The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, appeared on an interview programme of Voice of Nigeria Radio, Abuja, on Tuesday. OSUN DEFENDER presents the responses of the former governor of the State of Osun to the questioned asked. Excerpts:
YOU were recently awarded Best Minister of the year 2022; how did that happen, what do you think is responsible for your award?
I wouldn’t know how they came about it. I’m happy that we are able to do certain things that Nigerians are proud of. We have reinvigorated the ministry itself. Partially, all the key operations of the ministry are technology driven; that is, they are digitised and our agencies too – those with huge patronage of the people have all their programs digitised. We are reducing person-to-person contact as much as possible. When you put innovation with technology, that will facilitate efficiency delivery of services that are required or needed by the people. Such innovation, generally, gives people cause to be happy. To me those are the things we have been able to do.
Talking of innovation; your ministry just recently launched the National Action Plan on Statelessness Persons in Nigeria, what is this all about?
It is about making it impossible, or reducing the possibility of any person not being a national, even when all the factor or fact of their existence proves otherwise. I will elucidate further; abandoned children, who are helpless cannot be accused of causing any problem about their existence, but with statelessness campaign that we have started and the inauguration of the committee that will study and come up with the recommendations on how to quickly put it to an end, particularly with the deadline of 2024 set and National Action Plan that we have launched, it will be impossible for children born by unknown parents to be stateless. And refugees whether because of circumstances beyond their control; it could be conflict or natural disasters, they have no identity, no travel document, once they are in any state, we can have proof about their movement. They should be identified with a particular country, not necessarily ours. The idea is that; it is inhumane not to identify individuals with a particular nation. That is the essence of it.
What are you putting together to ensure that there will be sustainability of this laudable ideas?
It is an international programme; this is not a Nigeria programme. United Nations, the World Population Commission, United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee, the ECOWAS subregion authority and all the international bodies are involved. The implications of not wanting to end statelessness is huge; it is a threat to security. How would you get a man who you have declared a person of no identity, personae non granta in your territory, to support you in the maintenance of law and order or in stiffing off security threats? It is obvious that because of the consequences of continuing lack of identity for some individuals to security; development, general wellbeing, no nation will want to still hold on to the old, uncivilized, backward and demeaning attitude of classifying some human beings as stateless. However, the approach we have adopted is such that I don’t see how any government will come and want to reverse it.
What are the major reforms that have really transformed your ministry?
The most significant is the reforms in passport administration. Hitherto, it is who you know that will make you have the passport. Yes, there are official fees but those in charge had developed big industry around it. That is being reduced now to a very large extent. The efficiency in the passport application or administration process and level of passport issuance has been achieved. What we have produced within the last one year is by far more than that service or ministry has produced within long period of term. That is an innovation and reforms.
We are reforming the Correctional Service and with the new law which have changed the entire concept of penitentiary of punitive to corrective. We are rejiggering the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corpse, we are making it people friendly, more disciplined and more focus on its primary responsibility – both the maintenance and prevention of damage to critical national infrastructure, registration of private guards companies and supporting the police in maintenance of law and order. And we are restructuring the corps to be more alert to its duty, to be more discipline and harken to the desire and needs of the Nigerian people.
Fire service is to me the service with the greatest support from the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. As of the last count, we have acquired for that service 106 state-of-the-art water fire engines and trucks. And instead of it just being in Lagos and Abuja, they are present in all the states now. We have zonal training schools in which we train fire officers from the states free of charge. They are more present to manage any fire emergency in Nigeria. That is one service in which the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari invested quite a number of resources and reforms there is huge.
You commissioned gunboats acquired by the NSCDC in fighting oil theft mostly in the Niger Delta. How will this be effective for combating crime in that region or mostly in our waterways?
Firstly, they are not just ordinary gunboats, they are armoured gunboats. They are gun boats that no assault weapon can penetrate, and that clarification need to be made to know that those gunboats can face any challenge of pirates and such other hoodlums that might want to use the creeks and waterways to distabilise the nation either through vandalism or oil pipeline or outright stealing of the crude oil. The eight boats might not be sufficient for our needs; but don’t forget we are not the only one protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring peace in the creeks. The military is there, the custom is there, the immigrations are there and there is marine police. All of us are putting in our bits to fortify that region and prevent the free reign of those that want to affect our oil production, either through the vandalism of pipelines or the stealing of our oil. I’m confident that what we have given the Civil Defense will enhance their capacity to protect critical infrastructure and curb the menace of crude oil thieves and those who equally refine it illegally.
Question from social media: Why should we pay N150,000 for adding or subtracting names on our International Passport? Why is it that only Abuja, Nigeria can do correction on passport?
Firstly, my advice is that when you are inputting your details, either with National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) or your application for international passport, make sure that you harmonise it. If you do not put different information on what you have on your NIN and what you are filling for your passport, you will not need to request for any correction. As to the question, you have to ask the NIMC, not the Nigerian Immigration Service whatever payment you will make for change of information. It is NIMC challenge, not our own challenge. Our own is to be sure that we have a single identity; that what you are filling on your application form is the same with what you have on your database. But it is because it is at our centre that we know that you have put in different identities, it appears as if we are the one that is requesting you to come to Abuja. The database of NIMC is in Abuja.
Civil Defence corps is given additional responsibility; are you comfortable with the numerical strength of the corps or there should be increase in the number of NSCDC personnel?
There cannot be enough people to manage security, and not just that alone, all other security agencies still need to be doubled. We need more of them.
