TheCable

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the minister of interior, has asked immigration officials to ensure that Nigerians no longer queue endlessly for travel passports.

Alao Babatunde, the minister’s chief press secretary, said Tunji–Ojo gave the directive during a brief meeting with Adepoju Carol Wura-Ola, acting comptroller general of immigration; and Haliru Nababa, controller general of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS). 

“I am just returning from a meeting with the president. He is not interested in excuses. We must work and deliver,” Tunji-Ojo said.

“Anyone who cannot help Nigeria to record progress must be kicked out because we can actually be great.

“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 dreams. 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.”

The minister also underscored the importance of leveraging technology to enhance efficiency and accuracy within the immigration and correctional services. 

“Technology has the potential to revolutionize our immigration and correctional systems, making them more agile and responsive,” he said.

“All I care, 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’s live up to expectations.”