Boost In Nigeria’s Security, Economy and Transparency

SOLOMON ODENIYI writes on some of reforms being championed by Ogbeni Rauf Aregebesola as Nigeria’s Minister of Interior.

 Less than a year that the former governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was appointed as Minister of Interior, a lot of policies and reforms have been carried out in accordance with the agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. Shortly after his inauguration as member of the National Executive Council by President Buhari, Aregbesola declared that the country was “SET” for a new security agenda.

Aregbesola held that Security, Economy and Transparency (SET), are the new narratives that were set to drive the security agenda for the country, and the Ministry of Interior, being the frontline government apparatus in the saddle, is expected to lead the charge. Aregbesola, like an elderly man running on the land of thorns, hit the ground running by championing giant strides evident by reforms in Nigeria’s Correction System (formerly Nigeria Prison System). The former governor of the state has also proved to be very instrumental in some of the committees he has been appointed, notably of which is The Presidential Task Force on the control and management of the novel COVID-19 is one.

In the area of guaranteeing internal security, which is one of the primary functions of the Ministry of Interior, Aregbesola has introduced several reforms. He has fostered relationship between the ministry and Licensed Private Security Practitioners with a view to providing effective and efficient security and safety services to Nigerians. The success being recorded on the partial closure of land borders ordered by the President to ensure the growth of the country’s indigenous industries and overall development of the economy demonstrates bold imprints of the forthrightness of the Minister of Interior.

In less than a year of his leadership, the Federal Government has purchased 96 fire-fighting vehicles, which would be distributed to states. In addition, the Federal Government has established six additional zonal offices to boost fire-fighting service delivery across the country. The beneficiary zones are Zone G, with headquarters in Minna: to cater for Niger, Kogi and Kwara; Zone H, with headquarters in Sokoto: would cater for Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi; Zone I, with headquarters in Yola: to cater for Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe; while Zone J, with headquarters in Owerri: would cater for Abia and Imo. Zone K, would cover Delta, Edo and Bayelsa, and is headquartered in Asaba, and Zone L, with headquarters in Osogbo: would cater for Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states. The Federal Government also approved the establishment of six  additional Fire Service Training Schools across the six geopolitical zones of the country, which would be situated in Katsina State for the North-West, Borno State in the North-East, Kwara State in the North-Central, State of Osun in the South-West, Abia State in the South-East and Cross River State in the South-South.

In February, the Ministry of Interior came up with a new visa policy. A greater part of 2019, it was learnt, was devoted to conceiving and enunciating the policy, with retreats, conferences and engagements with stakeholders by the Nigeria Immigration Service. These convergences were held in August, October, and December, in Lagos, Benin, and Abuja, respectively. This lays credence to the fact that the final draft of the policy carried those who mattered along and the entire process was painstakingly done in the best interest of the citizens.

Also, the new visa policy NVP 2020 is a global visa system, with biometrics linked to online applications for each applicant, which makes it difficult for criminals to manipulate and find their way into the country. The new visa policy is part of the Buhari-led administration’s efforts towards achieving the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). The Minister of Interior, while speaking at the presentation of the policy said it would impact positively on the nation’s economy by providing jobs for the people as well as lifting Nigeria’s teeming population out of poverty, in line with the vision of the present administration to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years.

Aregbesola also said the operation of the Nigerian Visa Policy is cardinal to the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, adding that the new regime is expected to boost economic activities in the areas of tourism, aviation, entertainment, commerce and other areas where Nigeria has comparative advantage over other African countries. All these attest to the fact that the policy is of immense benefit to the development of the country and the entire citizenry.

Worthy of note is the ongoing reforms in the Nigeria Correctional Service. After it had its name changed from Nigeria Prison Service to Nigeria Correctional Service, Aregbesola has been ensuring that everything in the service changes, not just the nomenclature. The minister has been making sure that the operations of the sector are in tandem with the provision of the extant correction service law. The minister has been working round the clock to ensure that the infrastructure deficit, overcrowding of the centres which had been the bane and compounded the well-being of inmates are a thing of the past. Presently, there are about 250 facilities (called correctional facilities or custodial centres) for over 74,000 inmates across the country, a figure that shows that most Nigerian correctional centres are housing inmates beyond their capacities.  One of such efforts is the unveiling of a 3,000-Capacity Maximum Security Custodial Centre being constructed in Karshi, Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.

Speaking at the launching of the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, Aregbesola hinted that the 3,000-capacity facility would be extended to all the six (6) geo-political zones of the country, to address inmates’ congestion in the nation’s custodial centres.

He said: “The project would  address the deplorable state of structures in the various Custodial Centres across the country, most of which were old, over-stretched, dilapidated, overcrowded and largely lacking humane conditions, a platform for reformation and rehabilitation of inmates.’’

Recently, Aregbesola called a meeting of stakeholders in the Justice Sector to immediately identify measures to be taken for quick decongestion of the custodial centres across the country as a way of preventing the spread of COVID-19 at the centres.

Prior to this, there had been many calls by both international and national human rights organizations for decongestion of the prisons; even while there were jail breaks in some parts of the country, which was attributed to overcrowding in the prisons, decongestion was not done.

His call was eventually heeded to and about 2600 inmates were granted presidential pardon nationwide. Aregbesola, at a press conference in Abuja after the release of the first phase, said the committee would continue to meet regularly to consider those who deserve the benefit.

Those who benefited from these include: inmates that are 60 years old and above; those suffering from ill-health that are likely to terminate in death; convicts serving three years and above and have less than six months to serve; inmates with mental health issues; and inmates with options of fines not exceeding N50,000 and have no pending cases.

With this, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammed is taking a lid from this last week when he called on states’ Chief Judges to also ensure their prisons are decongested. The Nigeria Police also borrowed a leaf from this when the Inspector-General of the Nigeria Police, Mohammed Adamu, instructed that officers of the force should not make unnecessary arrests and that detention of suspects should be reduced to the barest minimum.

In the area of capacity building for staffers, the Minister is also not leaving any stone unturned at improving the knowledge base of all staff working under his ministry. He is taking full advantage of all programmes available at the centre to improve staff capacity support to all its Agencies with a view to promoting and realizing the Presidential Mandate of providing internal security and citizenship integrity for all Nigerians and foreigners alike. One of such programmes was the retreat held in the State of Osun in January 2020; with a view to upscaling strategic actions, in order to forestall tragedies of insecurity.

He has no doubt proved to traducers that the successes recorded while at the helms of affairs in Osun are no fluke; and that with about three years to the expiration of the tenure of Mr. President, the former governor of the State of Osun might be breaking new grounds in the ministry would not be a wild-goose-chase either.