By Darley Ogbodo
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Monday charged the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS),
the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Nigeria Fire Service and the Nigerian Correctional Service formerly known as an the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS), to brace up in the fight against insecurity in line with the policy direction of the federal government.
He urged the agencies and parastatals to key into government’s main thrusts of Security, Economic growth and Transparency in delivering dividend of democracy to Nigerians using the (SET) mantra, which according to him, translate to improving the country’s security status, revitalizing the economy and entrenching transparency in the conduct of government business and operations.
He pledged to make staff welfare a priority, adding: “I will make strong case for training and motivation for staff of the ministry. With over 20 years of my political career, I was able to turn Osun State as one of the safest in the country. And with the resources at our disposal, we shall keep Nigeria safe with the SET mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
The minister who made the disclosure at the formal handing over of affairs of the ministry by the Permanent Secretary, Barr. Georgina Ehuriah, said there would be no country without effective border control, migration and safety of infrastructure, adding that the ministry touches the lives of every Nigerian, including through marriages.
“There is no denying the fact that we have internal insecurity, but it is not peculiar to us as a nation, it is like that all over the world, each nation with its own peculiarities, what is important is how we respond to the security challenges confronting us.”
“From antiquity and political philosophy, the primal responsibility of government is the welfare of the people, protection of lives and property and maintenance of peace. It is the foundational responsibility on which other responsibilities are built. This is the basis on which we campaigned and Nigerians voted for us. It is a sacred mandate we are fully determined to deliver on,” he stressed.
The Minister further called on the Services, officers and staff of the Ministry to join hands with the President Muhammadu Buhari led Administration in protecting lives and property of the citizens, in line with the Ministry’s mandate with a view to moving the country to the next level of socio-economic development.
Aregbesola said, ‘we must set forth now for an improved internal security’, adding, ‘Ours is to prevent crimes, as the basis of protecting lives and property, it will become so difficult to commit crime, once people know they cannot get away with it, so brace up for the task’, he emphasised.
He pointed out that the Correctional Service should ensure that all the correctional centres across the country are habitable, comfortable and clean for inmates. Adding that inmates should be well fed and given proper health care so as to make transition to a new life very easy for them, in line with the new laws of the Service.
The Minister, explained that the primary role of our correctional services should be, to make those who have the opportunity of returning to the society, become reformed, rather than turning them to becoming terrors to the society by abusing and brutalising them.
He NIS to ensure proper security of the nation’s borders, while calling on NSCDC, to improve on their intelligence gathering in the various communities.
Aregbesola, who said that insecurity transcends kidnapping, banditry and other social vices but also includes food insecurity, natural disasters such as fire, therefore called on the Federal Fire Service (FFS) to ensure prompt response and prevention of all forms of fire disaster in the country.
Earlier, while presenting the handing over document to the new Minister, the Permanent Secretary, Barr. Georgina Ehuriah, pledged the support of the entire staff to the minister, adding: “We wish you an era of peace in your 4 year tenure.
According to her, the handing over note highlights the major policies, programmes and activities of the ministry, which has immediate bearing on your statutory role as the chief policy formulator and adviser to the administration on internal security and public safety matters.”
Ehuriah, added” “All the major accomplishments that were recorded by the ministry, under the former Minister, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau rtd, and those few ones that took place during the brief period that I was in charge of the administration of the Ministry are contained herein.”
The mandate of the ministry, she stressed, is to foster and ensure the maintenance of internal security and citizenship integrity for the promotion of good governance in the country.