Watching Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo on television while speaking on the reforms in the Nigeria Immigration Service, especially in relation to international passport procurement was profound and an eye opener.
With him in the saddle as Interior minister, there’s a breath of fresh air that is palpable not just for all to feel but a testament for the Bola Tinubu administration to use as an example of the kind of positive reforms his government promised Nigerians.
Anyone who follows public discussions in Nigeria will not fail to recognise the stellar qualities and deliverables accomplished by the minister in the last few months.
He did not leave anyone in doubt as to his capacity in deploying technology and following through his policy to ensure accountability. He judiciously followed his own timelines in delivering on his promises and mandate.
He promised that the NIS will clear the backlog of unprinted but paid for passports within a very short while, this was accomplished like magic to the admiration of the larger populace.
Tunji-Ojo went over to another agency under his ministry – the Nigeria Correctional Service where more than 500 inmates were released. To achieve this he mobilised his friends and the private sector to offset the bills owed by the lucky inmates which led to their release. That is a novel programme.
Back to the Immigration, on January 8, the minister launched a platform allowing Nigerians who desire to procure passports to do so online with limited interaction with officers. Today procuring a passport takes just two weeks.
As if that is not enough, by March 8, there will be no need to go to Immigration offices for biometric capture. The ministers says everything will be done online and official fees would be paid for the service.
This is revolutionary going by the fact that just months ago, applicants spent days queuing up just to complete these processes; and passports took up to six or eight months, sometimes over a year to be printed. Most times people missed their appointments abroad because of the corruption in the process which was deliberately slowed down to encourage arbitrage and corruption. Now corruption has been dealt a heavy blow and I’m not surprised that the former beneficiaries are fighting back.
Over the last few days there have been allegations which left tongues wagging. The ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation was said to have paid for a contract executed by a company which was founded by the minister of interior.
While it is true that indeed there was such a transaction, a section of the populace has called on the president to equally suspend the minister as he did Dr Betta Edu.
They contend that being affiliated to the company is enough reason for him to step aside even though nobody has mentioned the offence he committed.
There are fears that those he has dislodged from the passport procurement process may be behind the calls for his resignation. They simply can’t stand him. They have been dredging up unfounded allegations since the Edu scandal in order to scuttle his reform agenda.
But the truth is that these things don’t work like this. That he is a minister does not mean he did not have a life before now. His company being Nigerian has the right to compete and get contracts. What’s important is to ensure that the project was executed 100%. Evidence has been adduced that he resigned from the company nearly five years ago. That he became a public official does not mean the company should fold up.
We should not be carried away by the situation with Betta Edu and begin to haunt an innocent man who by all intents and purposes is a rising political leader.
People should not use online malice to stop this star from shinning for the good of the larger Nigerian public.