurgency.
He recently pushed for the installation of Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) in all the international airports in the country.
The Federal Fire Service within the said period received over 102,615 emergency fire calls which they responded to and saved 724 lives and assets worth N1.629 trillion between June and October 2019 across the country.
He also deployed 28 newly procured fire engines across the country to boost emergency response and ensured improvement in the safety of firefighters through the procurement of high quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).
Aregbesola’s determination to end the clashes between farmers and herders informed his approval of the training and deployment of additional 1,500 personnel of the Civil Defence Agro-Rangers Unit to Yobe and Adamawa States to protect farmers and their farms thus , promoting food security.
Sequel to the embarrassing state of the nation’s correctional facilities, which house about 70 percent of Awaiting Trial Inmates (AWTI), the minister with the approval of President Buhari constituted a committee to profile special detainees across the country categorising them according to the level of their involvement in crime as well as recommending action to be taken on them.
With this, Aregbesola achieved considerable result in decongesting the prisons as the federal government recently granted amnesty to no fewer than 2,600 inmates.
Despite the minister’s many achievements, he has frequently pinpointed inadequate funding of the ministry’s projects, programmes and activities as a major set.
He has therefore advocated improved budgetary allocation to the ministry and its agencies as well as exploration of further Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements towards bridging funding gaps in the sector.
Th minister has timelessly called for the acquisition of more modern equipment for operations in the sector as well as alternative punishment regime for offenders.
To observers, how he is providing desired development through the position he occupies remains a case study that every potential leader who desire success should emulate.
Going by all these achievements by Aregbesola and his team, there is no doubt, that in the nearest future, if successive governments should key into this laudable initiative, Nigeria would have been totally free from the security challenges facing the country…
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