Following the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to his newly inaugurated cabinet ministers to immediately hit the ground running, one man who has undoubtedly walked the talk is the Minister of Interior, Lieutenant General Abdurrahman Bellow Dambazau Rtd.
Upon assumption of office, the Minister left no one in doubt that he mean business! Hence, at the inaugural meeting with the Directors and Service Chiefs of the Ministry and in line with the change mantra of Mr. President, the Minister unveiled the policy thrust of the Ministry to senior employees of the government. He said: ”Today marks the beginning of a new dawn in the Ministry of Interior; it is a fact that the idea of security has moved away from the traditional approach to one that is people oriented or human security approach.
While describing the ministry as a very strategic one for the resuscitation and transformation of Criminal Justice System in Nigeria, the Minister pledged to reform the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Federal Fire Service (FFS), Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) which was newly added to the ministry. His word: ”There is no doubt that the Nigerian Security sector needs reforms especially as it concerns human security governance… Nigerian Prisons for example are highly congested with persons awaiting trials and we need to do something urgently about this.” He charged officials to key in to Federal Government’s zero tolerance for corruption in the discharge of their duties.
In line with the vision of the New Sheriff in Town and the mandate of the new Minister, during his novel visit, the African Representatives of the United Nations (UN), Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambers pledged UN’s full solidarity and support to Nigeria in the fight against insurgency. He said: ”We are very pleased and look forward to opportunities in which the UN Systems here in Nigeria and at large will have opportunity at different levels to be able to build fruitful cooperative relations with the Federal Ministry of Interior and it various agencies and departments. I want to tell Nigerians that UN will fully mobilize and continue to support the efforts of Nigeria to fight Boko Haram terrorists and any other form of renegade groups.”
However, during the Minister’s familiarization tour, it was discovered that there are 55, 033 prisoners in the country. Out of which 1, 639 were condemned convicts awaiting execution. It was also discovered that the Nigerian Prison Service lacked adequate equipments that would help it to perform optimally. According to the Controller-General of the Nigerian Prison Service, Dr. Peter Ekpendu, we only have 18 Black Marias, 12 non-functional trucks, 16 functional and four non-functional ambulances which are grossly inadequate to meet our transportation needs. The smallest prisons should have at least an operational vehicle, ambulance and escort vehicles. We have shortage of 15, 432 staff. The congestion in prison is more in prisons that are in urban areas than those in the rural areas. He called for increased funding for prisons service; admitting that the organization owed contractors who have threatened to stop supplying food and gas to prison formations. The Minister however charged them to make judicious use of the budgetary allocations. He also expressed concerns over congestion in prisons and promised to ensure the building of modern ones and completion of abandoned projects.
Similarly, while visiting the Nigerian Immigration Service, another agency under the Ministry, the Minister called for the review of existing expatriates laws in the country. He noted that somebody can come here, over stay for three months and within those three months, he could do all kinds of deals which may be legal or illegal; but he gets the most benefits out of it, when he comes to the airport, he can pay the fine and go away. But, I think the Nigerian Immigration Service should look at it laws again… In as much as we want to encourage people to come here, we want a situation whereby the rules and regulations are adhered to.
During the visit, it was revealed that the NIS is in short of man power which requires the recruitment of 25, 000 personnel in the next five years. The pro-rata is recruiting 5, 000 personnel yearly so as to meet shortfalls in the service. The Controller-General of the Service, Mr. Martins Abeshi added that the service was ready to conduct and absorb new officers as soon as it got the directive from the Federal Government. He further disclosed that the service generated N19.4 billion between January and October this year. According to him, N9, 788, 969, 705 was generated from passport operations while N9, 676, 474, 587 was generated from the Combined Expatriates Residence Permit and Aliens Card (CERPAC). In similar vein, another $24.6 million was also generated from passport/visa operations abroad. He however added that in spite of the revenue generated, the service is facing a lot of challenges which included poor funding, especially for the capital projects for the construction of border control plazas/automation of control posts, lack of modern communication equipments and security gadgets such as sensors and alarm systems, surveillance cameras to cover the flanks through which irregular migration occurs etc.
While at the Federal Fire Service (FFS), the Minister called for the review of FFS’s policy for better service delivery. His words: ”I think we need to sit down and look at the Federal Fire Service Policy so that we can articulate a position that will meet modern challenges. We need to consider and review the policy in order not to only make the service efficient but to also ensure that its objective of public service is met.”
He however frowned at dilapidated and obsolete equipment with which the service was carrying out its assigned mandate and regretted that such a vital government agency has suffered prolonged neglect despite its strategic importance in the nation’s security architecture. He specifically condemned the illegal annexure of the fire service mandate by sister agencies which often result in poor funding for the service. He said: ” There are government agencies without the mandate to fight fire, yet there are better funded as well as procuring firefighting equipments than the fire service. I think this is a misnomer which must be corrected.”
The Minister pledged to purchase trucks, modern firefighting equipments and empowering its staff through training and retraining as well as raising the standard of the service to international level.
Earlier, the controller-General of the service, Engineer Joseph Anebi disclosed that the agency which was established as far back as 1901 has only 1, 710 staff and operates with obsolete equipments as well as outdated Fire Service Act of 1963. He further revealed that construction works at the National Fire Academy has come to stand still due to paucity of funds, inadequate water provision and facilities, such as water, hydrants and dilapidated infrastructures like barracks and fire stations.
During his visit to the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, the Minister made case for a strong police force in the country. His words: ”Police is the most strategic as far as internal security is concerned. The issue of public safety and internal security rests squarely on the shoulders of the police; others are merely complimenting their efforts.
On the need to change the negative perception of the Nigerian Police so as to suit the change mantra of the Buhari administration, the Minister has this to say: ”We must do a lot to change the perception of the police force . We want to have strong police force that will be able to face emerging modern challenges. We have a plan to look at the short and long term strategies for repositioning the force.” While speaking on the role of the police in decongesting the Nigerian Prison, General Dambazau said: ”Where you don’t have detailed and almost near perfect investigation, it will be very difficult to prosecute and more people will be awaiting trial.”
Earlier, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase emphasized the need to review the funding mechanism for the force so as to enhance its performance. Also speaking, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Mike Okiro charged officials and men of the force to be committed to their duties.
In the last lap of his tour, the Minister visited the headquarters of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) where he charged members of the corps to rededicate themselves to training so as to perfect their responsibilities. He also gave a stern warning that anybody caught misusing his or her firearms would be adequately sanctioned as the arms were meant to protect the citizens. General Dambazau equally announced plans to deploy 5, 000 operatives of the corps to mop up the freed enclaves of the North-east. His words: ”I am happy that you will soon deploy five thousand of your personnel as part of your efforts to those areas that have been freed. You have come a long way and a lot is expected of you. This is the time that the country needs you most; especially in the areas of pace building in the north-east to stabilize the areas that have been freed by the Nigerian army.”
Earlier, the Commandant-General of NSCDC, Mr. Abdullahi Muhammadu pledged his loyalty to the Minister saying the corps will continue to work with relevant security agencies to ensure the protection of lives and properties as well as critical infrastructures in the country. Highpoints of the visit was anti-vandal parade, disaster management team simulation and sports unit demonstration.
Since the purpose of getting baseline data in any organization is to provide an information base or finding out what services are in place, what are not, what are the users perception of the service as well as planning to invent what is missing, the onus now lies with the appropriate Federal Government body saddled with the responsibility of budgetary appropriation and allocations to capture the concerns raised during the tour in next year’s fiscal expenditure. The National Assembly should also review the relevant laws that often impede smooth implementation of Federal Government Policies, especially those that concerns the entrance of illegal immigrants in to the country.
Written by Comrade Edwin Uhara, a Journalist and Public Affairs Commentator.
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